Dear, Steven Spielberg
(from Women’s History)
Dear Mr. Spielberg:
As a fan of your films and a fellow history nerd, I’m always excited to hear about your new projects and the upcoming stories you’ll tell. But I thought it was time to drop you a line to let you know about the whole world you’re missing out on — and we, as your audience and fans, are missing out on too.
Over the last…say…25 years, I haven’t seen you take up any women’s stories. The first time this entered my mind I just knew it couldn’t be true, so I headed straight for your filmography on trusty ol’ IMDB.com.
While scrolling through your oeuvre there, I kept thinking, Of course, Spielberg has directed women’s stories! Sadly, not really.
In fact, the only woman-centered film you ever directed was The Color Purple. That was 1985. And sure, The Sugarland Express (1974) mostly centers on Goldie Hawn’s character, but you made that little-known film in 1974.
In the past 30 years, not one woman’s story has sparked your interest? Not a spy or a thief or a politician?
Now, I understand sometimes circumstances dictate you make a particular kind of movie (e.g., industry “standards,” box-office draw, those pesky societal norms). But in the past three decades, you think you would’ve sneaked in just one story of a woman in history. But nope, not one. Nothin’.
Again, I realize it’s not all your fault, and I don’t completley blame you. I imagine people in “the biz” usually don’t come to you with these kinds of stories. In fact, most people don’t discover compelling, historically based stories about women unless they’re looking for them (which warrants another letter entirely). But I promise you, they are there.
I have read thrilling, stirring, action-packed stories about women — the same kinds of stories that probably inspired your films like Schindler’s List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, and Bridge of Spies. (You see that, don’t you? That’s a lot of guys right there.)
In case you have not been exposed to this history, I thought I would suggest some true stories of women who acted up, who did the impossible, who rose to the occasion, who ruled a people, who made waves, who blew the whistle, who…well, you get the idea.
So, what about this bestseller?
Or, since I know how you like WWII, how about one or two of these?
Interested in someone who was scandalous for her time?
What about the story of the first woman to run for president? No, no, silly, not a story about Hillary Clinton. The first woman to run for president was Victoria Woodhull in 1872. And almost no one ever learns this true story.
See, this is how much we need you. We need a historical auteur (with some clout) to tell the stories of women and make those women visible.
And, by the way, Victoria Woodhull had quite the life. Check it out. It might make a great movie, you never know.
All the best,
Women
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