This Changes Everything

Good Deed Entertainment | Release Date: August 9, 2019

7.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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fcuetoAug 25, 2021

An eye opening documentary that uncovers how conscious and unconscious bias from the power group has taken over an industry for a very long time. Happy to see the efforts to make a meaningful, positive change in the past years.

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naaataliegSep 14, 2021

When we watch movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mean Girls, and Smurfs, we are not aware of the subtle gender discrimination that goes on. That being said, This Changes Everything, by Tom Donahue debuted in 2019 to discuss theWhen we watch movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mean Girls, and Smurfs, we are not aware of the subtle gender discrimination that goes on. That being said, This Changes Everything, by Tom Donahue debuted in 2019 to discuss the issue of gender discrimination in the entertainment industry. This film dives into this issue by bringing in different actresses and directors personal experiences in this industry. In addition, history and statistics are mentioned in order to tackle the issue of the overall portrayal of women on screen and the lack of women and opportunities for them behind the scenes. The film begins by discussing the issue of how women are portrayed in the media. It was stated that “of the top grossing films of 2018, 85% of writers were males (Donahue, 2019).” That being said, most movies and T.V. shows portray women through the eyes of a man. This then leads the film to shift towards personal experiences from many famous actresses such as Reese Witherspoon, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Taraji P. Henson. By incorporating these stories, Donahue does a great job highlighting how difficult it was for these actresses and directors to feel comfortable in their work space. The film then goes on and discusses the misrepresentation of women in a variety of ways, touching on how there is a lack of ethnic backgrounds in women characters, sexualization of women and how women are bound to certain characteristics and roles in movies and T.V. shows. The statistics that were mentioned in this portion of the film was shocking. It would be hard to argue with the statistics that Geena Davis had discovered. This is especially true when she had mentioned that “out of the 1010 top grossing g rated movies from 1990-2005, 72% of all speaking roles were male (Donahue, 2019).” It really makes you wonder what we are teaching our children and the generations to come. Another strong point this film was able to integrate was the male perspective, specifically that of the fox chairman, John Landgraf. When Landgraf appears on screen, the audience is able to see an example of how change can happen when one begins to realize the extent of the issue. Landgraf also serves as an example to other male figures in this industry. He is used to help inspire other men to step in and help women have a voice and fight this battle. In all, the film did a very good job incorporating a variety of actresses' opinions and personal experiences, along with statistics that are big and clear on the screen. However, the film lacks intersectionality, thus resulting in a less persuasive argument. Intersectionality is a term that was created by Kimberle Crenshaw in order to explain how there are a variety of categories that play a role in a discrimination, therefore, bringing up the point that discrimination is not rooted from one place. Although the film includes actresses such as Taraji P. Henson, Sandra Oh and Amandla Stenberg, most of the actresses and directors were white. Therefore, Donahue had failed to include testimonies from those with different backgrounds. In addition, the film does not include those with disabilities, those of different sexual backgrounds, those of different age groups and those who have different appearances. Let alone, it does not even include statistics about how these different backgrounds play a role in gender discrimination. Without the inclusion of these individuals, the argument that is being made seems one-sided. Therefore, those in the audience that cannot relate would question whether or not this topic is worth getting involved in. If the film had incorporated an intersectional lens, they would have been able to instill a deep sense of inclusion and be able to tackle the issue of gender discrimination at all angles. It would also elicit greater emotions and improve the directors use of pathos because the film would be more relatable to those in the audience that are not white, skinny or even heterosexual. If this film wants to inspire people to break the gender discrimination in the entertainment industry, it must first touch the heart of all. Works Cited
This Changes Everything. Dir Tom Donahue. 2019. Netflix. Web. 8 September 2021.… Expand

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thaoanhluuSep 15, 2021

How many films which have a story about females did you watch? Is it enough to count it on your ten fingers? I think they are enough for me. I have watched some movies for a long time ago such as Hunger Games, Maleficient, Moana, and Raya andHow many films which have a story about females did you watch? Is it enough to count it on your ten fingers? I think they are enough for me. I have watched some movies for a long time ago such as Hunger Games, Maleficient, Moana, and Raya and The Last Dragon. The latest film that I watched is This Changes Everything. From the title of the film, we could guess a little bit about the content of the film. It may be an action to make something different that never happens. This Changes Everything is a documentary film that uncovers one of the most confounding dilemmas in the film industry, especially gender inequality in Hollywood. The film was produced by Donahue, many featuring interviews with Geena Davis, Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Maria Giese. The film premiered at DOC NYC in November 2015 and was released theatrically by Gathr in 2016. It won the 2019 feature-length documentary award. Gender discrimination was the argument in the film and also existed for many decades. If no one has action, gender discrimination has never disappeared. This Changes Everything is meaningful action.

This Changes Everything has one hour thirty-five minutes in length. It has three strongest logical arguments: we need more diversity on the screen, more stories from women, and more female directors. The audience could see them in the first half of the film. In the second half, they collected the research and the evidence to fight for gender equality. Do they win the case when they send the document to the court?

Some scenes in the film really touched my heart. First, Chloe, who is an actress, talked about her character when she was in the period. I could see her face showed disappointment because her male crew didn’t really know what happen to support her. I believe any woman could feel like her and empathize with her. Second, Maria is a director but she didn’t have many opportunities to do her passion like her colleague, male director. When she sat next to her daughter, she said that she won’t let what happened to her will happen to her daughter. She said with a firm tone of voice. At that moment, I could feel any mother who always loves their children unconditionally even they face difficult issues.

The director told first-hand by some of Hollywood’s leading voices behind and in front of the camera with different angles. After someone was talking, the data and some short scenes of the movie related to would follow. I was convinced by the evidence. He also did a great job to have featuring interviews with different races women as White, Black, and Asian. However, This Changes Everything missed the element of the intersectionality of race. Although they had some voices in the film are black women. However, they just talked about gender inequality. They didn’t mention the race issues that could happen to a black.

Finally, most of the voices in the film are women. They talked about gender inequality in Hollywood. They tried to do everything to increase women’s presence: female writers, female actresses, and female directors. However, the director of the film is male. I believe this is the missing element that harms the credibility of the film.

Overall, the film, This Changes Everything, is great. It reached out to the gender inequality in Hollywood. We need to take action. We want to have more films about females is produced. Each film will be a voice to get equality in gender. Female is 50% of occupying the world, so they deserve to have more presence not only in the entertainment industry but also in any industries. … Expand

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EleanaarghOct 17, 2022

I literally signed up to more sites to review movies just because of this doc. If 80% of reviewers are men that is wildly problematic. This shook me to my core and made me understand huge sections of my childhood experience with media. SendI literally signed up to more sites to review movies just because of this doc. If 80% of reviewers are men that is wildly problematic. This shook me to my core and made me understand huge sections of my childhood experience with media. Send to your bosses, colleagues and teachers.… Expand

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