This Is the Badass Way Jessica Jones Is Helping to Bridge the Gender Inequality Gap
Before shows like Stranger Things and Glitch were commanding our full attentions, it was Netflix’s Jessica Jones that had us physically unable to put down the remote.
Season one, starring one of our absolute favorite actresses, Krysten Ritter, was everything we could have hoped for and more. Now, word on the street is that season two of the two-time Emmy-nominated show is about to get even better, because — get this — it will be directed entirely by females.
That’s right, ladies: All upcoming 13 episodes of this killer show about badass chicks will be run, by, well, badass chicks.
Following in the footsteps of other series, such as Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar (the first to employ the practice), it’s a move being made to bolster the show’s underlying message of female empowerment.
Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg said at a conference for diversifying entertainment in Hollywood Friday that hers was “a conscious decision” to increase diversity, saying, “It’s very important that showrunners do that” — a message that Hollywood no doubt needs to hear more of, especially with the gender wage-gap not expected to close until 2069. Need more proof? A recent diversity report from the Directors Guild of America showed that women directed only 17% of last year’s analyzed television episodes, up just 1% from the prior year. Oof.
So when can we expect to see these Jessica Jones female-orchestrated masterpieces? Melissa said the scripts were “in the midst of completion,” with shooting expected to begin next year.
Can. not WAIT.
Do you think this is a smart move for the show? Share @BritandCo.
(h/t NY Mag, photos via Nicholas Hunt/Getty + Marvel’s Jessica Jones)