Skip to main content
Open this photo in gallery:

A Star Is Born is less a story about its namesake and more about the tragedy that befalls the man who discovers her.Clay Enos/The Canadian Press

Legend (and a Los Angeles Times story) has it that before Lady Gaga screen tested for A Star Is Born, director Bradley Cooper approached her with a makeup wipe, ran it from her forehead down to her chin, and decided only then would she finally be vulnerable enough to play his Ally.

Which pretty much says it all. While heralded as the magnum opus of actor-turned-director Cooper, A Star Is Born is less a story about its namesake and more about the tragedy that befalls the man who discovers her. And that’s always been the case. In its previous incarnations (all three of them), the movie tends to reserve its sympathy for the man unable or unwilling to champion the talented woman he claims to love. And in Cooper’s version specifically, Ally is only awarded agency when she interacts and creates alongside Jackson – especially since we never see her writing or recording without him. A star may have been born as promised, but Cooper’s character consistently eclipses her. And that’s the cinematic equivalent of Bradley Cooper wiping Gaga’s makeup off: because ultimately, he opts to tell Ally’s story through his distinctively male gaze.

It’s also a testament to the false expectations set up by a few of the season’s biggest films. Particularly because in the end, these stories of so-called female empowerment are still being told from within patriarchal confines.

Open this photo in gallery:

While Vox Lux writer and director Brady Corbet doesn’t inject himself into the narrative the way Cooper does by starring in A Star Is Born, the film is still a woman’s story about grappling with fame told through the male lens.

Vox Lux follows suit. The forthcoming film revolves around a teen girl whose musical talent is discovered in the wake of tragedy, and follows how she quickly evolves into an international pop star. Nineteen years later, we meet her again as the mother to her own teen daughter, but we find her as a cynical, jaded version of her former self. She’s been embroiled in scandal, and she seems perpetually on the verge of a meltdown – arguably the result of nearly two decades under the spotlight. But again, the story has been written and told by a man. And while writer and director Brady Corbet doesn’t inject himself into the narrative the way Cooper does by starring in A Star Is Born, Vox Lux is still a woman’s story about grappling with fame told through the male lens. It’s an affecting interpretation of what fame can do to young women after shaping them into stars, but it’s also a story told from the perspective of someone who has never been one.

The same even happens with Suspiria, a remake of the 1977 original that takes place at the fictional Markos Dance Academy in West Berlin (that same year). Quickly, we learn that the academy is controlled by a coven of witches, and that they’re hardly afraid to wield their power through bloodshed. The thing is, this story about strong (terrifying) women is also told by a male director (Luca Guadagnino) and writer (David Kajganich). And while the film is less about the perils of fame than about the darkest possible interpretation of what it takes to maintain order in a chaotic world (or industry), these insights arrive at the hands and interpretation of a man. It’s still a masculine take on a feminine experience.

Open this photo in gallery:

Suspiria, directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by David Kajganich, is yet another film that offers a masculine take on a feminine experience.Sandro Kopp/Courtesy of Amazon Studios

Which are the norms we’ve all gotten used to. All About Eve, a story about a woman grappling with ageism in theatre, was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, while Sunset Boulevard, one of the best commentaries about the realities of age and sexism in film, was also penned and directed by men. Black Swan, a film about the pressures of perfecting one’s craft and their catastrophic results, was helmed by Darren Aronofsky – and he was the same director who used Mother! as a way to shine a light on the perilous dynamics between artist and muse. The risks and dark sides of art and ambition and fame have been long documented. But now it’s time for us to create space for women to tell women’s stories.

Especially since both Vox Lux and A Star Is Born offered more than enough opportunity for women with pop experience to offer their own interpretations. Sia’s artistic approach and her videos were reportedly the basis for Vox Lux’s visuals, and she also scored the movie alongside Scott Walker. So how great would it have been to see her consult on the ideology behind hiding one’s face, or the creative evolution that goes from creating ballads to EDM? Meanwhile, Lady Gaga is one of the most successful pop stars in the world. And if she felt that Top 40 was as empty as the movie implies it is, you’d think we’d be given more time with her writing process – or at least insight into why, as a grown-up woman, she’s given no say in her career trajectory.

The thing is, there’s more than enough room for all types of movies that critique the realities of fame or the darkness of ambition. And maybe some women at the centre of one of those movies wants their directors to wipe their makeup off. But maybe some don’t. And they deserve to share their hot takes, too.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe