Portman mostly writes scores for films and TV specials that tell stories about women. The female director Beeben Kidron has collaborated the most with Rachel. In a male-dominated society, it is important not to overlook the fact that these films by women about women receive less recognition than other films. It is questionable as to whether the movies' gender preferences had any effects on Portman's status as a composer. Finally, Portman never had the opportunity to write powerful music.
Music has the potential to be more powerful than the image it accompanies.
It does not have to be an accessory to an image, but can direct the viewer to the image's heart - or overturn it completely. The music played an integral part as the accompaniment to and the main subject of the movie. Since the movie focused on the piano, Nyman had the opportunity of composing wonderfully beautiful piano pieces that were deliberately brought to the viewer's attention. Portman, on the other hand, writes film music as it was originally intended to be - ignored. Evidently, the limitations of the films which she chooses to score along with the general unpopularity of women in music contributes to Portman's lack of popularity among film composers.