Women in movies

So, over in comics world, there has been a bit of conversation lately on the portrayal of female characters, and I recently posted here about the Mo Movie Measure, which relates to women in films. This got me to thinking about what I considered the best realized, strongest portrayals of women in film; that is, those portrayals where the woman is something besides a victim, a love intertest, a token, an objective, or eye candy. I have a short list, but I would be interested in your candidates, too.

Women in Film: The Magnificent Seven

#7: Charlie Baltimore (Geena Davis)
in The Long Kiss Goodnight


This rather unlikeable character from a not-very-good movie starts off the list for two basic reasons: One, Charlie kicks ass in gloriously chorographed fight scenes, out-Bonds James Bond, and is even tougher than Samuel L. Jackson. Two, despite all this, she doesn't die at the end. Too many movies with strong women end with them dying, being killed, or killing themselves (the price they pay for being to strong?), but in this no-brainer action flick, Davis, as Charlie, an amnesiac assasin on the run, does all the stuff we're used to seeing Arnold or Sylvester or Bruce do - fight, shoot, kill, maim, and crack wise - and she gets to go home to her husband and kid at the end.

#6: Mathilde (Audrey Tautou)
in The Very Long Engagement

Although Amelie may be the pinnacle of Tautou's gamine trope, Mathilde is a bit harder-edged than that and even more appealing for it. The indefatigable Mathilde never gives up on her lost, presumed-dead lover, and in the course of her journey reveals herself to be wise as well as clever and resourceful, and smart as well as tough and dogged, and is never, ever portayed as a victim. She uses every means available - and invents some along the way - to reach her goal and maintain her humanity.

#5: Ogdoo (Odgerel Ayusch)
in The Story of the Weeping Camel


Whle the prior two entries display what could be called exceptional physical and emotional prowess, Ogdoo is here because of the strength of the quotidian. On a small ranch in Mongolia, a family struggles to maintain their camel herd in the face of an unrelentingly hostile environment. Ogdoo, the mother, works no less than anyone else. Seemingly radiating competence, she wrangles camels, tends the ranch, fixes tents after sandstorms, sings magical songs, and generally takes care of business with straightforward effectiveness. The viewer gets the impression that she is one of the more productive members of the extended family, and that everyone knows it.

#4: Mrs. Brisby (voiced by Elizabeth Hartman)
in The Secret of Nimh

This was actually the character that got me thinking about the idea for this list over twenty years ago. In 1982, I saw this animated film about a mouse community under threat and one mother's efforts to save her family. I can remember thinking afterwards that Mrs. Brisby was one of the best-written roles for a female that I had ever seen - and she was a cartoon mouse! Of course, the top-grossing movies that year included Tootsie, Rocky III, Porky's, An Officer and a Gentleman, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, and The Verdict - none of which did much to expand the dimensionality of female characters. Yet here in this animated feature was a female character who was strong of will, brave of heart, capable of learning and overcoming obstacles - and who didn't define herself through a male character. The ur-film heroine, at least in my book.

#3: Bree Osbourne (Felicity Huffman)
in Transamerica


I will admit that Bree may be benefiting from the "most recent" effect, but I think she earns a place on the list nonetheless. Rarely have I seen a character protrayed as such a mensch: a mid-op transexual, Bree is flawed and troubled, but every inch a decent and responsible human being. While never losing sight of her own needs, she tries to be as tolerant to everyone as she would like the world to be to her. The truly unconditional acceptance she provides to her wayward son in the movie's final moments represents moral courage at its finest and most difficult.

#2: Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh)
in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Yu has it all going on: she is a successful business operator (the director of Sun Security), an exceptional and respected martial artist, a clan leader, and an intimate of movers and shakers. She is also representative of the beauty and grace that comes to women with maturity. In the baroque kung-fu epic that is Tiger, Yu is as much a pillar of probity and wisdom as Chow Yun Fat's Master Li, and she has the better fight scenes. As much as I loved this movie, what I really wanted when it ended was for a sequel called Tales of Sun Security, so I could see more of Yu doing her thing, putting the high-flying smackdown on bad guys and sipping tea afterwards.

And now, the #1 female film character:

Lola (Franka Potente) in Run Lola Run

Now, this is a woman to reckon with. In this story of potential alternate outcomes of a young German woman trying to save the life of her oops-I-made-a-BIG-mistake boyfriend, one constant is the power and strength evident in every cell of Potente's Lola. Physically expressed through her near-constant running through the streets of Berlin, Lola is almost as much a force of nature as she is a person. Whether her possible fates involve committing armed robbery, saving a life through a touch, or changing the laws of probability through sheer force of will (and an ear-splitting shreik), we are with her all the way. Her loyalty, devotion, and love are awesome to behold, and her self-propelled trajectory through the story is breathtaking. Lola is an unstoppable agent, one whom we feel that even death could only slow down momentarily.