Empowerment films & television series

My husband and I just watched Whip It [PG-13] (2009), Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut starring Juno favorite Ellen Page. It was absolutely delightful, and definitely something that I want to add to my film library for my daughter to watch when she’s older. To learn why, I suggest watching the trailer below and reading Eric Snider’s review of the film.
A few days ago, I learned that my younger sister is taking a feminist film class and (by extension) getting interested in feminism. This made me giddy as we’ve been sisters for over twenty-one years and we’ve always had so little in common. We immediately began loading each other up with links to feminist critiques of the Twilight book and film series and laughing about Stephanie Meyer’s ghastly view of femininity and relationships between the sexes.
Anyways, Whip It got me thinking: what are the other films and television series that I would like to show to my daughter as she grows up which are about empowering women or already-empowered women? Here’s my list:
Adam’s Rib [NR] (1949)
Alias [Television Series] (2001)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Television Series] (1997)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon [PG-13] (2000)
The Descent [R] (2005)
Dollhouse [Television Series] (2009)
Elizabeth [R] (1998)
Enchanted [PG] (2007)
Ever After [PG-13] (1998)
Firefly / Serenity [Television Series / PG-13] (2002, 2005)
Girlfight [R] (2005)
Juno [PG-13] (2007)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 [R] (2003, 2004)
A League of Their Own [PG] (1992)
Legally Blonde [PG-13] (2001)
Mean Girls [PG-13] (2004)
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc [R] (1999)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith [PG-13] (2005)
Mulan [G] (1998)
Penelope [PG] (2008)
Pride and Prejudice [Television Series] (1995)
The Silence of the Lambs [R] (1991)
Waitress [PG-13] (2007)
Obviously some of these are movies which (due to content) we won’t watch until she’s much older.
I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on feminism, so if you think any of these are strange choices, ask me about them.
What’s on your list?

Comments

Empowerment films & television series — 52 Comments

  1. I would add the Alien movies, or at least the first two. But I would disagree with Dollhouse. While it had strong characters it also had a strong element of women being abused and used as objects. In fact, the entire premise of the Dollhouse was built upon creating your own sexual slave so despite the strong female lead I would not want my daughter viewing that show.
  2. A few that come to mind that I’ve seen:
    The Blind Side (2009)
    Changeling (2008)
    Contact (1997)
    A Mighty Heart (2007)
    V (2009 TV series)
    Of the films on your list I’ve seen (which isn’t many), I can’t recommend Mr. and Mrs. Smithbecause of its gratuitous violence.
  3. I really like your list…although I’m surprised you liked The Messenger. I’ve never been able to decide how to feel about seeing such a strong woman who was ultimately depicted as crazy and self-aggrandizing.
    I very much love Kill Bill I and II. Like, I think I have them memorized, and I can’t wait to get back into martial arts so I can pretend I’m awesome like The Bride.
    Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite Disney movie because Belle was a bookworm. (It’s out of the Disney Vault this October for anyone counting down, and this bookworm definitely is.)
    Also, because I just saw it and it made me cry, Out of Africa. It’s long, but Meryl Streep’s character is really an incredible woman, and even better, it’s based on a true story.
  4. Oooh oooh, I wanna play!
    I don’t know anything about feminism either, but here are some fun ones that occurred to me…
    Battlestar Galactica — that series is full of kick-ass, complicated female characters.
    Star Trek: Voyager — I guess while I’m being geeky, I’ll go ahead and list this one, which was my second favorite Star Trek series. (Yes, I watch Star Trek. I’m not ashamed.)
    The Gilmore Girls — great writing, strong women, one of my favorite shows of all time (especially seasons 1-3).
    Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonela — Anne Shirley is headstrong, passionate, and ahead of her time.
    Whitney, your mention of Out of Africa makes me think about other Meryl Streep films. What about…
    The Devil Wears Prada, Doubt (LOTS of interesting things to discuss from a feminist perspective there), and The Hours — among her many distinguished credits.
    I second Contact and Changeling, Eric, along with most of your list too Jack. :) I haven’t seen all the films you’ve listed; I’ll have to make sure to rent them soon!
    I could go on, but I’ll stop now. This is a really fun exercise!
  5. #1 Morgan ~ I figured someone might disagree with Dollhouse for that reason. I decided to overlook that though because the sexual objectification is evenly applied to both genders. They make it very, very clear that both men as well as women are used for “romantic engagements” in the Dollhouse.
    What I actually really love about the show is that women are regularly depicted as very powerful and smart. Adele Dewitt is the head of the Los Angelas Dollhouse, Claire Saunders is a young doctor (or so the audience initially thinks), Bennett Halverson is a brilliant scientist who can match Topher, and Viktor has a female handler. Even November, who originally has the most traditionally feminine role, i.e. cute girl next door who bakes goodies for a male character, is actually a sleeper agent who can turn into a deadly assassin when the right code words are spoken. And I felt like Sierra’s entire plot arc vindicated traditional femininity.
    The Alien movies are possibilities for my list. Horror movies with female leads are kind of tricky. Part of the reason they have female leads is because the protagonist is meant to experience abject terror, which is typically seen as effeminate when it’s done to men. But the Alien films are certainly better than, say, the slasher films.
