The Writers Lab

Meryl Streep, together with New York Women in Film and Television and other female filmmakers, helped fund a screenwriting lab for female writers over 40 to bring in more diverse writers and more female roles on screen (via). As figures clearly show, age discrimination in Hollywood (and not only there) is worse for women and things do not seem to get better.

"The Writers Lab is dedicated to developing narrative feature screenplays written by women over the age of 40. We feel it is critical to nurture the voices of mature women that have not been heard and are in danger of being lost entirely. We look forward to a new landscape where the female narrative is in equal proportion to the male narrative, sharing our stories to strengthen our ties to one another and empower younger generations." The Writers Lab

During the 2013-14 TV season, women composed 29% of employed TV writers, a decline from 30.5% in the 2011-12 season. Of the top 250 US-films, only 10% are female screenwriters. When women are not represented behind the scene, they are not represented on screen, or - if they are - often in limited stereotypical ways. Women over 40, for instance, are almost non-existent or "often stale stereotypes". According to director and casting director Risa Bramon Garcia, "The problem happens when writers and producers don't see women as being sexual after 40 - by sexual I mean complex human beings who are attractive and appealing, vital and powerful, in their 40s and 50s and beyond." (via).

<

According to a study conducted by the Writers Guild of America, West, "(w)omen and minorites have actually lost ground as compared to their white male counterparts". Minority writers saw a 7% decline, employment of female writers fell 5%. Concerning writers in general, no matter which gender, the study came to the conclusion:

“Although writers over 40 continued to claim a majority of all staff writer positions, data from the most recent TV season show that their employment prospects drop dramatically after age 50. Such stark statistics continue to illustrate that the entertainment industry remains a glaringly unlevel playing field.” (via)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
photographs of Meryl Streep via and via and via

Meryl, the Witch

"I'm older. There's some sort of seniority. As a matter of fact, the seniority ebbs as you get older."
Meryl Streep

"America doesn't reward people of my age, either in day-to-day life or for their performances."
Meryl Streep

"Our culture is pretty youth-obsessed, especially people that pass 40. I was not offered any female adventurers, or love interests, or heroes or demons. I was offered witches because I was ‘old’ at 40."  Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep, three-time Oscar winner, 18 times nominated for the Academy Award, in other words, the most nominated actress, number 73 on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid celebrities in 2013, number 92 in 2014 (via) and according to Forbes one of the highest paid actresses (via) experienced a turn in her career as soon as she turned 40: She was offered three witch parts within one year ... and turned them all down (via).

On why she takes issue with witch depiction in pop culture:

“I just have had a political sort of reaction against the concept of old women being demonized and age being this horrifying, scary thing. I just didn’t like that. I didn’t like it when I was a little girl. I don’t like it now."

On why male movie decisonmakers have defaulted to witch characters:

"Once women passed childbearing age they could only be seen as grotesque on some level."

On how a witch role seemed different at 65 than at 40:

"Before that, I had been playing interesting parts. I just thought that it was emblematic of what Hollywood thought of women who pass a certain age: that now they are old crones. It made me mad, so I didn't want to do that or play into it. Now, it's age-appropriate. I am an old crone, I'm 65 and I'm thrilled I get the chance to play such a … big, challenging musical part."

On feeling comfortable in a witch role because Hollywood has improved:

"Things have changed since. That was 25 years ago. Now there’s so much more interesting stuff available.”

- - - - - - - - - - - -
photograph of Meryl Streep on the subway in August 1981 via