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  • Women vs Hollywood

  • The Fall and Rise of Women in Film
  • Written by: Helen O'Hara
  • Narrated by: Helen O'Hara
  • Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

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Women vs Hollywood

Written by: Helen O'Hara
Narrated by: Helen O'Hara
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Publisher's Summary

A call to arms from Empire magazine's 'geek queen', Helen O'Hara, that explores women's roles - both in front of and behind the camera - since the birth of Hollywood, how those roles are reflected within wider society and what we can do to level the playing field.

Hollywood was born just over a century ago, at a time of huge forward motion for women's rights. With no rules in place to stop them, there were women who forged ahead in many areas of filmmaking. Yet, despite the work of early pioneers like Dorothy Arzner, Mabel Normand, Mary Pickford and Alice Guy-Blaché, it soon came to embody the same old sexist standards. Women found themselves fighting a system that fed on their talent, creativity and beauty but refused to pay them the same respect as their male contemporaries - until now....

The tide has finally begun to turn. A new generation of women, both in front of and behind the camera, are making waves in the industry and are now shaping some of the biggest films to hit our screens.

In Women vs Hollywood: The Fall and Rise of Women in Film, film critic Helen O'Hara takes a closer look at the pioneering and talented women of Hollywood and their work in film since Hollywood began. And in understanding how women were largely written out of Hollywood's own origin story, and how the films we watch are put together, we can finally see how to put an end to a picture that is so deeply unequal - and discover a multitude of stories out there just waiting to be told.

©2021 Helen O'Hara (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

What the critics say

"Fascinating and righteous, Women vs Hollywood will be a game changer...as inspiring as it is informative." (Terri White, editor in chief of Empire)

"An enlightening page-turner, stacked with stories and stats that will have your jaw on the floor." (Anna Smith, host of the Girls on Film podcast) 

"This is the film history we need: one that gives leading roles to people who usually only get to be background players." (Pamela Hutchinson, film historian and critic)   

"A fascinating polemic." (Sunday Times)

"'A powerful, sobering and vital work." (The Mail on Sunday)

"A page-turning read, peppered with humour." (Sight & Sound

"A must read." (Edgar Wright) 

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