This week, a Los Angeles Times cover celebrating actresses calling for “a change in the way many stories are told” featured only white actresses on the cover: Margot Robbie, Diane Kruger, Saoirse Ronan, Annette Bening, Kate Winslet, and Jessica Chastain. As new sexual misconduct cases arise-and our memories flood with the realization that this industry we celebrate so often has victims whose artistry will never be realized because of the iniquitous systems in place to keep their voices quelled-it’s a wonder that anything actually moving, anything with a soul manages to reach the silver screen.īut 2017 flourished with performances that highlighted what it means to to be a gay man, a trans woman, a black woman, an immigrant who specializes in holistic medicine, an HIV-positive activist, a struggling mother or even a fallen Valkyrie. Despite the raging fire that has swept through Hollywood since Harvey Weinstein’s monstrous behavior finally came to light, if you managed to escape to the cinema this year you may have found more hope for Hollywood’s future.
