New study finds female protagonists decreased in 2017 films

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press</span>
Published Thursday, February 22, 2018 9:10AM EST

NEW YORK - 2017 may have been the year of "Wonder Woman," but a new study finds that female protagonists were down 5 per cent in the year's 100 top- grossing films.

The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University released its annual "It's a Man's (Celluloid) World" on Thursday. It found that females comprised 24 per cent of protagonists last year, down from 29 per cent in 2016 despite high-profile releases like "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and "Beauty and the Beast" -- 2017's top two films at the box office.

Researchers determined that while 32 per cent of films featured 10 or more female characters in speaking roles, 79 per cent had 10 or more male characters.

However, black female characters increased from 14 per cent to 16 per cent, and Latinas went from 3 per cent to 7 per cent.

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