THE LL WORLD

Contributing editor LEILA LATIF has something to say…

In 2017, the #MeToo movement in Hollywood was supposed to change everything. Harvey Weinstein was gone, women were demanding pay parity with their male co-stars, and female filmmakers were asked about their art, not just their outfits. In 2018, Natalie Portman confidently called out the institutionalised sexism of the industry when presenting the Best Director Golden Globe with a pointed ‘Congratulations to the all-male nominees’. We could all rest! We’d fixed it! Hence why we presently live in a feminist Utopia. The end.

If only. The optimism of that era seems naive in hindsight. Yes, there have been positive strides forward – the success of recent audacious feminist films from Greta Gerwig, Raine Allen-Miller, Rose Glass, Greta Lee, Alice Diop and Justine Triet, to name but a few, is a true inspiration – but the needle’s still got a long way to go.

For me, few glimmers of hope are as bright as the existence of Kirsten Dunst. A star since childhood, she’s done it all: huge superhero franchises, artful depictions of depression from problematic Danish auteurs, pastel-hued biopics of French monarchs… And now she’s returning to cinemas as a steely photojournalist in Alex Garland’s Civil War. Unlike many of the most vocal proponents of #MeToo – coughPortmancough – her filmography features plenty of movies directed by women. Speaking at a round table with fellow actors lamenting that there are ‘no female directors’, she seemed puzzled and replied, ‘I’ve worked with so many female directors.’ Dunst has collaborated with Sofia Coppola (three times), the Mulleavy sisters, Gillian Armstrong and Leslye Headland. Her last project before Civil War was 2021’s The Power of the Dog, which saw Jane Campion win Best Director at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

Despite having a career that would be most actors’ wildest dream and a commitment to female allyship that extends beyond performative gestures, Dunst is not immune to the patriarchal smog that hangs heavy across her industry, where so many talented women are put out to pasture when they hit 40. She commented recently that after her Oscar-nominated role in The Power of the Dog – aside from Civil War – she was only offered ‘Sad Moms’. She attended this year’s Oscars alongside her husband, the wonderfully talented Jesse Plemons, who since The Power of the Dog has starred in three films, including Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. On stage, Ryan Gosling sang I’m Just Ken before an enraptured audience with his partner, Eva Mendes, absent, having retired a decade prior, when she turned 40, because she ‘got tired fighting for the good roles’. The contrast between what Hollywood offered the women vs the men in these partnerships is stark, but the actual numbers are even more depressing: in Dr Martha M. Lauzen’s 2023 Celluloid Ceiling study of the top 100 grossing films of the year, 32 films were led by men over 40, while women over 40 had… three.

In Civil War, not only does Dunst showcase yet another side of her considerable range but, as the true feminist icon she is, she extended her support to her up-and-coming co-star Cailee Spaeny. And not only on set – she recommended Spaeny to Sofia Coppola for the Priscilla title role.

It’s not 2017 any more.

Dismantling the patriarchy using memes and a hashtag was wishful thinking. But if Hollywood can change, it will come down to the sustained work, talent and allyship of women like Dunst. Whether it’s in Alex Garland’s cruel dystopia or the real world’s slightly less cruel one, we must protect her at all costs.

LEILA WILL BE BACK NEXT ISSUE. FOR FURTHER MUSINGS AND MISSIVES FOLLOW @ LEILA_LATIF ON X/TWITTER.