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It's wholesale halloween costumes never a good sign when a movie makes you think about statistics.

That's especially true when the movie Halloween Costumes Outlet is "Fifty Shades Darker," the follow-up to 2015's adaptation of E.L. James's hit novel "Fifty Shades of Grey." The movies are supposed to be steamy, sexy romantic thrillers with a splash of kink. But when "Darker" screened earlier this week, I found my mind wandering, not only because of the plodding pacing and cumbersomely long running time. In the film, Dakota Johnson reprises her breakout role from the first film, playing Anastasia Steele, a virginal young woman who just happens to have fallen in love with Christian Grey - sadistic, super-wealthy and Seattle's most eligible bachelor.

Like its predecessor, "Fifty Shades Darker" hews to the house aesthetic James set up, replete with picturesque Pacific Northwest backdrops, expensive homes, nice dresses and the kind of titillating, soft-core sexuality that is staged with coy "good" taste, luxuriating in the protagonists' perfectly proportioned bodies and gothic accoutrements but cutting away before things get too graphic.

There's not much to defend in either movie, frankly. But there are some crucial differences that come into sharp relief upon comparing the two. In "Fifty Shades of Grey," which was adapted by screenwriter Kelly Marcel and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Anastasia was still a college student - dreamily innocent, but bright and alert to the contradictions of her attraction to a dominating, creepily possessive man; the film was animated by an at least somewhat interesting subtext having to do with consent, female desire and self-discovery.

Those undercurrents go almost completely missing in the far drearier sequel, which amounts to an interminable slog of soapy love-talk and fetishy sex scenes. "Darker" is markedly less self-aware, and Anastasia - now a budding book editor - is a far more passive, insipid figure than in the first film. Think Cinderella, with ankle cuffs.

While James herself exerted almost unprecedented control over the first movie, she was joined in the effort by two women: the screenwriter and the director. Both Marcel and Taylor-Johnson having vowed never to work with James again, "Fifty Shades Darker" was written by James' husband Niall Leonard and directed by James Foley.

Did those gender dynamics play into the tiresomely conventional story at "Darker's" core? It's impossible to prove one way or another, but arguably Marcel and Taylor-Johnson brought added psychological insight to a female protagonist who is far less compelling and layered this time out.

Here's where the statistics became more interesting than the spankings and sex toys: As she does most years, Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, recently found that women are dramatically underrepresented in the ranks of high-powered directors. In her annual "Celluloid Ceiling" report, released in January, she found that women comprised just 7 percent of directors working on the 250 top-grossing films in 2016; it was 9 percent the year before.

Lauzen's findings were backed up a few weeks later by the Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. The researchers there looked at the top 100 movies released every year between 2007 and 2016, accounting not just for gender but for ethnicity and age. Out of a total of 1,146 directors, they found that only 4 percent were women, only six of whom were African-American or Asian.

The Annenberg team's conclusion: "There has been no meaningful change in the prevalence of female directors across the top films from 2007 to 2016" and, when studio executives deign to consider a woman to helm a movie, "Hollywood's perception of women directors is that of a white female." It came as no surprise, then, when the Washington-based Women's Media Center crunched the Oscar numbers to reveal that only 20 percent of this year's non-acting nominees were female.

Depressing statistics, no doubt, especially arriving at a time when the movie industry has been under scrutiny by the likes of the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. government for discriminatory hiring and employment practices. And they have all manner of knock-on effects, from economic - how much does Hollywood lose when it ignores the perspective of half its audience? - to basic fairness.

Perhaps most powerfully, though, women's absence as storytellers severely limits the narrative warp and woof of the movies themselves, and we need only travel to the local multiplex to see the evidence. There's no question that "Fifty Shades Darker's" point of view is far more conventionally male, keeping Dornan's character relatively covered up while lingering over Johnson's creamy skin and curves.

John Baer / Universal PicturesThis image released by Universal Pictures shows Anya Taylor-Joy, left, and James McAvoy, right, in a scene from, "Split."

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Anya Taylor-Joy, left, and James McAvoy, right, in a scene from, "Split."

But it's not nearly as unsettling - and downright cynical - as M. Night Shyamalan's imagery in his hit horror film "Split," in which James McAvoy takes on multiple personae as a kidnapper and murderer suffering from dissociative identity disorder. The film co-stars Anya Taylor-Joy as one of three teenage girls held in captivity by the villain, with Shyamalan displaying the kind of cake-and-have-it-too attitude toward his subjects that Hollywood specializes in, both abhorring the suffering of the young victims, but also framing it in a way that is undeniably sexualized.

