“Iron Man.” “Spider-Man.” “X-Men.” “Batman.” “Captain America.” “Blade.” “Superman.” The James Bond series. These are all solid examples of superhero films. Superhero films featuring a male lead are always more successful than the few films that feature a female lead. “Catwoman,” “Electra” and “Wonder Woman” are all examples of failed attempts at a superhero films featuring a female protagonist.
The media industry is sexist. I will even go out on a limb and say that most of us know that already, but why do we not care?
David E. Kelley, creator of “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” “Ally McBeal,” “The Practice,” “Boston Public” and “Boston Legal,” cannot even get a “Wonder Woman” television series off the ground. Kelley is clearly an experienced and successful television producer and writer, but there is so little interest in a program featuring a female superhero that it’s not going anywhere.
Kids films, especially those produced by Disney, are notorious for sexism. Despite the lionesses being strong, it was only Simba who could come to the rescue and save the day in “The Lion King.” The only useful thing Princess Jasmine could do in “Aladdin” was to keep Jafar at bay by seducing him. In “Beauty and the Beast,” Belle pretty much had Stockholm syndrome and was verbally abused into falling in love with the beast.
How often do you see an action film where the female character doesn’t need to be saved by a man?
The epitome of action films do not get any “manlier” than “Die Hard.” John McClane had to save around 30 people, including his wife, from murderous terrorists, and he did it barefoot. Is there a female counterpart to Bruce Willis as John McClane? Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in the “Alien” films, or Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in the “Terminator” films would probably qualify.
Eventually even Sarah Connor was written out of the “Terminator” films and it changed to the more common male-centered theme in parts three and four. There was a shot at redemption with the television show “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” but that got cancelled during its second season despite the fact that it was actually interesting.
There are rare gems that have a female main character, but they traditionally don’t do as well as films with a male lead. “The Brave One” starring Jodie Foster is a great revenge film that no one saw. “Taking Lives” was one of the few good Angelina Jolie films. “Premonition” was a really good suspense thriller starring Sandra Bullock. It would be hard for me to find a person that has seen one of these films, let alone all three.
Even in video games the portrayal of the “weak” or “sexualized” woman is apparent. Mario has to save Princess Peach in “Super Mario Bros.” Link has to save Princess Zelda in “The Legend of Zelda” series, and Sora has to save Kairi in “Kingdom Hearts.” When women are the heroes and not the victims, they are usually sexualized. Lara Croft is the famous example of a hero that is all boobs in the “Tomb Raider” series.
At least in video games it’s slowly getting better; the women are becoming more empowered. However, in the film industry it goes back and forth. America does not want a female action star, and it has voted with our wallets.
It’s simple – action films with female leads are more likely to fail at the box office than films with a male lead.
My favorite film features a strong female lead. The character of The Bride in “Kill Bill” is one of my favorite characters of all time, but she is one in a million. It’s so rare that it tends to become a cult classic instead of a standard.
Just because it is 2012 we think we are so forward thinking, but we aren’t. We believe there is equality, but there isn’t.
Women should come together and buy movie tickets, DVDs and even video games that feature strong women. Only with such an aggressive showing of power and money can we turn around the backward media ideals that we are currently stuck.
