I Hate Strong Female Characters

[Feo Takahari]

But it only works one way. You never see a movie open up with a "I'll show you how badass the MC is" scene where he chops up a group of nameless female bandits with his blade.

On the other hand, you do see slasher films that begin with a lustful and materialistic girl getting chopped up by the slasher. This has interesting implications for what qualifies as a "bad" woman in film versus a "bad" man in film. (Then again, there doesn't really seem to be a "slasher" genre in novels, so that's somewhat apart from this site's focus.)

Back to the original topic: I've been thinking about this, and I think the perfect model for what a "strong" woman in film has become is Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon. On the one hand, she doesn't really have any flaws, beyond the flaws of her entire society--she's strong, brave, and a better fighter than any of the men. On the other hand, she doesn't really get to do much, and the film could easily be rewritten to remove her. She seems to exist primarily so that Hiccup can have a love interest.

I don't mention this as criticism--there's nothing inherently wrong with Astrid--but rather to point out that she's not what anyone has been asking for. When people said "We want strong female characters," the women they were thinking of had much more in common with Hiccup than with Astrid--they wanted women who could take center stage in the story, struggling and growing on their own personal journeys. I'd like to see more female characters like that, and I don't think that means eliminating any other sort of characters--I want more art, not less.

 

[Zero Angel]

With Shrek, it's not exactly differences "races" in the send of human races, though, is it? It's more like separate species before the transformation (ogre v. human).

My years with D&D (both playing and reading) have trained me to look at different "species" as different races, especially with all the half-species. So that's probably at least part of why I reacted the way I did. Also, the idea that the "ogre" of the characters is more a reflection of who you are as a person and accepting the ogre means accepting yourself for who you are, makes it seem like the ogre-qualities can manifest in any human of that world. Aren't the girl's parents human after all?

 

[A. E. Lowan]

My years with D&D (both playing and reading) have trained me to look at different "species" as different races, especially with all the half-species. So that's probably at least part of why I reacted the way I did. Also, the idea that the "ogre" of the characters is more a reflection of who you are as a person and accepting the ogre means accepting yourself for who you are, makes it seem like the ogre-qualities can manifest in any human of that world. Aren't the girl's parents human after all?

Spoiler: Spoiler about the princess's parents

Just her mother. Her father is the Frog Prince.

 

[saellys]

I've read so many positive comments about Pacific Rim here at MS that I'm feeling impelled to watch it now.

Dooooooooooooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

I thought Pacific Rim was really well done myself. I didn't so much think about the characters as much as I enjoyed watching robots punch the crap out of giant beetle-looking things. However, I did notice that Mako stood out amongst the cast. I kept feeling like this was Raleigh's movie, but the more I watched it, Mako shares the spot light.

I don't go into popcorn movies expecting to analyze it, so I find it interesting so many people are getting all these multi-layered meanings from things. That's good though. That's what will make this movie stand head and shoulders above other big budget smash fests. It actually has some substance if you stop to look at it.

And cheap plug: I have a review on my blog.

I dig your review! Mako was definitely the one who got actual character development, as opposed to Raleigh, whose arc basically happened in the first ten minutes, before the "story" even begins.

After my first viewing I was like, "Rar, I'm full of testosterone now!!1!" And then I went and read a few very thoughtful reviews and started chomping at the bit to see it again. It's rewarding to watch a second time. There are all sorts of interesting visual details and themes, and I am still astonished at the depth of each character and the economy of how their personalities were conveyed.

 

[Philip Overby]

Thanks, glad you liked the review! It wasn't super in-depth, but just my overall thoughts about the movie.

I would love to see the movie again when it comes out on DVD and see if I can pick up more of these details that I may have missed when I was too busy being in awe of all the monster smashing action. I can't say I would ever do the same for Transformers.

 

[Zero Angel]

I've been wanting to see Pacific Rim since I saw the first trailer for it last year

Yins are not making it any easier!

 

[Nihal]

I usually don't read reviews, the majority of them are written by people I don't know (and couldn't care less :x) and I always fear I might stumble upon a spoiler. I hate spoilers!

However, I ended reading your review, Phil... Yep, I want to see this movie and I'm really curious about Mako too. >.<
By the way, the random photo at the end of your review got me laughing.

 

[Philip Overby]

Yeah, I hope I didn't spoil anything! I try not to really write reviews, per se, but just sort of like that moment after you finish a movie and your turn to your friend/husband/wife/whoever and say "So what did you think about that?" I love those little discussions after seeing a movie.

The random photo was not so random. Took me a while to balance that doorstopper on my head.

I'm interested to explore the movie further upon a second viewing. Maybe I'll have more to add about Mako after watching it again. I'm glad people are getting so much insight from an action movie. I hope this is a sign of things to come. But knowing Hollywood, it's probably not.

 

[Antaus]

This is something I've mentioned in a few other threads--women as cowards (who aren't portrayed as adorably childlike)! Women as tyrants (who don't wear black leather bustiers and use blood magic)! Women as geeks (who don't turn pretty in the span of a montage)! Give us all the women, everywhere!

It was an interesting, and VERY long article. however to be honest this is never something I've really had a problem with in my stories. I have female characters who run the gambit both as people and physically.

Maria - Short black hair, flat-chested, muscular yet slender (not buff like a man), and puts the B in brutal. Has absolutely no compunction about killing due to being trained as an assassin since she was a child. Maria is also very intelligent and often three steps ahead of other people in a situation. Can be very seductive and manipulative if required, though she prefers the 'bash it with a club' approach. Has a disdain for people in general and about the only people she cares about at all is her family. There is a lot more to the character than this, however I'm just covering basic highlights.

Casey - Shoulder length blond hair, 5'4", weighs about 250lbs, and also doesn't give a sh*t. Despite being obese Casey is not lacking in self-confidence. She has a very upbeat personality, high paying job, tries to help people who need it, and is of average intelligence. Casey knows basic self-defense and can handle street level thugs, but don't expect to see her doing any sort of special or fancy fighting moves.

Hope - In a lot of ways Hope is your typical absent-minded scientist, in a science fiction setting she's often got her nose in a book or is working on some sort of new invention for the military. Although not naive Hope can be a little scatter-brained and doesn't always pay attention to what's going on outside her head. Physically she's average height with dull red hair, not much of a figure and thick glasses. Even if you 'dolled' her up Hope would still only look average at best. Her defining trait is brains, not body. When Hope puts her mind to it she can dominate just about any subject, not just science. The girl does quantum mathematics in her head for crying out loud.

Mercedes - Set in the world of a modern day mutant saga Mercedes Kindric is one of the single most powerful mutants on the planet and the first 'cape' to ever be shown in the media. While she initially started out being little more than a spotlight grabbing rich b*tch, in the story Mercedes eventually goes on to lead a team of super heroes. She's smart, sexy, authoritative when she has to be, willing and able to pound a super-villain's head into the ground, and plays a big role in shaping world politics in regards to mutants.

These are just four female characters but as you can see my women come in a lot of flavors and can do anything a man can, and that doesn't just mean bashing heads.