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Post by Skaathar on Mar 6, 2019 21:38:20 GMT
When I review my mental list of strong female movie characters, I noticed that they tend to be at extreme ends of the spectrum and very few are well-balanced characters.
Some remove all traces of femininity from their character in order to look strong and badass. Examples of these are Sarah Connor in T2, Furiosa, Ellen Ripley in her latter movies, and a whole bunch of Michelle Rodriguez characters.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are those who emphasize too much on their sexuality which makes it hard to take their badassery seriously. Examples are the latest Charlie's angels movies, the women in Sucker Punch, Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft, Halle Berry's Catowman, etc.
Sometimes they're made simply as placeholders for action scenes but given very little personality. This is probably the most common. Examples are Selene from Underworld and Alice from the Resident Evil films. Black Widow also kinda falls in this category, same with majority of female action characters.
Sometimes they're seemingly made as an avatar for socio-political agendas without room to develop organically. Rey from Star Wars, Supergirl from the CW series, the latest Ghostbusters movie, etc.
Then of course there are the mary sues, where the movie tries to bend over backwards just to service them. Rey, Katniss Everdeen, Bella Swan, etc.
It seems Captain Marvel might fall under one (or more) of these categories.
Anyway long story short, I'm looking for the best examples you can give of well-balanced, strong female movie characters. Someone who can be badass but still feminine. Capable but not perfect. Someone who can physically dominant when necessary but also has depth and personality. So far the one's I've come up with are:
Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot)
Red Sonja (Brigitte Nielsen)
Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher)
Alita (from Alita Battle Angel - Rosa Salazar)
Neytiri (from Avatar - Zoe Saldana)
Ellen Ripley from her earlier movies (Sigourney Weaver)
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Post by hobowar on Mar 6, 2019 22:10:28 GMT
Rey?
This is how you start a war in Youtube comment sections.
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Post by poutinep on Mar 6, 2019 22:17:57 GMT
Zoë Washburne.
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Post by Skaathar on Mar 6, 2019 22:26:41 GMT
Good one, though I'm trying to stay away from TV show characters since they have the advantage of having multiple episodes for character development. I could easily think of a number of strong, well-balanced female characters from live action TV shows.
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Post by Vassaggo on Mar 6, 2019 23:11:57 GMT
Good one, though I'm trying to stay away from TV show characters since they have the advantage of having multiple episodes for character development. I could easily think of a number of strong, well-balanced female characters from live action TV shows. I was going to post Buffy Anne Summers, but figured having 144 episodes to delve into her character would be bit unfair. Oddball choice... Dottie Henson from A League of their Own???
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Post by scabab on Mar 6, 2019 23:33:21 GMT
Definitely Ellen Ripley. She is what other characters should take note of.
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havenless
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Post by havenless on Mar 6, 2019 23:34:00 GMT
Dana from Cabin in the Woods
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Post by Skaathar on Mar 6, 2019 23:36:25 GMT
Definitely Ellen Ripley. She is what other characters should take note of. I liked Ripley in her first few movies. But somewhere along the way (can't remember which specific Aliens movie) they ended up stripping away her femininity and most of her personality then made her more of the stereotypical action heroine.
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Post by Skaathar on Mar 6, 2019 23:42:56 GMT
Good one, though I'm trying to stay away from TV show characters since they have the advantage of having multiple episodes for character development. I could easily think of a number of strong, well-balanced female characters from live action TV shows. I was going to post Buffy Anne Summers, but figured having 144 episodes to delve into her character would be bit unfair. Oddball choice... Dottie Henson from A League of their Own??? Buffy was one of the first ones I thought about, then I realized if I was including her that means I should probably also include Xena and her sidekick, then add Daisy Johnson, then white Canary, maybe one of the Charmed Halliwell sisters, then I realized that there were going to be a LOT of female characters that would fit the bill if we allowed TV shows. So yeah, just limited to movies only. I haven't watched A League of their Own for ages now. I remember some of it but don't remember enough about the characters. I do know that it was a pretty empowering movie. A great underdog story.
