Simon Pegg Vs. Hollywood: 'There Aren't Enough Female Voices In Film'

Simon Says: 'There Aren't Enough Female Voices In Film'

It's no secret that gender equality in Hollywood is about as equal as a set of weighing scales holding a feather and a brick.

And now, Simon Pegg - our new favourite male feminist - has revealed that this needs to change.

In an interview with BuzzFeed, Pegg revealed: "I personally don’t feel there are enough female voices in film. I hope that the recognition of the lack of well-written female characters will be followed by change."

The Hot Fuzz actor added that the crux of this issue is often because film genres are split into gendered categories. For example, romantic comedies are misunderstood as being for women.

"Romantic comedies are about the dynamic between men and women – or men and men or women and women, depending on what the movie is about," Pegg explained. "To say ‘oh I don’t want to go and see that because it’s a girl's film’ is shutting yourself off from some big laughs."

In his new film, a romantic comedy called 'Man Up', Pegg describes the female lead as "honest and true".

He adds that Lake Bell's character, Nancy, is a refreshing change from the usual "unattainable manic-pixie" rom-com characters which he says are "some male fantasy of what a woman is or should be".

Pegg isn't the only one to voice his opinions on the lack of diversity in the film industry - particularly when it comes to women.

In addition to this, last year the 2014 Hollywood Diversity Report suggested that the industry is dominated by white men, with women and minorities dramatically underrepresented both on and off screen.

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Women in Film: Where Are They?

Meryl Streep recently revealed in an interview that she believes it's hard to get movies made about women because many male viewers can't actually emphasise with the leading female characters.

She explained that because Hollywood is dominated by men and male storylines, girls from a young age learn to emphasise with these male characters.

However boys have rarely been required to do the opposite. As a result, Streep says that making male viewers identify with a female lead character is "the hardest thing".

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