Hayek, Aish blast ‘sexist’ Hollywood

CANNES: Salma Hayek and Aishwarya Rai were among those leading a call for greater gender equality in film at Cannes on Saturday. Speaking at the forum organized by trade magazine Variety and UN Women’s HeForShe campaign, the actors spoke of their own experiences of institutional sexism and called on studios, audiences and journalists to alter the discourse.
“Cinema undermines women’s intelligence,” said Hayek, who appears in Matteo Garonne’s competition entry ‘The Tale of Tales’. “They don’t see us as a powerful economic force. It’s incredible ignorance. Hollywood doesn’t have this business vision.”
Hayek said her experiences battling prejudice against Hispanic people had taught her “the one color Hollywood doesn’t ignore is green. We have the power to save their film industry that is collapsing. We cannot stand as victims – [they] don’t care. There’s only one thing people in power care about: money. And we deserve entertainment for us, not our children or husbands.”