The top 5 female film protagonists
The top 5 female film protagonists
Jun 05
Sometimes, white-male-dominated Hollywood freaks out and breaks the rules and accidentally makes a movie with a woman instead of a man in the lead role. Sometimes, these movies don’t even objectify or ogle their subjects, they just treat them like regular people. Sometimes, these movies are even good.
In the wake of the culturally disastrous Sex And The City 2, I felt it was prudent — nay, necessary – to look to some more promising leading ladies in order to a) wash my brain out, b) remind myself that the XX-chromosomed world isn’t all glitter, high-heels, and awful one-liners, and c) remind myself of those rare good movies that accidentally swapped their male protag for a woman at some point in development.
So without further ado, here’s a list of my five favourite female protagonists from the past few decades:
5 – Sarah Connor (The Terminator & Terminator 2, 1984 & 1991)
I liked Sarah Connor better when she was just a regular gal, in The Terminator, than I liked her as the verging-on-insane mother-on-a-mission she became in Terminator 2, but either way, she makes a compelling protagonist. Plucked seemingly at random from a phonebook by a creepy Austrian bodybuilder — isn’t that everyone’s worst nightmare? — she carried herself well through all the crazy time travel bullshit, and came out at the end of it still resembling a realistic — if damaged — human being. Shame she suddenly and inexplicably succumbed to leukemia in time for the third one, though.
4 – Rosemary Woodhouse (Rosemary’s Baby, 1968)
Before I watched Roman Polanski’s classic horror film, I hadn’t really understood just how scary men could be — even regular blokes, like husbands, friends, and fathers. But as Rosemary’s paranoia escalated, I empathised with her every single step of the way, sampling a mere inkling of the constant fear some women are forced to live in. The fact that Roman Polanski is a convicted rapist only adds to the horror.
3 – Maggie Fitzgerald (Million Dollar Baby, 2004)
The realm of boxing biffo in film is one usually reserved exclusively for men, but with Million Dollar Baby Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank showed us that it can be equally compelling to watch a couple of women knocking the stuffing out of each other as it is a pair of blokes. On top of this refreshing gender-swap, Million Dollar Baby isn’t your garden variety underdog sports film, either: it’s a gripping narrative and a rollercoaster of emotions, with a whole raft of memorable characters. Swank deserves every gram of that little gold statue she won for her performance here. God only knows why she went on to do crap like The Reaping, PS I Love You and Amelia.
2 – Ellen Ripley (Alien franchise, 1979 – 1997)
Before James Cameron got to the character and morphed her into some warrior-goddess-mother caricature, Ellen Ripley was just another member of a non-descript space crew. She may have been near (or at) the bottom of the pecking order aboard the Nostromo, but she was the only crewman with the balls to go toe-to-toe with the xenomorph… and live to brag about it. Ripley was still a strong woman in the sequels, but it was her quiet determination in 1979′s Alien that really set her apart.
1 – Ellie Arroway (Contact, 1997)
Being the first human ever to make contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence is kind of a big deal, but the obstacles Ellie had to go through just to say “G’day” to our interstellar neighbours — institutionalised misogyny, religious fanaticism, and terrorist attacks — only serves to make her an even bigger deal. Ellie’s passion, love and sheer unadulterated enthusiasm for science and the unknown is inspirational. It’s rare to see a woman in movies so passionate about something that isn’t shoes, so Ellie easily swipes my number 1 spot.
The fact that I struggled to put together five different female characters for this list is troubling. Browsing lists of the most commercially and critically successful movies, very few of them are driven by women. Fifty percent of the people on this planet are of the double-X variety; you’d think that would show up in our culture and our art, wouldn’t you?
I hope this has been as cleansing an experience for you as it has been for me. Why, I’ve nearly forgotten just how bad Sex And The City 2 was! Nearly…
Any suggestions for who you’d include in the list, or who you’d exclude? The first person to mention Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft wins a box full of sarcasm.
The idea of friend upstairs is reasonable, maintaining a healthy body is very important, I bought a few pieces of XX particularly recently,it can help keep our body healthy, let us feel fit as a fiddle every day, I was alight it in this store!! http://www.grave-yards.com/
How about the titlewise obvious choices of Erin Brockovich Jackie Brown or Juno? Frances McDormand in Fargo? Or especially Mulholland Drive – especially if we agree that the first half of the movie takes place in Naomi Watts's mind?
I really didn't like Juno, so she didn't come to mind. The others are fair choices, but I don't think I've ever seen all of Erin Brockovich or Mulholland Drive, so that's probably why I didn't think of those.
I know your last comment but to this generation Angelina Jolie defines the female action hero and i list without her in at least the notable mentions is just plain stupid.
You mention to any current gen people who comes to mind when you think of action chicks…i swear to god they will not mention Maggie Fitzgerlad, they will mention Tomb Raider.
You may not think she was great in the film but she paved the way for female action heros in the 2000's.
So please send your box full of sarcasm because i highly disagree with you
Lara Croft = eye candy.
Eye candy =/= good female protagonist.
???
Lara Craft is the equivalent to Indian Jones with boobs. Your not saying Indiana Jones isn't a hero now are you?
Lara Croft is massively different from Indiana Jones. Indy's a professor, an archaeologist, an anti-authoritarian, and we get many little glimpses of his character, like when he's confused by one of his student's advances, and when he sneers at the government types during the exposition scene, and when he grins at the Nazi guy in the truck just before he kicks him out …
Lara Croft is … rich … and … has a butler. And robots in her house, for some reason. And she's a world-class gymnast, but god only knows why. Indy's a hero because he makes mistakes but keeps on trying. Lara's a superhero because she never makes any mistakes.
Anyway the point of this list was to look at some female characters that weren't just eye-candy. Characters that were compelling to watch for women as well as for men. Lara Croft is not such a character.
Totally love your picks. I have been harping on for ages at my bf about how fab role models Ripley and Sarah Connor are.
Frances McDormand in Fargo– nice call.
Glad you agree! It's a shame that most of the films on this list are over a decade old. Hollywood seems to have forgotten how to make an interesting movie with a woman in the lead role.
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast in Tiffany's and Faye Dunaway's Bonny Parker has to be up there. I'm also think and I thought Sienna Miller did a superb job of Edie Sedwick. But yeah, I totally agree, there is no where need enough lead roles for the fairer kind.
So true! And possibly why old movies feature as my favourite movies. Meryl Streep maybe, mind you I’m thinking Karen Silkwood here…we can forget most of her work from the 90′s onwards. (although Miranda Priestley was a gem of a character from the Devil wears Prada)
Sarah Connor and Ellie Arroway definitely. As for the others, I’d have to watch them first.
Once again though, it comes back to the roles, what is being written and what Hollywood can flog off to the public.
(but hey, Lara is a character from a GAME! Game play isn’t known for giving your life meaning or purpose either but they’re still tremendously popular time wasters…just sayin..)