Lest anyone think that these issues are academic, a documentary arrives in theaters Friday proving that they are anything but. In "I Am Jane Doe," filmmaker Mary Mazzio reveals the sordid world of underage sex trafficking, specifically as it pertains to young women who were forced into prostitution, their "services" made available on the online classified site Backpage.com. In a series of sickening montages, viewers can see how the film's subjects were presented by their pimps, playing into myths as old as Lolita and as new as Anastasia Steele.

This is the moment when I'm obligated to remind readers that I'm not suggesting a simplistic cause-and-effect correlation between movies and real-world behavior. Nor am I arguing that women aren't equally as capable as men of objectifying female figures in troubling ways, although only with genuine parity will we know that for sure.

But I am observing the self-evident fact that film has exceptional - maybe even unique - power to shape and inform our norms, expectations and desires. That might be the chief reason it matters so much who makes them. And that's why a movie culture defined by the white male gaze isn't just unfair and dreary, but toxic.

Check out the latest movie reviews from Michael Phillips and the Chicago Tribune.

Check out reviews for all new music releases from Tribune music critic Greg Kot.

The world's first underwear made from discarded wholesale halloween costumes fishnets and ocean junk could help save sea turtles and whales from the brink of extinction.

According to WWF, more than six swimwear manufacturer China million tonnes of plastic is dumped in the sea every year, posing a serious threat to critically-endangered marine life.

In addition, World Animal Protection says entanglement wholesale swimwear in ghost  fishing gear kills at least 136,000 seals, sea lions and large whales every year.

An  inestimable number of birds, turtles, fish and other species are also injured and killed.

But since 2007, a small portion of this deadly plastic has been collected by the charity Aquafil, which is part of Healthy Seas, an international network to recover abandoned fishing nets.

This waste plastic is then transformed into Econyl, a sustainable regenerated yarn that took Aquafil four years to develop, at a cost of 25m (22.26m).

It is now used in Finnish firm, The Other Danish Guy's Ocean Discovery Collection.

After spending two years developing, the company is now using boxers to change the planet.

The firm was founded by three Finns 'C Tommi L?hde, Harri Nikkanen and Kimmo Korhonen 'C and its first goal was to create the world's most comfortable underwear.

But the latest range stemmed from a desire to change the world.

L?hde explained: I personally have very strong connection to the sea. I was basically born there, as my father is a sea captain.

I still can remember time when the water in Baltic Sea was so clear you could see a coin in 15 meters deep. Nowadays I can't see my arm/s length.

Even if the problem in the Baltic Sea is different than in oceans, there are problems because of people's negligence.

As I began this underwear brand and found out the best and most comfortable material is nylon, I started immediately the search for recycled nylon yarn, specially made from ocean garbage.

We aren't just about making the world's most comfortable boxers and trunks 'C although we do that well.

We want to change the world for the better 'C and basically every good thing in life starts with decent underwear.

That is why we wear our nicest underwear in the most important occasions like weddings, job interviews, parties and graduation. No matter how loud the world rumbles, nothing can undermine an individual who's wearing a piece of decent underwear.

Many people have doubts whether a tiny brand like us can really make a difference. But I feel confident that we can start this movement and make it huge.

After launching on Indiegogo we were 100 per cent funded within less than 48 hours, which shows there are people who care.

 has to really understand customer service to [provide what] feels like a good shopping experience, said Malinda Sanna, founder of the agency Spark. So far, Amazon has nailed shipping and distribution. Then, they kind of fall off.

In the lingerie space, Amazons selection wholesale halloween costumes is currently heavily price-driven. Brands like Playtex sell bras for as little as $7. In Amazons push to build out its private apparel brands, it launched its own line of bras that retail for $10 each. For a new direct-to-consumer brand, a popular business model for digital-born lingerie brands, it's not a good deal.

In terms of evaluating partnerships in retail, wholesale swimwear we want to know: Is there money to be made? said Vosper. As a direct-to-consumer brand, we dont have the markups padding a wholesale partnership that other brands build into their pricing. But once people are sold on our brand, Amazon as a replenishment retailer is huge.

Where Amazon has improved its customer service with Prime swimwear manufacturers Wardrobe and free returns, it's relegated it to Prime member benefits. Typically, those are only available to the company's wholesale brand partners. But its harder for emerging brands, even in the fashion space, to become a wholesale partner. Amazon moves massive volume, so for small brands, its a tall order to fill. It also wants to see a newcomer prove itself on the independent seller platform first, before accepting it as a wholesale partner.