It seems that from
Snow White to Twilight, filmmakers remain afraid to produce a single, female
protagonist less passive than Oliver Twist.
Snow White spends
her days in wait for “her prince to come.” When she discovers that the queen
plans to kill her (evil, female characters can make their own choices . . . think about it), Snow White merely flees--and only at a man's command.
Deer rescue her
while she cries helplessly in the woods. I’ll repeat that. Deer rescue her.
They take her to a
cottage owned by some dwarves, where she cooks and cleans for them because . . . what else would she do? Get revenge on an evil queen and reclaim her rightful
kingdom?
Bella, that girl
from the Twilight series? I met fish sticks
with more gumption than her. She can perform not even the least significant act,
despite her role as her story’s protagonist.
Bella’s goal? To
serve as a the perfect girlfriend for a super-powered vampire (male, lest
you wonder).
Filmmakers seem to
believe that female audiences want to experience vicarious helplessness and
rescue. I want to disbelief those filmmakers.
The novel and
upcoming movie Fifty Shades of Gray features
a female protagonist who exists only to confirm
the attractiveness of a “powerful,” male character who ties her up, whips her,
and takes her sexually (the politest way I can state that).
The female
characters, to include the protagonist “Baby Doll,” in Sucker Punch, perform many heroic feats—in Baby Doll’s imagination.
In “real life” her ability to dance in a sexy outfit proves her only ability.
Perhaps most
ridiculous: the movie Showgirls,
which features a female protagonist and her goal to dance naked for rich men.
I hold nothing
against the idea of an attractive woman in a skimpy outfit. My Internet history
would confirm as much. However, it disheartens me that Hollywood shies away
from the notion of an active, female
lead with a goal beyond rescue, objectification, and/or servitude.
Writers often
confuse a “strong, female character” with someone who can simply beat other
characters to a puddle of snot.
I don’t mind a
tough girl (as my own novels demonstrate) but a “strong” character must possess
goals, motives, personality, history, something more than fists and hips.
Fantasy movies,
novels, and comics prove guiltiest in this regard.
Until recent
history (and in only select portions of the world), women couldn’t choose their paths. They tolerated for thousands of years a world in which they faced few
options beyond “rescue” by a wealthy man.
Times thankfully
changed. Modern stories must become modern.
(Thanks for reading.
You might notice below that I changed the schedule for my blogs. I will,
because of the number of projects on my plate, only produce a short story for
this blog on Mondays. Fiction Formula will switch from Fridays to Thursdays. I apologize
for any inconvenience, though I . . . doubt this will rock anyone's existence.
Thanks again!)
I
publish my blogs as follows:
Tuesdays:
A look at the politics of the entertainment world at EntertainmentMicroscope.blogspot.com.
Wednesdays:
An inside look at my novels (such as Daughters of Darkwana, which you can now find on Kindle) at Darkwana.blogspot.com
