Investigating older women as lead protagonists: an Australian case study of Stateless (2020)

ABSTRACT

Screen Australia’s Gender Matters Program (2015–2023) addresses the underrepresentation of women in the screen industry. Older women continue to be less visible and stereotyped on screen which will be examined in this paper on the Australian television mini-series Stateless (Freeman and Moorhouse 2020). Stateless is an award-winning series commissioned and screened by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and acquired by Netflix. This case study will apply a framework comprised of five guiding principles to writing older women to analyse the portrayal of the two major female characters. The five principles are based on unpublished Honours research data addressing the representation of older women: as the lead protagonist; as authentic, capable, complex characters; in powerful leadership positions; depicted at work in an occupation in a non-traditional role; and as flawed imperfect characters. Lauzen’s 2021 Boxed In report highlights the underrepresentation of women forty and over on broadcast and streaming services. The case study reveals that the female protagonists in Stateless are two contrasting complex, authentic characters who actively pursue their respective goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Screenwriting
• older female lead protagonists
• female representation
• gender
• diversity

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr Margaret McVeigh, and Dr Amanda Howell, Griffith University for their advice and guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Declaration

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joanne M. Tindale

Joanne Tindale is a PhD candidate at Griffith Film School, Brisbane, Australia. Joanne is an emerging writer and producer whose research interests encompass gender inequity, screenwriting, and the underrepresentation of older women on screen. Joanne holds a Bachelor of Film and Screen Media Production with First Class Honours, a Bachelor of Asian and International Studies, and a Graduate Diploma in International Law. Joanne was the recipient of the Griffith University Award for Academic Excellence in 2015, 2018, and 2020. Joanne’s Honours research was published in the journal Studies in Australasian Cinema in July 2021.