When researching for a female director, I realized that there was an ongoing list of male directors. As for female directors, the numbers are extremely low and something ought to be done about it. This demonstrated the validity of the underrepresented females in the media business. This may be due to the invisible glass ceiling that many females have come across. Although it is the 21st century, not many women were able to break through this glass ceiling in the film industry. Gina Prince-Bythewood is one of the few females who were able to successfully develop her career. She is a female director, producer, and screen writer who can be used to set a great example for all women and female filmmakers alike.
As an African-American woman, she has pried doors open for women who have had their dreams crushed by oppression and doors slammed in their faces. She is one of the few African-American female directors who were able to push pass the obstacles and strive for success. She studied at UCLA film school and received two scholarships to attend the university. When she “graduated, she was hired to write for the television series “A Different World” which was also a TV show run by black women.” Some of her directing works included the television shows “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Girlfriends”.
In her debut film, she has worked to create a better image for women. She was given the chance to premiere her debut film “Love & Basketball” at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival where she received an explosive response. The film focuses on a love relationship between two close neighborhood friends who both had the passion for basketball. The female lead, Sanaa Lathan, played the character of an atypical girl who loves basketball. She doesn’t act, talk, or dress like a girl supposedly should and is considered a tomboy. She meets the neighborhood boy, played by Omar Epps, and slowly falls in love with him as they grow up. As adults, they began a relationship but were forced to end it in order to pursue their own dreams as basketball players. Unlike the stereotypical girl, Lathan’s character doesn’t give up her dream for the man that she loved but instead, strived harder to achieve her goal. Prince-Bythewood used parallel cutting in order to show the gender contrast in the road of becoming professional basketball players. In the trailer, Lathan says, “I don’t have it easy like you, alright. There’s no red carpet laid out for me.” Not only does this demonstrate the contrast of female versus male in basketball, but also in society as well. There is always some sort of dichotomy in play that degrades one group of people. Although in the movie, Omar had two women in love with him, he chose Lathan over the usual gentle housewife type. On the contrary, Omar becomes the househusband and takes care of their baby girl as Lathan achieves her dreams by playing in the WNBA.
As an auteur, Gina Prince-Bythewood created this film to depict love and emanate female individuality. This storyline shows the strong characteristics that females can possess. She also makes it clear that any female can have an equal chance in achieving the same amount of success as her other half. In Maggie Humm’s article, she states that “feminitst literary critics have already made a firm decision that gender shapes signature and that there is an aesthetic difference in the way in which gendered signatures write.”(Humm 110) Gina Prince-Bythewood can truthfully be considered for proving this point because her unique representations of women are completely different from other well-known Hollywood films.
In her article, Humm also mentions that, “Gynocriticism is part of the process through which the voices of the silences are becoming heard.”(Humm 95) In comparison, Gina Prince-Bythewood had to put her work out there, making sure her message was clear. In both her movies, “Love & Basketball” and “The Secret Life of Bees”, she illustrated the long and flawed journey that one, specifically females, must travel in order to achieve their goals. She uses this to demonstrate her technique as an auteur. Success can be achieved through sweat, hard work, and sacrifices. The strong characteristics of her female characters illustrate the message that women should not give up because of their gender difference. She also advised women to “always remember that talent has no gender. There is zero reason for this fallacy that men are inherently better suited to direct than women.” And this is coming from a strong independent woman who created many inspirational films.
"REEL Lady: Gina Prince Bythewood « REEL Ladies." REEL Ladies. 30 Aug. 2008. Web. <http://reelladies.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/reel-lady-gina-prince-bythewood/>.
"Gina Prince-Bythewood '91: "The Secret Life of Bees"" UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. 20 Oct. 2008. Web. <http://www.tft.ucla.edu/profiles/social/gina-prince-bythewood/>.
"Gina Prince-Bythewood - Biography." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0697656/bio>.
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