Ideas

Coming to a Theatre Near You

Is Hollywood finally catching up with the real world? Maybe, sort of, yes.

Josie Cox

Feb 12, 2025 — 2 min read

Nika King in "Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot." | Photo: Everett Collection

It’s taken decades, but the face of the movie industry may finally be changing—even if slowly and imperfectly.

A new working paper authored by three academics at the University of Southern California Annenberg, found that across the top 100 movies that came out in 2024, more than half featured a story that was centered on a female-identified actor as a lead or co-lead.

Katherine L. Neff, Dr. Stacy L. Smith and Dr. Katherine Pieper found that the percentage of girls and women protagonists last year hit an all-time high of 54%—a marked increase from just 30% in 2023 and more than double the 20% recorded in 2007, which was the first year for which academics obtained numbers.

Indeed, Neff, Smith and Pieper wrote that 2024 is likely “the first time gender equality has ever been documented across the 100 top-grossing films.” In 2022, according to their research, women accounted for 44% of protagonists, which was the second highest proportion on record.

Far from Perfection

Despite this apparent shift toward gender equality, the researchers also stressed that far more work needs to be done to ensure true representation in the industry.

A painting of a stylish woman walking in a city street with the moon rising. She is looking around her.

Yes, Cities Can Be Sexist. Here’s How to Fix Them.

The idea that urban design can be discriminatory has become more established in recent years. Some city planners are making changes accordingly.

An illustration of a woman working at her laptop; behind her is cross-section of a house; overlaid are pictures of birds and flowers.

When Your Boss Tells You to Come In 5 Days a Week, Here’s What You Can Say

After five years of work from home, return-to-office mandates are everywhere. But research shows that nobody really benefits—not even businesses.

Collage illustration: a black-and-white photo of a woman is reflected in a mirror, with blue, orange and green adornments.

AI Skews Beautiful. What Is That Doing to Us?

Images of people generated by AI tend to be gorgeous, even when creators ask them to be ugly. That could have a profound effect on our emotional wellbeing.

We see the back of Dağdeviren at a piano on a pile of rubble, the shell of a building in front of her.

‘A Scar That Stays With Us’—Two Years After a Devastating Earthquake, a Refusal to Be Forgotten

Two years after a 2023 earthquake devastated swaths of Syria and Turkey, lives are still being rebuilt. Women bear the brunt of it.