re: The whole women in power movement in movies. Let me tell you the truth.

Let me try getting this back on track a bit...

The issue, at least as I see it, isn't strong women but rather how they are portrayed as "strong" and why. These two points also have to be taken within the context of the movie genre they're in.

No one bitches about Ellen Ripley nor Sarah Connor being strong female characters. Why? Because their strength doesn't come from their arms and legs (within the context of the movie's world) somehow being far greater than that of comparable males (or even males who have trained as much or more than they have), but rather it comes from pushing themselves beyond their bounds through desperation and creativity. Their strength comes from their character and has nothing to do with whether or not they have a vagina.

What we see most often in movies and shows today are women portrayed as being "strong" by being physically and/or mentally dominant over men. They will also be shown as being "strong" by being assholes, but somehow everyone still wants to help them (a bit of "Mary Sue"). They don't beat their adversary (who is usually a male) through being more clever, or lucky, or desperate; instead they beat them by simply "powering up".

If this scenario sounds familiar, there's a reason for that.




These aren't stories of struggle against self (which everyone can sympathize with) but struggles against varying degrees of representatives of patriarchy (which is a far smaller group of sympathizers). The brunt of those who seem to enjoy these sorts of characters (as shown by rating and box office returns) are entertainment industry execs and article writers and their main enjoyment seems to come from nothing more than the theme of "strong because vagina".