Why Isn’t Amy Schumer’s Name on the ‘Trainwreck’ Poster?

I went to a screening of Trainwreck this week. I’m not allowed to say anything, other than that it’s maybe one of the best comedies I’ve ever seen. But at the end, my editor turned to me and said, “Wait, Amy Schumer wrote it?” She was sure Judd Apatow had. Why? Because the posters she sees in the subway every morning simply say, “From the guy who brought you Bridesmaids.”

Huh? Amy Schumer is like the queen of America right now—we can’t get enough. So why wouldn’t the marketing department scream her name from the rooftops? Or, at least, put it on the poster of the movie she wrote and stars in? (And OK yes, no one’s name is technically on it, but we all know they mean Apatow.)

The promo image features Schumer, who plays a woman named Amy, wearing a strapless yellow gown in a “hold up a sec” position, swigging an alcoholic beverage in a brown paper bag. Standing behind her is Bill Hader, who plays a famous orthopedic surgeon named Aaron, and Schumer’s love interest. This positioning’s correct. The Saturday Night Live alum acts (really well, I might add — new heartthrob alert!), but he’s definitely a supporting character to Amy’s Amy.

“From the guy who brought you Bridesmaids” is apparently all you need to know. Except, how often is it that a woman writes and stars in a blockbuster film? Not often. It should be celebrated—alongside Apatow of course. The man behind hits like Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, and 40 Year Old Virgin, has has catapulted the careers of countless people including Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, and Lena Dunham to movie star status. Having his name connected to a movie these days basically guarantees box office success. He’s long nurtured Schumer’s work. The movie’s origin story goes that Apatow heard Schumer talking about her dad on Howard Stern’s radio show and he called her up and said I think you have stories to tell. Then she wrote a script, and he sent it back to her to give it another try. “Just to have the confidence to write the script would’ve probably never come to me without him saying I think you can do this, and him encouraging me the whole time,” she said at SXSW following a screening of Trainwreck. “I hadn’t really taken a look at myself and my behavior until he kind of encouraged me to do that.”

So why didn’t Schumer demand equal credit? She’s a loud and proud feminist, “I think that if you’re against it [feminism] you’re a crazy person or you don’t know what it means. And that we don’t actually have it is a bummer. It seems like we should be further along.” Schumer’s standup, Twitter account, and show on Comedy Central, Inside Amy Schumer, have all made strides for women. She’s instigated powerful conversations on rape culture, glass ceilings, sexuality, equal pay, casual sex, and so much more. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she was appropriately rewarded?

But Schumer, who most likely approved the poster, probably knows one of Hollywood’s (and the world’s) dirty secrets: a woman’s nothing without a man to substantiate her. Maybe Trainwreck will be the turning point. When Schumer was asked what she wants audiences to feel on their way out of the film, she said, “I want people to laugh and I want them to leave feeling like they really laughed and have that kind of buzzy feeling after you see a good romantic comedy.”

Of course, she has a greater message, too: “But I want them to think maybe I’ll judge people a little less quickly and be a little slower to label them because you don’t know their story. And feel better about themselves.”

It’s Amy Schumer’s first time fronting a movie. She’s done everything right. So maybe next time, everyone else will follow.

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