And Starring Michelle Monaghan as Everybody's Girlfriend: Hollywood's Sexism Problem

Robert Downey Jr. Jake Gyllenhaal, Woody Harrelson. Patrick Dempsey. Tom Cruise. Casey Affleck. Ben Stiller. Shia LeBeouf. Gerard Butler.

What do these guys all have in common? They all starred in films (or TV shows) in which their leading lady was the very talented, the very beautiful Michelle Monaghan. She has made a career out of being the love interest or the support system for male leads. I can only guess whether or not Monaghan is frustrated with her lack of career choices. Perhaps she's grateful that she has some sort of niche in a business that's got to be tough for anyone but especially for a woman in her late 30s. I also don't know whether Monaghan auditions for these parts or if she's the "go-to gal" for girlfriend roles.

Either way, however, Monaghan is becoming the Poster Woman for one of Hollywood's major problems: sexism.

Ellen Page, the Inception crew's lone female. All these roles are gender-specific?

Substantial, leading parts for women are rare unless they are in films marketed only towards women (or rather, not marketed to men). You'll never see a heist movie starring more women than men (unless it's a heist comedy). Political dramas, war films, thrillers--these are all genres associated with men. Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty is the obvious exception here, but only because her character is based on a real-life woman. I wouldn't be surprised if someone had suggested changing the character to a man.

Production companies believe that men won't go see a movie in one of those genres if there are predominately females in the cast. And maybe that's true (though I believe a good script and direction will transcend gender). But why is the male audience the only one being targeted? I've heard rumors that women go see movies but I haven't any scientific data to prove it.

Part of the problem is the unwillingness to see male actors in traditionally feminized roles. For a female star to headline an action film, her leading gentleman would have to be just the sidekick or love interest with zero agency of his own or, God forbid, having to be saved from some horror. The gender flip of the damsel in distress myth would be too uncomfortable for mainstream audiences. The only example I can think of is Angelina Jolie saving her kidnapped husband in Salt but that guy was played by some non-star August Diehl. You'll never see Chris Pine or Chris Hemsworh or Chris Evans get kidnapped and then rescued by the likes of, for example, Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde or Amy Adams.

J-Law being awesome in Hunger Games...

Even when a female is allowed to be an action star of her own franchise, like Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games series, the reward isn't more starring roles in films in which her character is the protagonist. Lawrence gets to be Bradley Cooper's totes crazy Manic Pixie Dream Girl in Silver Linings Playbook or Christian Bale's slightly bonkers wife in American Hustle. Granted, she's getting awards attention for those films. But I think a star of Lawrence's clout should be offered something a little more substantial than girlfriend or wife roles. She may steal the movie away from her co-stars but that's only because the film never belonged to her in the first place.

...and then playing a "crazy wife" role in American Hustle.

But not everyone can be Jennifer Lawrence (or Sandra Bullock, who's had some amazing career-changing success with Gravity, The Heat and The Blind Side). Wonder why Jennifer Aniston makes so many comedies? Or why Oscar worthy actresses are clamoring to be in superhero movies? Maybe on some level they enjoy it. But maybe that's all they're being offered. Unless you're Meryl Streep, substantial leading roles in mainstream films just aren't there. Actresses have to take what they can get to pay the bills and raise their profile enough so that they can take a risk with an indie film (like Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin).

Television is usually a good place to go for women when films let them down. Actresses like Vera Farmiga, Toni Collette for a while, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Claire Danes, Kerry Washington and Lucy Liu have all successfully starred in critically-acclaimed series. I think even Halle Berry is starring in a CBS drama produced by Steven Spielberg.

American Horror Story: where 40+ actresses get some meaty roles

But television isn't infallible. Michelle Monaghan got a gig on HBO (True Detective) and she plays Woody Harrelson's long suffering wife. Literally, she has no scenes that are about something other than her marriage or her husband. I like the show a lot. And I understand it's a critique of modern American norms of masculinity. As talented as the people are behind the camera, they've really dropped the ball on fleshing out their female lead. It just hurts a little bit to see Monaghan playing the same role when she is capable of so much more.

What's the solution? Obviously, there need to be more female writers and directors who write complex starring roles for women. Perhaps men besides Woody Allen should start writing strong roles for actresses  Maybe studios shouldn't be so afraid of greenlighting a film with female characters who  actually do things. Whatever the solution, there needs to be a major change in the way Hollywood works for its many talented actresses.