Female-Lead Films: Debunked
In film history, the traditional role of a female character was to serve as a romantic interest or enticing distraction to the (often) male protagonist. Additionally, they had to be beautiful, thin, young, and white — after all, nothing is more important to a woman than her looks, right? Generally, the female leads in the pop culture genre that is produced by Hollywood are shallow or unnecessarily sexualized, even if the actresses are considered to be empowering and independent. This enlightened sexism in popular films reflects Hollywood’s gender bias against portraying women as complex or as capable as men.
The notion of “girl power” has been a growing trend in American pop culture. In music, Alicia Keys, Alessia Cara, and Lady Gaga are prominent artists who sing about girls rising above and beyond the standards set by society for women. In film, everyone is familiar with iconic movies such as Legally Blonde, Grease, Twilight, Fifty Shades of Gray, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Disney princesses like Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella, movies that are centered around a female lead. However, Hollywood is reluctant to diversify those female roles and the result is a juxtaposition of what it means to be feminine and powerful.
Legally Blonde gave us a lawyer with an affinity for all things pink and sparkly.
Released in 2001, Legally Blonde, was a popular movie that seemed to challenge the belief that a woman could not be both an intelligent lawyer and a ditzy, pink-loving blonde. Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is the lead role that decides to turn her life around and transfer to Harvard Law School to become a lawyer. Throughout the movie, Elle transforms from a naïve and frivolous girl into a sophisticated and ambitious Harvard graduate. Seems like a progressive plot, right? Not so much.
Elle may have achieved success and self-acceptance at the end of the movie, but her character is still portrayed in the same way that nearly all female characters of the pop culture genre are portrayed — aloof, romantically inclined, and excessively emotional. Elle’s motivation to go to law school started off because she wanted to impress (and hopefully win back) her ex-boyfriend who attended Harvard. Elle is also a stereotypically attractive female: white, young, thin, has clear skin, and wears a lot of makeup . She even ends up in a romantic relationship with another guy. While this movie is definitely a step in the right direction, girls are still being encouraged to associate the color pink with femininity and pursue a romantic interest.
Twilight taught us that a woman’s story should be defined by her relationship with men
Remember in the late 2000’s when everyone was on either “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob” but no one was on “Team Bella”? The saga was centered around her, yet, she her actions and thoughts were dictated by her obsessive love for Edward (and at times, for Jacob). For Bella, her only purpose for existing was to be with Edward, a mysterious and dangerous vampire who felt extremely protective — more like possessive — of her. Edward and Jacob are always saving her from other vampires and threats because she is a puny, mortal woman. Bella has no agency of her own and submits to Edward’s advances, eventually marrying him and becoming a vampire herself. Her lack of ambition and complexity counteracts the idea that her role as the main character is significant; she is a static character who’s only goal in life is to be with her creepy, vampire boyfriend.
Similarly, in the classic 1978 film, Grease, Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) is the main character, but follows the same, well-worn narrative about seeking out a romantic relationship at any and all costs. Initially sweet and naïve, she changes her look and attitude in order to impress Danny (John Travolta) and they end up together because of it. Likewise, Audrey Hepburn in the iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s plays a young woman named Holly Golightly whose main goal in life is to marry rich so she can live a lavish life in New York City. Her eventual love interest, Paul (George Peppard), is no different from the rest and promises to give Holly stability in her frivolous and emotionally complicated existence.
These movies may all have women as the lead roles, but these female characters are poorly contrived and their personalities lack diversity and complexity; the only motivation and happiness that they gain from life is from a male love interest. This further reflects the fact that society believes that women are incapable of writing their own narratives and therefore must be inspired by the men in their lives.
Sleeping Beauty (and other Disney princesses) showed us happiness is derived from finding “true love”.
Everyone is familiar with the classic fairy tale about Sleeping Beauty and how she was eventually awakened by her true love and lived happily ever after. How romantic? Sleeping Beauty’s story (among others) demonstrates the cultural belief that girls will find their “one true love” if they wait around for him to come. While Disney’s 1959 adaptation of the story has Aurora as its leading character, she only has 18 lines of dialogue in the entire film! She is not a dynamic character by any means and she is only concerned with falling in love with the man she met once in the woods (who coincidentally was her betrothed husband) and falls into despair when her fairy godmothers tell her to never see him again. At the end, after she pricked her finger on the spinning wheel and fell into an enchanted sleep, her “one true love” came to her rescue and woke her up with a kiss. They lived happily ever after despite Aurora being the most passive and blasé main character ever. Her beauty and fairness were her only virtues.
