STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS!!!!!

[GeneHunt]

I've been watching a lot of film previews lately, and one thing the females always seem to say is "I play a strong female character". They ALWAYS say it without fail as if its still an entirely new concept.

I mean whats the last film that DIDNT have a "strong female character" in?

What do you guys think?

 

[RoJoHen]

It is starting to become rather cliche.

I don't understand why the characters can't just be written and played as strong/weak as the story requires.

The next big thing will be "strong gay characters."

 

[Hermiod]

I've been watching a lot of film previews lately, and one thing the females always seem to say is "I play a strong female character". They ALWAYS say it without fail as if its still an entirely new concept.

I mean whats the last film that DIDNT have a "strong female character" in?

What do you guys think?

It's usually a euphemism for "my character is a nonsensically perfect Mary Sue who beats up guys twice her size in a ridiculously unrealistic manner because it's just not the done thing to have a female character fail or be bad at anything".

 

[Deckerd]

Makes a change from 50 years of women leads only being required to look good and scream well.

 

[Hermiod]

Makes a change from 50 years of women leads only being required to look good and scream well.

Overcompensation much ?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I'm sure a lot of the actresses who say they want to play a strong character don't mean it literally.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm sure a lot of the actresses who say they want to play a strong character don't mean it literally.

But why can't they just play "strong characters?"

Why the emphasis on them being female? You don't see men going around saying, "I'm playing a strong male character."

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

That's just semantics, though, isn't it? Who cares?

I'm sure a lot are just expressing that they want to play characters who aren't trophies or motivation for the male characters.

I can understand that. What woman wouldn't rather play Marion Ravenwood than Willie Scott?

 

[Hermiod]

I'm sure a lot are just expressing that they want to play characters who aren't trophies or motivation for the male characters.

More and more often it's the other way around. Many shows don't have any male characters whose characters aren't just defined by the nickname the female characters gave them.

 

[Deckerd]

Makes a change from 50 years of women leads only being required to look good and scream well.

Overcompensation much ?

I've never been an actor, so I don't need to compensate.

 

[JoeZhang]

I've been watching a lot of film previews lately, and one thing the females always seem to say is "I play a strong female character". They ALWAYS say it without fail as if its still an entirely new concept.

I mean whats the last film that DIDNT have a "strong female character" in?

What do you guys think?

It's usually a euphemism for "my character is a nonsensically perfect Mary Sue who beats up guys twice her size in a ridiculously unrealistic manner because it's just not the done thing to have a female character fail or be bad at anything".

Cop shows are the worst, they pair up the lead male with some tiny waif like female who is shown rugby tackling and beating up men three times their size.

 

[TheSeeker]

I can understand that. What woman wouldn't rather play Marion Ravenwood than Willie Scott?

Good example.

 

[GeneHunt]

shown rugby tackling and beating up men three times their size.

Sarah Connor Chronicles is worse for that, but thats cancelled now. And as a previous poster said its because women can possibly be seen doing any wrong or been beating by a man at anything.

Rediculous really, its like saying a man could do a better job at giving birth - it just aint so..

 

[Hermiod]

shown rugby tackling and beating up men three times their size.

Sarah Connor Chronicles is worse for that, but thats cancelled now. And as a previous poster said its because women can possibly be seen doing any wrong or been beating by a man at anything.

Rediculous really, its like saying a man could do a better job at giving birth - it just aint so..

I guess the most common example for a Star Trek board is Kira Nerys. She not only beats up guys twice her size but does it while very close to giving birth.

It's about more that physical strength, though. Some shows just can't seem to include ordinary female characters, they have to be superheroines. Their writers just don't know how to write them.

 

[Deckerd]

shown rugby tackling and beating up men three times their size.

Sarah Connor Chronicles is worse for that, but thats cancelled now. And as a previous poster said its because women can possibly be seen doing any wrong or been beating by a man at anything.

Rediculous really, its like saying a man could do a better job at giving birth - it just aint so..

The Riley character seemed to get beaten up by everyone regularly.

 

[GeneHunt]

I guess the most common example for a Star Trek board is Kira Nerys.

Kira is as rough as a badgers arse so you can kind of forgive it in her case, although it is still rediculous when it is someone twice/three times her size and with a very boney face that probably wouldnt even bruise at punches from a Bajoran.

 

[Hermiod]

The Riley character seemed to get beaten up by everyone regularly.

We're not asking to see women getting beaten up, we're asking to see them solve problems in a more realistic way.

When Cynthia Rothrock, a woman who made a career out of beating men up on screen, says that her scenes are unrealistic and women should avoid fighting men, then I tend to listen to her.

Kira is as rough as a badgers arse so you can kind of forgive it in her case, although it is still rediculous when it is someone twice/three times her size and with a very boney face that probably wouldnt even bruise at punches from a Bajoran.

Yeah, she was still beating up Klingons after being stabbed by one in "The Way of the Warrior". That does actually show what I'm getting at, though. In that scene, Kira uses her hands, Jadzia uses a Bat'leth. One is more realistic than the other.

 

[Rii]

Hollywood loves to cater to the appearance of strong female characters, multifaceted women of substance, whose strengths aren't confined to those men find attractive, are still very much in the minority.

I've been watching a lot of film previews lately...

Yeah, don't do that.

I guess the most common example for a Star Trek board is Kira Nerys. She not only beats up guys twice her size but does it while very close to giving birth.

They're mooks, they don't have one-tenth the strength of our heroes, male or female.

 

[Cutter John]

Firefly, and any of the Law & Order series are two off the top of my head that have what I'd call 'strong' females. They get as much credit and take as many lumps as the guys.

 

[Hermiod]

Firefly, and any of the Law & Order series are two off the top of my head that have what I'd call 'strong' females. They get as much credit and take as many lumps as the guys.

Which is unusual for a Joss Whedon show, though even then there's still Ninja-River.