    #2 Eric ~ We loves us some gratuitous violence in this household. :)
  6. Hm… I’ll have to think about this and see what I have to add to the list. In the meanwhile, I think I’ll try to hunt down a copy of Whip It. Maybe from a redbox?
  7. Katie L, I immediately thought of Battlestar Gallactica too. I haven’t watched the whole series yet but I love it so far. I can’t think of many other shows that have so many powerful and independent female characters.
    Jane Austen has lots of great feminist messages (so ahead of her time!) – it’s not as well known, but I think Persuasion (1995) is one of the best when it comes to female empowerment.
  8. Battlestar Galactica — that series is full of kick-ass, complicated female characters.
    This. I mean, BSG belongs on every list, but it does specifically belong on this one.
    Not to mention it will expose your daughter to polytheism as a plausible religious belief for sophisticated, modern people.
  9. Star Trek: Voyager — I guess while I’m being geeky, I’ll go ahead and list this one, which was my second favorite Star Trek series. (Yes, I watch Star Trek. I’m not ashamed.)
    You should not be ashamed of watching Star Trek. You should be deeply ashamed of watching Star Trek: Yoyager.
  10. The Alien movies are possibilities for my list. Horror movies with female leads are kind of tricky. Part of the reason they have female leads is because the protagonist is meant to experience abject terror, which is typically seen as effeminate when it’s done to men. But the Alien films are certainly better than, say, the slasher films.
    I dunno; I’ve seen some feminist analyses of the Alien movies that take the franchise to town, to the point of calling it overtly antifeminist.
  11. I loved Star Trek: Voyager because of Captain Janeway. It was so groovy watching a woman command a starship.
    BSG is awesome. It had some stumbles along the way, and I wasn’t 100% sold on the ending (which of course I will NOT discuss any further, out of respect for those who haven’t yet seen it), but it was one of my favorite shows ever.
  12. My #1 choice would be Persepolis. It’s a fantastic film — I’ve written about why I like it here.
    (It would have to go on the “for later” list, though — it’s not appropriate for kids.)
  13. Okay, came up with a few more movies with the help of my good friend Google:
    Erin Brokovich
    Thelma and Louise
    Stepford Wives
    Amelie (one of my all time favorite movies of all time, ever, of all time)
  14. I forget to mention, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles had several strong women. The title character takes defending and raising your children well to the max, as she must raise her son to be savior of humanity and keep her safe from powerful killer robots. (its much cooler when you watch it) The show also featured several female resistance fighters from the future that were strong resourceful women.
  16. I would have to add Veronica Mars. She’s smart and tough and yet she’s got her weaknesses too. I just love this show for women empowerment!
  17. I had you up until Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I do not necessarily see that one. I would also agree with Veronica Mars. I am not really a fan of Kristin Bell’s recent work (I just think it is bad), but she was outstanding as Ms. Mars.
  18. In order to understand why I put Mr. & Mrs. Smith on the list, you may want to read this post here.
    The Messenger was also an iffy choice in terms of feminism. What I like about it is that it’s a woman who acts according to what she believes is her divine calling regardless of traditional roles and expectations. I actually like how the film handles faith and doubt.
    I’ll check out BSG and Veronica Mars.
  19. Show this one to her before she’s quite all grown up:
    Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind.
    Disney did a really good dub on this one (voice talents like Patrick Stewart and Uma Thurman). It’s a Japanese classic and probably one of the strongest female leads I’ve seen (even if I didn’t like the dub actress on her as much).
  21. What do you mean “laughing about Stephanie Meyer’s ghastly view of femininity and relationships between the sexes.” I watched it last night with my wife, after you learn it’s by a LDS author you look for LDS ideas. What do you think of Little Women? Some say it’s a feminist novel.
  22. Noel, Kellen Rice of Politics, Sports, Anything has a great article breaking down Stephanie Meyer’s destructive take on femininity here:
    Here’s the money part:
    First and foremost, the books present a female heroine who can hardly take a step without needing some boy to rescue her. In fact, the books represent sexist views in almost every way—from the fact that Bella gives up her ambitions and plans for college to get married to Edward, the fact that she is portrayed as a modern Eve, begging the noble, moral gentleman for sex while he desires to preserve their virtue, the fact that their relationship is dangerously unhealthy, and finally to the fact that nearly every single female character in the book is a hopelessly negative caricature.
    The series does not improve with subsequent books, either. In New Moon, Bella enters a self-described “zombie” state when Edward leaves her. In fact, the author oh-so-cleverly inserts blank pages with the months’ names as a poorly conceived plot device for showing the depths of her heroine’s pain and also to avoid having to write the “hard stuff.” Bella turns near-suicidal; she purposely puts herself in harm’s way—going so far as to jump off a cliff—to hear her lover’s imagined voice in her head.
    What does this say to readers, bearing in mind that the target audience is the tragically impressionable 12-17 year old girls? That they should fall apart at the seams for months if their boyfriend leaves them? That reckless self-endangerment is okay, so long as it’s to be close to your lover? What a lovely message to send to young women.
