Just Some Thoughts On…The Current Execution of the Strong Female Character

I know I’m gonna catch some flak for this, but I do this blog to get my thoughts out. I can already see some of the stuff coming and that’s fine and dandy. Nobody’s requiring you to read what I write so if you don’t like it you get you are free to move on. But if you must comment then be thoughtful. Point out where and why I am wrong. Now that that’s out of the way on to the show…

There is nothing wrong with strong female characters. Who wants a character-female or male-that has all the strength of overcooked pasta? That is boring. Check out any number of older movies where the main job of the female was to be generically plucky or mindlessly supportive while being a housewife that was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay overdressed to be just at home. I can think of a dozen old movies that I have enjoyed but where the women were little more than props. And as such could have definitely been improved with those females given something to do.

Changes did come. By the late 70s and early 80s females in action-oriented movies were much more a part of the story. Princess Leia had the presence of mind to get everyone off the detention level. Ellen Ripley took on the xenomorph. Sarah Connor grew from a waitress the gave little thought to the future to a someone with focus and give as good as they got. These were likeable or in some way relatable individuals with understandable feelings and moments of growth that we could identify with. Not so much now.

They have no likable or intriguing characteristics. There’s nothing about them where they can connect to the audience. Nobody watching it can find anything relatable about them because they are just so perfect and awesome and everything. And all too often much like you get in a Steven Seagal film they have people telling them how awesome they are rather than showing us. These are not characters but power fantasies that never get to entertaining.

They tend to be overly powerful individuals who take out opponents much larger than them with a spin kick and a few punches. Or in the case of the infamous Captain Marvel, they are absolutely overpowered to the point of having no opponent who can genuinely stand against them. Gone is the possibility that they can be defeated. They just have to decide it’s time to win. Even at their most preposterous the villains of a Stallone or Schwarzenegger had the potential to win.

Today the only thing holding a female character back from being as awesome and amazing as they can be is themselves. And it’s not like they ever go through any character growth to get to that next level. They just decide to turn it up a notch. They are devoid of any connections to anybody. At least nothing that feels genuine. They lack humanity really. They are a power fantasy and not any type of human being even if it’s a poorly done human being. They are the best because everyone surrounding them is so much less.

What happened to the likes of Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor? They were strong characters. They were not strong because everyone around them was weaker but rather they were strong because they stepped up to the challenge and gave it their all. They persevered and won. And of the case of Sarah Connor her male supporting character was her equal. He could do things that she could not and she could do things that he could not. Nowadays, the female character in action movies doesn’t need anybody at all ever. 

Even Schwarzenegger in his heyday had something that humanized them. Some type of connection. His most superhuman was not in The Terminator but was in Commando. Nobody could stop him in that movie yet the driving force for his actions was something many if not all of us could identify with and that’s of a father trying to save his child. Admittedly it was from a dictator he helped depose who is trying to get back into power. But the motivation with something comprehendible. It was something relatable.

I don’t think we get that too much anymore in our female characters. Ellen Ripley was no skilled fighter. In Alien she stepped up to the challenge and through her wits and the skin of her teeth defeated the superior creature she was up against. In Aliens she understood the situation and the experience knew how to handle herself.  Her opponent in that Paul Reiser was her villainous equal. The military commanding officer who was sent there by the corporation was sent there because he was a room that they could manipulate. Not a schlub but just an individual who lacked details.

While Terminator Genisys was certainly not a Highpoint of the Terminator film series it is a perfect encapsulation of what’s wrong with the current execution of the strong female character. Sarah Connor didn’t need Kyle Reese by the time they met. Reese was an ineffective sidekick. Previously they were equals and each contributed something the other could not. 

Unlike before female characters do not get character arcs where they grow into a person of  strength. They just decide to be strong. That’s boring. Struggle is interesting. Struggle is human. Struggle makes the story because while you assume the hero will survive you are wondering how they do it and seeing the payoff in how they do it is what grabs the viewer. Not waiting for them to finally decide to win. 

It’s a disservice to the actors performing the material and the viewers who pay to see the material. It says all you have to do is decide to do it and it’ll happen. It neglects that sometimes you have to work to make it to win.

Ultimately, this is just bad storytelling by people who are shallow are engaged in a power fantasy without understanding you need to make the characters in those entertaining.