Oscar-winning scriptwriter Diablo Cody feels it is hard to push for female-driven stories in Hollywood where the lead is not "necessarily sympathetic or bubbly".
"Obviously there's a situation in Hollywood, where there is not enough recognition for female writers, female directors or female-driven stories. It's nice to be well known and to have people recognize what I've worked on, but what's still hard for me, every time, is convincing people to make a film with a female lead who isn't necessarily sympathetic or bubbly. And that's hard," Cody said at the recent Summer of Sony event in Cancun, Mexico.
The scriptwriter-producer, 37, said while there are popular actors who can play grey parts and be still loved by the audience, it is not the same for female stars.
"That's where the problem really seems to be, is the idea of like how do we embrace a female scoundrel? It's so easy for people to love Jack Nicholson or Warren Beatty in a certain type of role, but it's harder for them to embrace Meryl Streep. So that's what I've run into," she said.
While Cody's award-winning script "Juno" revolved around a teenager tackling her unplanned pregnancy, "Ricky And The Flash" is about a rockstar mother trying to reconnect with her resentful children.
Directed by Academy award-winner Jonathan Demme, the film throws up interesting questions about the conflict women face in juggling their career and family.
In the movie, Streep's children resent the fact that their mother left them to pursue a career in music but there is a line in the film which says "No one asks that question of Mick Jagger."
"Part of the reason I wrote this movie was because I was interested in the idea of when you're following a dream, when do you cross the line to selfishness? At what point is your family going to resent you for pursuing something that you love? And it's a question that haunts me as an artist.
