Lisa Joy Reflects on Almost Pitching Reminiscence Under Male …

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Lisa Joy Reflects on Almost Pitching Reminiscence Under Male ...

Lisa Joy, co-creator of the blockbuster HBO series Westworld, is a well-known science fiction writer now, but she faced a lot of sexism and racism when she first started writing in the predominantly white male field of science fiction.

Joy recently revealed to the U.K.’s The Independent that she thought submitting her Hugh Jackman film Reminiscence (which she wrote, directed, and produced for Warner Bros.) under a male pseudonym would increase the film’s chances of being picked up (especially as she was then pregnant with her now-7-year-old daughter).

Lisa Joy Reflects on Almost Pitching Reminiscence Under Male ...

Reminiscence Action

It simply felt like because it was genre and because of its action, that people might take me more seriously,” she said at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday. I figured, “Well, they won’t know what I am, and maybe I’ll just try to do that — try not to have them read it with the implicit prejudice of a woman writing it, ergo it’s not as action-packed or whatever,” because there tends to be wage differences between men and women in every field.

Lisa Joy’s directorial debut

Reminiscence, Lisa Joy’s directorial debut, debuted this weekend in theatres and on HBO Max. The film portrays a futuristic noir in which Miami is flooded due to climate change and global warming.

Veteran Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) operates a failing firm that allows customers to relive their past experiences via an immersion tank. There, Nick encounters the alluring Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), a sinister woman with whom he falls in love. When Mae disappears, Nick has to delve into his own past and the pasts of others around him to figure out what happened to Mae.

Infusing the Film with her Trademark Philosophical Science Fiction

Infusing the film with her trademark philosophical science fiction and complex worlds is Joy, who co-created HBO’s Westworld with her husband Jonathan Nolan (brother of Christopher Nolan). Film noir classics like The Big Sleep are revisited here, along with influences from more modern works like Inception, L.A. Confidential, and Dark City.

It’s a film with a lot of style that takes its time building up momentum. The opening voice-over narration and portions of the conversation made me roll my eyes. But by the time the last credits rolled, I was hooked.

To avoid the sexism she knew she would encounter, Joy considered sending out “Reminiscence” under a male pseudonym. “I figured people would take me more seriously if I used a male alias. “I’ve definitely met a lot of racism and discrimination before in my profession,” she added. “Ultimately, I decided not to do it.”

Last Words

Warner Bros. won a bidding war for the rights to distribute “Reminiscence,” a film starring Rebecca Ferguson, Thandie Newton, and Ramin Djawadi. On August 20th, the film will debut in theatres and on HBO Max. Thanks for reading our Article Lisa Joy Reflects on Almost Pitching Reminiscence Under Male …