Lack Of Female Leads Proves Movies And Video Games Still Have A Woman Problem

Surprise, surprise -- new statistics show that women are still underrepresented in both the gaming and film industries.

Although we know that films featuring complex female characters are actually good for business, a disappointing amount of video games and movies lack female characters -- developed or not. Tumblr user Flash-Thunder gathered the numbers and pointed out two frustrating facts:

1. Despite women making up 45 percent of the gaming community, only 4 percent of the main characters in the 25 biggest games of the year were women.

2. Similarly, 84 percent of main characters in 2013's 25 highest-grossing movies were males, while men only make up 35 percent of audiences.

While these statistics are by no means good, they actually indicate some improvement. Out of the top 10 highest-grossing films of 2013, three featured complex female protagonists -- "Frozen," "Gravity" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." This is an increase from 2012 in which only two of the top 10 highest-grossing films had female leads, and 2011 in which none did.

Progress is happening far too slowly, but movies such as "The Heat" and video games like "The Last Of Us," make us hopeful that change is on the way. With women making up an increasing share of film and gaming audiences, it's about time for these industries to understand who they're selling to.

[h/t Jezebel]