Boadacia leads her men into battle
According to Steve Bannon, “women are taking over society?. Well Mr Bannon, quick news flash – women have always ruled society…well not quite and not always, but often enough. It’s nothing new and as far as I can see, we have come no harm to date. Of course a few might argue that Margaret Thatcher did harm to her world and maybe she did a bit, but on the whole she did a good job, we’re still here undamaged, so get over it Mr Bannon, the world is not about to collapse under the weight of a few strong, brave women.
A few other examples go back a few hundred years: Boadicea did quite well, though she is said to have poisoned herself after becoming the heroine of her Celtic people by standing up to Rome, Elizabeth I did extremely well, surviving her childhood under her unpredictable father Henry VIII and going on to rebuff the Spanish Armada and amazingly resisting getting married. I personally doubt she really was the Virgin Queen, she seemed to have enjoyed male attention and had a couple of rather attractive suitors, Leicester and Essex. Things went well under Queen Victoria, at least England did, not sure about the rest of those countries, England busily occupied and claimed as part of the British Empire…although India has got its own back with cricket.
Eleanor Roosevelt had a lot of good influence on American society, but I don’t think she took it over. A few others spring to mind: Dolley Madison, Rosa Parks, Sally Ride. … the list is long but we are all still safe from a Female dominated society!
With Katharine Hepburn
Eleanor Roosevelt
Katharine Hepburn told us the story when we worked on The Lion in Winter, of how she was considered box office poison in Hollywood at one point. So she left and did a Broadway play The Philadelphia Story, to great success on Broadway. Of course Hollywood wanted to film it and when it came time to get it going, guess who owned the rights – clever Kate. So they were stuck with her in the lead…she became a huge star again and the rest is history.
The current World seems to be sad and in much crisis and many people are behaving badly. But here’s one story to warm your heart…if you don’t already know it. During the terrible Indonesian earthquake, one traffic controller at the airport stayed at his post to ensure that a commercial airplane, with passengers, took off safely during the disaster. He died after jumping from the control tower as it collapsed. If that’s not humanity at its best I don’t know what is.
Gary Kurtz: Producer
I cant end this blog without remembering Gary Kurtz, who has just left us. Producer of the first Star Wars movie, Gary was a gracious, kind man and one of the good guys in the Industry. I had the privilege of being on the London Academy Events committee for a while, which he chaired and a man more dedicated to our industry, without looking for personal gain, you could not meet. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
Till next time friends.
