Not your daddy’s little girl

Julia Keller, of Chicago Tribune, wrote about the current crop of unpunished dragon ladies:

They’re not meek. They’re not mild. They do as they please and they don’t play well with others. They’re misfits with moxie. And unlike the powerful female characters of a previous generation, they’re not depicted as witches, shrews, hags, evil stepmothers or shriveled-up spinsters who eventually get their comeuppance.

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The new breed of brash, audacious woman has pushed into literature as well. Lisbeth Salander, heroine of the best-selling mystery novel “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” by the late Stieg Larsson, published last month in paperback by Vintage, is “prickly and irksome” but somehow still alluring: “She was like a nagging itch, repellent and at the same time tempting,” the narrator notes. With her tattoos and her piercings and her heavy boots, she’s no debutante. Instead, she’s a brilliantly efficient investigator. Ditto for Darlene O’Hara in Peter De Jonge’s “Shadows Still Remain” (2009), a sassy woman who breaks rules and gets results.

To be sure, strong women characters have been around for centuries. Antigone was no slouch, and if you knew what was good for you, you didn’t mess with Lady Macbeth. But what’s new about the current pack of powerful females is that by and large they’re not punished for their bold, pushy ways. They get by with their brassiness. From the singer Pink to Jada Pinkett Smith — who plays a purposeful, principled nurse in the new cable series “Hawthorne” — such women aren’t forced to apologize for forthrightness and verve.

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Nowadays, many female characters are both pugnacious and popular. Even with a smart mouth and comically poor housekeeping skills, Hunter’s character in “Saving Grace” is not exactly hard up for male companionship. She has a rich and varied social life. She’s a party girl, able to knock back a half-dozen Budweisers and fill up a trio of ashtrays in a single night, but somehow she’s on time for work the next morning. McCormack’s character in “In Plain Sight” is notoriously short-tempered and ill-mannered, but if you’re in trouble, you want her in your corner. And she’s dating a handsome pro athlete. In the current film “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” Amy Adams portrays Amelia Earhart as bold, dauntless, daring — and sexually aggressive with Ben Stiller’s character. The self-confident Stephanie (Sandra Oh) in the 2004 film “Sideways” has no problem speaking her mind — or filling her dance card.

Why are such women showing up on our screens, pages and iPods? Tracking down a single tap root for a cultural shift is always tricky, but many of the works featuring powerful, alluring female characters — such as “Nurse Jackie” and “Saving Grace” — are created or produced by women.

Seeing that women are starting to show up in important places, the expectation may have become exceedingly high – you’re going to have to bake your cake and eat it too. Perhaps my expectation regarding the strong modern woman has been set at this level of success that it was particularly startling to see how Christine in Dragged Me To Hell was depicted in the film. It should be noted that these fierce women Keller spoke of already possessed some power to level the playing field within their context. When you have to climb your way up – keeping in mind the need to appear as a good and competent person like Christine did in the film – perhaps bulldozing wouldn’t be the preferred route. Being mindful of others’ feelings and strategic about when to speak up may still be the smart way towards movement, lateral or vertical. However, due to the increased exposure to loud and successful women, perhaps in time people would be more at ease with (rather than frightened by) women taking the bull by the horn. I know that part of my being able to work with strong willed women has to do with my attributing their tenacious manner to their personal characteristic (of a willful individual) rather than ‘taking it personally.’ Doing so may  prevent unnecessary ego injury or the imposing of moral compass, which people tend to fall into when dealing with these women. This is an up side of growing up with a strong willed woman – familiarity breeds content (or just specific competence)? Increased acceptance may eventually make the idea of ‘having it all’ less a fantasy for these women – until then, it may pose as another oppressive ideal that women feel they must live up to, being aggressive and successful, just like ‘that woman on TV.’

What marks a great performance?

This is Kate Winslet’s year. Having won the Globes for both best supporting and lead actress, and coming off a supporting win for The Reader at the SAG, she’s set to win the Oscars for her performance in The Reader (but in a different category). She is the youngest actress to have the number of Oscars nominations she does. So she’s pretty impressive, acting wise, yeah? Here’s the thing: I don’t think Kate Winslet is all that great. Not to be the contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian or some shock value, having seen Kate Winslet in many of the roles that she’s acclaimed for and won the adoration of fans the world over, I can safely say that none of them has been great, to me. There have been some good ones: she was serviceable in Sense and sensibility, for example. While no actor is without a disbeliever, the fact that she’s got such a huge fan base (presumably because of her acclaimed performances) prompts me to ask: what marks a great performance? I mean, not just good performances, but great ones. I looked far and deep to bring you this very scientific break down:

1. S/he  (33.33%)
2. The role as written & directed (33.33%)
3. Me (33.33%)

All characters are necessarily, to be authentic in some ways, born from some part of the actor’s self. I think it’s important that there’s a fit between the role and the actor (or his/her persona, if s/he’s famous). Or, if there is no obvious fit, the actor should transform him/herself in a way that makes him/herself ‘disappear’ into the role, physically and emotionally. Actors are more successful at this with some roles than others, depending on the fit they find. Keira Knightley’s pouty looks and angly demeanour, for example, in my opinion, were soften more drastically (and therefore worked better) for Pride and Prejudice, but not so much for the role of The Duchess (and therefore less successfully), even though both were period pieces that required her to look a certain way. In Kate Winslet’s case, I’ve always felt like she was Kate Winslet acting in different roles, even with the different ways that she transformed her looks. Admittedly, it is harder for more famous actors to just simply become characters, but it’s not impossible (with or without the help of disguises; Charlize Theron gave a great performance in Monster, albeit with the help of make-up).

Girl Talk: Heroine & Villainess – Woman-child

Author: amberlita
Heroine: Matilda from Leon
Villainess: Suzanne Stone from To Die For

Matilda – Leon (Besson, 1994)

I didn’t intentionally choose these two characters to contrast them but in considering them afterwards, it’s worth remarking just how much they complement each other. Matilda is the woman-child, Suzanne is the child-woman. Our heroines come in all shapes and sizes and Matilda may be the only child female character I find admirable, whereas Suzanne is someone I wouldn’t piss on if she were on fire. Matilda, a poor 11 year old girl from a broken home forced to grow up faster than the years can pass, with a forceful attitude and an inner strength lacking in women 3x her age. Suzanne, a woman so spoiled and self-centered you want to put her over your knee and smack the sensibility into her with a yard stick.

Matilda is an endlessly fascinating character to me. Like every young girl she carries the desire to be a woman faster than she ought to be. Some of the shots I posted may not be familiar to folks cause they are from the Director’s Cut, where Matilda’s Lolita-like role is fleshed out in more suggestive but (thankfully) nonexplicit scenes. In the American release I could never quite decide if there was meant to be a mutually romantic note developing or if Leon’s confession of love near the end was paternalistic. In the DC it’s a bit less likely to be the latter. Matilda blatantly asks him to be her lover, a ridiculous notion and yet why shouldn’t she? She’s already acted as a mother-figure to her younger brother, suffered the loss of people she loved and hated, been forced to independence…it is not so unexpected that she seeks this as well.

Yet she’s still a child and we can always see that. She rebells, she plays dress-up, she watches cartoons. All the while exhibiting wisdom that I think most of us would lack if thrust into her situation without the tootelage of an uncaring family and unfair hand dealt. She’s a woman in her own right. Mature beyond her years and would we all have a bit of that wisdom even at our age could count ourselves lucky.

Suzanne Stone is the poster-child for vanity. She’s played perfectly by Nicole Kidman and written perfectly too, as I don’t recall a single scene where Suzanne isn’t doing or saying something to advance her career prospects which may in fact be the only thing this woman ever thinks about. She doesn’t just believe she was meant to be a star journalist, she believes she deserves to be one. Inherently, as a divine gift. Moreover, she believes you ought to feel priviledged to be a part of her ascent to superstardom. It is almost ludicrous how vane Suzanne is. I’ve never met a woman like her and I hope I never do. This is the woman women love to hate and the worst part is that she knows it. She knows what she has and that you don’t have it and that your natural reaction should be to envy her.

And she’s right, in a way. She has all the things we are trained to strive for as a woman, intentionally or not. She’s flawlessly beautiful, wealthy, married the guy all the other girls wanted, has a perfect home a perfect wardrobe, and grand career aspirations. There’s a few snags in her perfectly tailored yellow polka-dot suit though, not the least being that she’s a complete moron, lacking in the basic ability of self-analysis. It’s like Suzanne sprung from her mother’s womb already with her hair neatly tressed and skin perpetually unblemished. Suzanne’s never known herself to have a weakness and if Freud is to be believed she’s also never bothered to develop a superego. She is the center of her own universe.

I could go on and on describing her faults but ultimately this has to end. It’s not hard to see where the line becomes drawn with these two. Character isn’t born of age but of hardship. Little chicks breaking through shells. Matilda has to fight her way through and comes out the stronger for it. Suzanne has the whole thing chipped away for her and her character is crippled permanently, ultimately leading to her demise. I guess age really is just a number.

Girl Talk: Heroine & Villainess – Heroine or Villainess?

Author: Kari
Heroine: Selene from Underworld
Villainess: Selene from Underworld

Heroine or Villainess?

Selene – Underworld (Wiseman, 2003)

Everyone knows I love the Underworld movies. The lead character, a female vampire named Selene has really captured my interest and my heart. Is she a heroine, or is she a villainess, or is she just an innocent bystander caught in the middle of centuries-old lies.

