What we do know about the incident, over a week after it took place, is surprisingly little for a town that is relatively loose-lipped like Hollywood. While it has been confirmed that Ramsay didn't show up for the first day of filming, we don't know what caused this. A number of rumors (repeat, these are rumors) have circulated, including that the film's producers had not presented Ramsay with a finalized script, schedule, or budget overview, as well as that Ramsay was behind on script revisions, and perhaps most tantalizing for the tabloid press, that there were conflicts between Ramsay and the Oscar-winning Portman.
What we do know, for sure, though, is that the media has been surprisingly one-sided on their attacks on Ramsay, largely skipping any blame that may have fallen on producer Scott Steindorff (which, if the emails from his assistant begging for positive comments in favor of the Lincoln Lawyer producer are legitimate, appears to be a sorry assessment of the situation). I've seen mainstream media using phrases like "drama on set" and "cat fight" and I think it's pretty obvious that these are veiled derogatory attacks on Ramsay's gender. Were James Cameron or Quentin Tarantino to not show up due to a disagreement over a script, they would be described as "passionate" and "artists intent on their vision," but in Ramsay's case, she gets no benefit of the doubt from the film fanboy public (the film nerd public is predominantly male, or at least the loudest elements of it are, even if the actual film-going populace is not). And if a director like Lars von Trier acts like a fool (that's about the least colorful term I can think of, but if you've read any article about the director in the past decade, you know what the ones that are actually going through my mind are), you don't read articles about how it will affect other male directors, but with Ramsay, that seems to be a gut check reaction (and for the record, von Trier is an extreme example, and nothing that Ramsay has even been rumored to be associated with has been close to some of the worst of the von Trier stories, but you see my point).
The fact is, though, that amongst the relatively few women that have enjoyed major critical success in the film world, the backlash has been vitriolic and particularly nasty from certain segments of the film-going universe. Look at the way that Kathryn Bigelow was blasted over the torture elements of Zero Dark Thirty; even if you feel the film gives a more even-handed approach than is comfortable, having her derided as a Nazi and comparing her to Leni Riefenstahl is wildly over-the-top. And look at the way that a critically-acclaimed director, an Oscar-winner and the helmer of the film that won the critical Triple Crown of the NYFCC, NBR and LAFCA prizes was un-nominated and no one said a peep, whereas Ben Affleck got a makeup Best Picture Oscar for his miss in the Best Director category.
The list goes on: look at how critical backlash has occurred for Sofia Coppola, who makes films with largely female leads, and is constantly derided for being "repetitive," when male-dominated filmmakers like Fellini, Scorsese, and Woody Allen don't get that thrown at them as an insult. 60% of Nancy Meyers films have made over $100 million-tell me another non-franchise director that has done that, and yet she's pushed to the derisive sidelines. And don't get me started on the treatment of DGA-nominated, Oscar-winning Barbra Streisand. Within her three directorial achievements, her films have amassed 14 Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture bid, but talk about her contributions to film and you get a snicker from "serious film fans."
There was also something to Helen Mirren's recent comments about Sam Mendes. When Mendes won the Empire Inspiration Award and failed to list a single female filmmaker as an inspiration, Mirren chastised him. What Mirren was trying to get at wasn't that she should be picking Mendes' inspirations, its that people like Lina Wertmuller and Jane Campion have served as inspiration to many, many filmmakers (male and female), and yet they are largely pushed to the sidelines in favor of male filmmakers when today's young talent are describing their directorial influences. As an aspiring writer, I can say that Edith Wharton has been my hero just as long as John Updike, if not longer. Yet Mirren's right-men rarely acknowledge their female inspirations, and that's a damn shame.
Sexism is still an issue in every field. If you want proof, think of what would happen if Nancy Pelosi cried openly as often as John Boehner or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's saying that the reason there aren't only a few female tennis players who dominate the field (a question that never should have been asked by any journalist who had heard of Steffi Graf, Martina Navritolva, Monica Seles, and the Williams sisters) because women are emotinally unstable. This didn't happen in 1953-that was a comment made at the Australian Open two months ago. In a field that continues to be inexplicably male-dominated like film direction, however, it becomes even more important that we stand tall against sexism of one of the few female directors that has enjoyed mainstream, critical success. And that means that we give Lynne Ramsay the same respect we'd give every auteur that we love-the benefit of the doubt, and a little faith.
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