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Post by scabab on Mar 6, 2019 23:44:50 GMT
I liked Ripley in her first few movies. But somewhere along the way (can't remember which specific Aliens movie) they ended up stripping away her femininity and most of her personality then made her more of the stereotypical action hero. It was Alien Resurrection. She was a real good character amongst the first three movies. It was the fourth one that made a mess of her by bringing her back as a clone with Xenonorph DNA which gave her superhuman abilities and some bizarre emotional connection to them. They could have done without that ever happening but she was great in the first three particularly Aliens.
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Post by politicidal on Mar 7, 2019 0:25:51 GMT
Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) - Fargo
Mace (Angela Bassett) - Strange Days
Karen Cisco (Jennifer Lopez) - Out of Sight.
Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue) - Hollow Man.
Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) - Raiders of the Lost Ark
Susy Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) Wait Until Dark
Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) - Cutthroat Island
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Mar 7, 2019 13:11:00 GMT
Strictly from the action genre:
Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens)
Sarah Connor (T2)
Princess Leia (Star Wars OT)
Mace (Strange Days)
Wonder Woman (I forget which movie she was in)
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Mar 7, 2019 13:12:10 GMT
Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) - Fargo
Mace (Angela Bassett) - Strange Days
Karen Cisco (Jennifer Lopez) - Out of Sight.
Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue) - Hollow Man.
Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) - Raiders of the Lost Ark
Susy Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) Wait Until Dark
Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) - Cutthroat Island
Didn't see this until after I posted. You have no idea how excited I am that someone else is familiar with this character. Great picks, man.
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Post by ThatGuy on Mar 7, 2019 13:22:46 GMT
Gamora.  |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Mar 7, 2019 13:34:46 GMT
Gamora. Good call. She's secretly the best female character in the MCU as of yet. Of course they killed her off.
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Post by politicidal on Mar 7, 2019 14:24:46 GMT
Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) - Fargo
Mace (Angela Bassett) - Strange Days
Karen Cisco (Jennifer Lopez) - Out of Sight.
Linda McKay (Elisabeth Shue) - Hollow Man.
Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) - Raiders of the Lost Ark
Susy Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) Wait Until Dark
Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) - Cutthroat Island
Didn't see this until after I posted. You have no idea how excited I am that someone else is familiar with this character. Great picks, man. Gracias.
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Post by kuatorises on Mar 7, 2019 15:15:14 GMT
Strictly from the action genre: Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens) Sarah Connor (T2) Princess Leia (Star Wars OT) Mace (Strange Days) Wonder Woman (I forget which movie she was in) There's nothing well or balanced about Sarah Connor, at least the last time we saw her. Awesome character, but she's fucking nuts.
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Post by lenlenlen1 on Mar 7, 2019 15:16:11 GMT
Princess Leia Marion Ravenwood Jones Wonder Woman/Diana
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Post by Skaathar on Mar 7, 2019 15:17:26 GMT
Strictly from the action genre: Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens) Sarah Connor (T2) Princess Leia (Star Wars OT) Mace (Strange Days) Wonder Woman (I forget which movie she was in) There's nothing well or balanced about Sarah Connor, at least the last time we saw her. Awesome character, but she's fucking nuts. I have to agree. Don't get me wrong, she's one of my favorite characters of all time, but she was definitely not balanced. |
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Mar 7, 2019 15:29:09 GMT
Strictly from the action genre: Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens) Sarah Connor (T2) Princess Leia (Star Wars OT) Mace (Strange Days) Wonder Woman (I forget which movie she was in) There's nothing well or balanced about Sarah Connor, at least the last time we saw her. Awesome character, but she's fucking nuts. Not sure what you mean. She's not nuts by the end of T2, which is the film I was referring to. The rest of the franchise after that is garbage.
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