: Icons like Reese Witherspoon (Hello Sunshine), Nicole Kidman (Blossom Films), and Frances McDormand have shifted the narrative by optioning books with complex female leads. This has moved mature women from "talent" to power brokers .
The narrative for mature women has moved from (simply being on screen) to nuance (how they are portrayed). While ageism still exists in the "youth-obsessed" corridors of Hollywood, the current trend suggests that the most compelling and profitable stories in modern cinema are currently being told by women who have lived long enough to have something to say.
: Shows like Hacks (Jean Smart), The White Lotus (Jennifer Coolidge), and Succession (J. Smith-Cameron) allow for "thorny" characters. These women are allowed to be unlikable, ambitious, sexually active, and flawed , breaking the "nurturing mother" archetype.