A similar situation arises in Cinderella, where her beauty and shoe size lead her to have a happily ever after with the prince of the kingdom. Despite having grown up in an abusive household, Cinderella believed that finding true love is the only solution to her misfortune and thus desired to go to the royal ball in order to hopefully find a suitor. It wasn’t her wit or intellect that attracted the prince to her, but her unparalleled physical beauty and his desire to possess this mysterious girl.
The Little Mermaid is another example of the lengths to which girls will go in films to get a man. Ariel abandoned her family and made a deal with an evil sea witch that traded her voice for legs so she could walk among humans. Initially, Ariel had the desire and curiosity to explore beyond the sea, but it soon turned into a quest to get Prince Eric to notice and fall in love with her. There were some bumps in the road but eventually, Eric defeats the wicked sea witch and marries Ariel and they live happily ever after. Ariel sacrificed her family and home for love; I just hope it was worth it.
Even in more modern animated films, such as the 1997 release Anastasia, the leading female character still relies on a male to guide her on a journey of self-discovery. In the movie, Anastasia is a lost princess who suffers from retrograde amnesia after the 1917 Russian Revolution. After having grown up in an orphanage, her mysterious background inspires her to go on a quest to seek out who she truly is. On the way, she meets Dimitri, a con-man who lives on the streets of St. Petersburg. While her character is spunky and independent, she more or less relinquishes her self-autonomy to Dimitri and places her full trust in him even though his initial motives were dishonest, manipulating, and selfish.
Wasn’t Wonder Woman Wonderful?
Some might bring up that the 2017 box-office success Wonder Woman, was a progressive popular film because it was directed by a female and the story was about a female superhero who fought for justice and equality for all. However, these “progressive” films, get a lot of hype for a “strong, independent, and empowering” woman who may kick-ass, but does so in a skin-tight body suit and heels with a red pout and perfect hair which proves that she hasn’t truly deviated from those societal standards of beauty and acceptable appearances for women.
In Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot’s character was incredibly naïve and needed a man (Chris Pine) to help her navigate the mortal world. Wonder Woman was also presented in a way that objectified her body and appealed to the male gaze: an impractically revealing superhero costume, a low-cut evening gown, a fit body, perfect hair and skin, the list goes on.
On a similar note, one of the antagonists, Dr. Poison, is coincidentally a female scientist (which was unusual in the early to mid-twentieth century) and has a prestigious position working for the German military during the war. While her role is that of an evil villain who concocts deadly chemicals and gases to use on enemies, Dr. Poison is still portrayed as an insecure and self-conscious woman who is constantly seeking the approval from General Luddendorf and wears a face mask to hide her disfigured face, which is seen as an imperfection.
One possible exception to this prevalent trend in popular films would be Charlize Theron’s role in the 2015 movie Mad Max: Fury Road. Her character, Imperator Furiosa, is the exact opposite of every female “sidekick”. Smart, fierce, and the ultimate road-warrior, Imperator Furiosa is as bad-ass as her name suggests. She acts entirely on her own agenda and takes a major risk in order to free Joe’s (the bad guy) five imprisoned wives. While the film is titled after Max, a rogue survivor living in an apocalyptic desert who is captured by Joe’s army used as a universal blood donor seems to serve as a secondary character rather than the primary one. Instead, Imperator Furiosa dominates the plot and calls most of the shots. However, while she is a strong leader and significant character, her role is still considered secondary to Max’s. If action movies are named after the “hero”, this film should be called Imperator Furiosa: Fury Road. It may not have the alliterative appeal, but it would then reflect the true nature of the film, right? Also, why are fierce and independent women seldom portrayed in genres outside of action films? Is the only way to justify a strong female lead is to place her in an already male-dominated and masculine appealing genre?
Modern films in American culture may becoming more gender inclusive, but only on a superficial level. Beneath the enlightened sexism, there still remains those institutions of gender stereotyping where no matter how independent or “bad-ass” a female character is, her motives and appearance will always be dictated by the men in her life and the expectations that society has set for her. No matter how progressive a film may seem, until there are more female leads written to be complex, independent, and ambitious without being portrayed as a bitch or in an inappropriately sexualized manner, there will always be a divisive gender bias in Hollywood films.
