Why Is The Director of Little Women Getting Little Credit?

photo courtesy of @littlewomenmovie Instagram

Amidst all the cliché snowball fights and Hallmark movie marathons during the Christmas season, the film Little Women made its debut in theaters, and every eight to ninety-eight-year-old woman was subsequently ecstatic. The costumes were exquisite, the casting was simply perfection, and if you can’t admit to sobbing throughout the whole movie, you’re just lying to yourself.

Now, all you #ProJo icons have surely heard of Greta Thunberg, but have you heard of Greta Gerwig? No??? Well, SHE is the mastermind behind the astounding directing in Little Women (and Lady Bird which is also extremely important and special).

The fact that you don’t know her name isn’t reallyy your fault. You see, it can all be traced back to this little thing in our society known as “inequality.” 

We hate to ~expose~ the industry, but discrimination against women has been piling up for literal decades. Did you know that a woman wasn’t nominated for Best Director until 1977? Why?? Well, listen up because we’ve got answers. First, women don’t get nearly as many chances to direct films as men do. According to a study by The Celluloid Ceiling, in 2018, only 20% of the top 250 domestic grossing films were directed, written, produced, or edited by women. Yeah, you heard that right, 20 whole percent! Second, it’s because the Academy is composed of snooty white men who give more of a shit about gelling their white ass locks than rewarding real, deserving humans, but technically that’s just an opinion and you didn’t hear it from us. Regardless of the reason, something needs to change. Period. At least before someone pulls a Natalie Portman and gaslights this bitch...

The root of the problem can be followed back to the definition of a director itself. Put simply, a director is the name of role for a person who is in charge of the actors, crew, and other staff involved in a production. This definition sounds pretty simple until you take a second look. The words “in charge” are where we find the issue. The year is 2020, yet people still have a problem allowing women to be “in charge” of anything. 
By belittling the work done by women such as superstar, queen, legend, and icon, Greta Gerwig, the industry continues to support the misogynistic mindset that our society has created. Women aren’t bossy, they’re influential. Women aren’t overbearing, they’re commanding. In the words of Jo March, “Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent,” GODDAMMIT!