For evidence of the wage gap, must we look no further than the big screen?

Question

"Based on salaries earned between June 1, 2007, through June 1, 2008"

Will Smith- $80 Million

Johnny Depp- $72 Million

Mike Myers- $55 Million

Eddie Murphey- $55 Million

Leonardo DiCaprio- $45 Million

Bruce Willis- $41 Million

Ben Stiller- $40 Million

Nicholas Cage- $38 Million

Will Farrell- $31 Million

Adam Sandler- $30 Million

Cameron Diaz- $50 Million

Keira Knightley- $32 Million

Jennifer Aniston- $27 Million

"Smith's megabucks earning power helped lead his male acting brethren to outearn their female counterparts nearly 2-to-1 over the past year. While the leading men took in an estimated $487 million over the past 12 months, the leading ladies earned half that, banking $244.5 million. "

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/eo/20080716/121621950001.html

Answer 1

I see Will Smith in more stuff than Keira Knightley.  That could have something to do with it.

I don't know.  I don't see Jennifer Aniston in that much stuff either.  I don't really understand how Hollywood salaries work at all to be honest.

Tyler J has a good point.  Even if this is discrimination, it's one industry.  There are others where women make more.

Will Smith is in big blockbusters.  I can't name the last movie Jennifer Aniston was in.

Answer 2

It's the dating people.  A woman will go and sit thru an action film and try to be interested, but a guy will not go to see a chick flick, unless you are newlyweds.  It's just simple who puts the butts in the seats.  

Then there is a lack of good roles for women due to the fact that the writers are writing for men.  So, its a vicious circle.  You have to do like Drew Barrymore and produce your own movies, and create a good role.  Not that all her movies are great, but She made a killing off the "Charlie's Angels" series.

Answer 3

Again, we have to consider salary negotiation and the money that went into making and promoting the movies. Nonetheless, all of these people are earning way more than one single person deserves to earn.

Answer 4

In your honest opinion, do you think they should have been paid the same?

*I hope this is just a joke DA you are better than this, stop trolling!

Answer 5

Cameron Diaz- $50 Million

Keira Knightley- $32 Million

Jennifer Aniston- $27 Million

Last time I checked, they generally make **** movies.

They can't be the leads in most huge movies because a female action hero is ridiculous and men, in general, are simply funnier in comedy roles.

I don't like how you listed them starting at the highest earning until you got to the highest earning women, then you lumped them all at the bottom to subliminally make the list look worse. Cameron Diaz made more than most of the guys on that list.

Answer 6

Yes, I would say we should look further than the big screen.

Looking at instances of massively rich people rarely produces useful statistics (I recall a presentation of the richest 5 individuals here used recently to advocate that college wasn't useful, which would also indicate that 40% of successful people founded Microsoft).

There's a wage gap, and it's a problem.  The cause is more controversial - knee-jerk reactionaries will insist that it's bigots evilly grinning over paychecks and shaving 25% off women's salaries, while a more careful consideration might lead to speculation that differences in culture make men more likely to negotiate for higher salaries and float their resumes to try to attract counter-offers than women.  Whatever the cause, any sort of gender-tied difference is certainly a problem that should be addressed.

As for the big screen, you might find (as a few people suggested) that the reason men seem to make so much more is that men seem to land in the primary roles in the big blockbusters much more often than women.  A study of the stars and costars of the top grossing movies in the last 30 years recently revealed that men were overwhelmingly likely to take the star roles in major films, and that in the cases where women got the co-star role, they were generally featured as love interests or damsels-in-distress for the main characters.  So, in Hollywood, I think the beef lies more properly with the people who write the scripts (which call for male leads) than with the people writing the paychecks.

Answer 7

Why aren't you listing the salaries for the super models, of which 99% of top earners are women?

Oh, sorry, I forgot. You are a feminist and a *very* selective about your statistics.

Answer 8

How many hours did these individuals work each? How much of a demand was there for their movies each? There are things to consider before making an ultimate decision on this.

Answer 9

If jennifer aniston or Adam Sandler have a problem with what they get, they can always sign up for more at another studio IF they can convince them to make a better offer.

Answer 10

I'm surprised not to see Jessica Alba and Angelina Jolie on the list.  So does this say that female actors are not valued as much?

Answer 11

I don't know why Eddie Murphy is so high on the list because nearly all the movies he has made in the past decade have been c**p and have bombed at the box office. In fact, his latest, "Meet Dave" ends tonight at our local theater. This is the fastest a particular movie has left that theater. Before this theater was built, a previous movie of his had that dubious distinction at the old one. "Norbit" only lasted a week. Typically, movies play here for at least a month before going away.

Answer 12

They pay the leading men more than they pay the leading ladies.  Ex.  Brad Pitt made $22,000,000 for Mr. And Mrs. Smith while Angelina Jolie only made $ 13, 000,000.  This is consistent throughout the film industry, hence the reason for the wage gap.  The only woman who might be willing to speak out about it would probably be Katherine Heigl.

Answer 13

I think it’s disgusting that anyone gets paid that much money to ultimately play dress ups. It’s disgraceful; imagine how many people they could help with all that money. Looking at list gets me a little peeved.

Answer 14

This is very simple, actors get paid mainly based on their previous box office record.  The more their last movie earned, the more they can negotiate for their next movie.

Blame the millions of moviegoers all over the world for choosing to watch Will Smith's movies more than Jennifer Aniston's.

Answer 15

Gosh, that's tragic.  However does Jennifer Aniston manage to get by on only $27 million?  My  heart bleeds for her.

Answer 16

Ahhhh - but Ad, these things are dictated by the public's demand.  The films with these men enjoy higher gross earnings, and therefore, the male stars can demand/receive a higher salary.  

But at the end of the day, do we really need to argue the point over a woman ONLY making $27 million??????

Answer 17

Well since there's a gap it must be because of gender because it can't possibly be anything else, after all you say so.

Answer 18

Women's careers are also so much shorter.  Will Smith, Johny Depp, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Bruce Willis etc have been around for more than 20 years.  There are no women in the movies who have such longevity and ability to earn as much as men do.