Selene is a Death Dealer, a heroine to her coven, a villainess to all lycans. For the past 600 years, her job has been to seek out and destroy all lycans, the immortal enemies of the vampires. Her only reason for hunting and killing is revenge for the destruction of her family 600 years earlier. Her centuries of training have taught her the lycans are responsible for the death of her entire family. Lycans are evil and must not be permitted to live. She never once questions this information. Selene is a soldier, she does her job very well, almost too well and after 600 years, she has finally begun to question herself and her devotion to this cause.

It all starts one evening while Selene and her fellow Death Dealers are following a group of lycans. She happens upon a human, Michael, and is immediately drawn into Michael’s human innocence. At that one moment she is oblivious to the war that is happening around her. She immediately catches herself and reminds herself what her purpose is…revenge…to hunt and kill all lycans, that is all, nothing else.

Selene easily dismisses this moment as some type of school girl infatuation and continues to investigate the whereabouts of the lycans. During her investigation she realizes Michael is more than just a mere human, he is the key to her salvation. He is also the key to the lycan’s salvation and they will do anything to get him, even turn him into a lycan.

While trying to keep Michael away from the lycans, Selene forms an unusual friendship with him. She has never known love. She has never let herself love. Unbeknownst to Selene, Michael has been bitten and is now a lycan, her immortal enemy, the enemy she has sworn to hunt and kill until the entire species is eradicated. Michael is completely oblivious to the lycan/vampire war and has no idea why a strange man would bite him or why a beautiful strange woman would help him. All he knows is he is in love with Selene. With the full moon approaching, Michael begins to notice signs of the change. He turns to Selene for answers.

Upon learning the truth about Michael, Selene sets out to find answers to all those questions that have been haunting her since meeting this mysterious man. She cannot bear the fact that duty implies she kill this man, this lycan, whom she has fallen in love. Digging into the past is forbidden, however, that does not stop Selene. She needs answers, now. Through research she soon realizes her entire vampire existence is a lie.

She is not the heroine her coven has made her out to be, she is a killer. The lycans did not destroy her family, it was the vampires, her own kind. They spared her life six centuries ago, giving her immortality and turning her into a warrior, a heroine to the vampires, a villainess to all lycans, including the man she now has fallen in love with.

Selene faces the biggest challenge of her life. Does she continue on her same path, live with the lies that she has been told and kill Michael, the only person she has ever loved? Does she defy her coven and leave with Michael, her sworn enemy, or does she save Michael and the rest of his species; thereby becoming a heroine to the lycans?

Selene’s love for Michael takes over and she ends up killing her mentor, her teacher, her vampire father. The man responsible for her immortal life, the man responsible for telling her lie after lie, the elder to her own coven. She, herself, is now the immortal enemy of her coven, a villainess to her own kind. Does this make her a heroine to the lycans?

Girl Talk: Heroine & Villainess – One’s Place in The World

Author: Brittni

Heroine: Hildy Johnson from His Girl Friday

Villainess: Norma Desmond from Sunset Blvd

Hildy Johnson – His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)

What I admire about Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday is that she doesn’t know what she wants. She thinks she does, but it’s never what may be the best for her. Cary Grant is arguably the star here, but Rosalind Russell does something most of his costars never do – upstage him. First of all, Hildy Johnson is beautiful and smart. She walks into a room, and you know she’s there. She just stands tall. She talks fast. She can’t waste a moment – she’s a newspaper woman, so there isn’t a moment to waste with the news constantly changing. Sure being smart and beautiful are great attributes, but that’s not really what sets her apart.

She holds her own. Not only against all the newspaper men, but against the biggest sleezeball of them all – her ex husband. Of course she falls for him – but it’s not because she is fooled, but because she’s just like him. I can only admire that in a woman. She’s willing to take on every man she meets and match them, even out do them.

When we meet her, she’s willing to give it all up for a home life and a family. She believes this is what she wants. Even though Hildy is strong – tougher than most, sometimes we all need help from someone who knows us best to remind us. Hildy is no exception.

I don’t know why I admire her so much out of all the female protagonists out there. I know there might be better ones – but I’ve always loved her character Hildy. Maybe it’s the speed she talks at. Maybe, it’s her beauty even in the toughest work world. But, I think it’s her spirit through it all. The audience knows that Bruce and her aren’t meant to be from the moment we saw Walter (Cary Grant). But, I don’t think it’s necessarily that Walter is the only one for her either in the end. The spirit you see in her – what makes her eyes light up the most is her job. It just so happens that Walter feels the same way about his job. They’re equals in every which way. What better than to share what you love with someone who loves you back? It’s a lifestyle choice. When she’s working she’s having an adventure. She’s not a hero in the sense of saving anyone with the exception of getting the story – but she seems to have it all even when she thinks she needs something else. I guess what I admire the most, is that Hildy had the choice. She could’ve gotten on the train if she really wanted to – but like all of us, we need reminding of where we are really meant to be.