    My favorite feminist critique of Twilight though is the Buffy v. Edward YouTube video.
    If those are LDS ideas on gender and relationships (and some would argue that they are), then they need to die, fast.
    I’ll confess that I have never read nor seen Little Women.
  23. People like Bella really exist. People like Edward, I am sure, do not. (all supernatural fiction-elements left aside.)
    When I read the books, I kind of went with it all to get to the vampire fights. Meyer writes some good vampire fights. But on reflection, I never want my daughters in such an emotional state.
  26. Mmm, Eric D. Snider only gave Alice in Wonderland a C, and I usually find his opinions pretty reliable. But I’ll check it out sometime, when it comes to DVD if nowhere else.
    I saw Thelma & Louise for the first time last week. Liked it, but didn’t love it. The scene where they blow up the fuel tank truck because the driver was making lewd gestures at them was especially stupid. A man does not deserve to be held at gunpoint and terrorized just because he’s a pig.
  27. Regarding Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, I just want to add that there is no need to watch a dubbed-over version. Watch the movie with the original Japanese voice talents and English subtitles.
    Always a better way to watch a foreign film.
  28. Always a better way to watch a foreign film.
    /agree
    In fact, I’m incredibly disappointed that movies which did well in other countries and languages always have to be re-shot in English with American actors to have any hope of doing as well in our country as they did in their native countries. Some of the best films I’ve ever seen were foreign language films. I wish Americans could have a little more tolerance for products from other cultures.
  29. My wife doesn’t like having to follow the subtitles.
    But I agree as a general matter. I also think the voice actress who played Nausicaa, the main character, was disappointingly weak. The role called for a bit more strength in the voice than she mustered. But Patrick Stewart and Uma Thurman were excellent fits for their roles and the others did well too.
    But I speak Japanese, so I’m hardly objective on the issue.
    I’d also put in a plug for the graphic novels of Nausicaa. They tell the story the movie didn’t have time to tell. The art’s a bit crude compared to Miyazaki’s films, and there’s a bit of plot awkwardness in one or two spots. But it’s quite an amazing story. Not really for the kids though, due to almost Holocaust-like imagery in various spots.
  30. So, I hope this comment doesn’t come off as xenophobic, Seth, but tell me: the graphic novels don’t commit the usual Japanese faux pas of not actually explaining what’s going on in the story?
    I mean, I watch A LOT of horror movies, including the original Japanese and Americanized re-makes of Japanese horror movies, and on so many of them, my verdict is the same. Very creepy when taken one moment at a time, but the plot is barely coherent. By the end I’m just scratching my head and saying, “How was that supposed to make sense?”
    Am I missing something here? And I saw a lot of this same problem with Final Fantasy: Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts II for the Playstation, so I don’t think it’s just the horror movie genre.Spirited Away was rather hard to “get” in places, too.
  31. The graphic novel is pretty heavily plot-driven. It doesn’t explain absolutely everything that’s going on. It gets philosophical at times as well. I also think the first volume is probably the weakest. It gets up more steam later in the story. The movie was pretty-much a reworking of the plot of the first couple volumes of the novel.
  32. Advent Children was just a bunch of eye-candy for fanboys (I’ll admit I still watched it). And Kingdom Hearts was supposed to be tripped-out to begin with.
    You think that’s bad – you should try watching the anime Series “Baccano” sometime. Takes over a dozen different characters (none of whom seem to be the “lead” character) and tells the story out of chronological order. Jumps all over the place, and you just have to follow as best you can.
    Excellent anime series, but it will leave you thoroughly confused. By the end, things pretty-much make sense, but…
    Oh yes, it’s extremely violent too. Not for the kids. I’m not sure I’ll let my kids ever watch this one.
  33. Ha-ha, an even more confusing anime, like I need one of those. Fullmetal Alchemist was bad enough.
    Most of the rated R movies on this list aren’t things I’ll let my daughter watch while she’s a minor. Maybe Girlfight and Elizabeth when she’s a teenager, as I seem to recall those were pretty much R-lite.
  34. We love the Miyazaki films at our house. Ponyo completely enchanted my 5 year old.
    Spirited Away was just gorgeous to me, and I didn’t have a problem getting it. It’s very, very Japanese, it seems, in the way it presents the supernatural world, and the way the main character is treated after she overcomes her plot complications, especially at the ending.
    Once I did a bit of research into Shinto and Buddhist religions, the plot points became even clearer.
  35. I remember seeing Spirited Away because it was given to us as a wedding present. We took all of our wedding presents up to Park City on our honeymoon and opened them in our room and eventually watched all the DVDs we were given.
    I still own it. Haven’t shown it to my daughter just yet though. She has picky tastes.
  37. Kiki’s is one of those films, but probably the least plot-driven of any of them.
    I’d screen Spirited Away first before showing it to a 4-year-old.
  38. Yeah, the imagery is a bit weird and disturbing. Kinda freaked out my 4 year old when she saw it.
    Ponyo was really fun, but requires adult viewers to suspend any sense of disbelief when watching. Tina Fey as the mom makes the movie more accessible to adults.
  39. I think that we could save a lot of time if we just agreed that Harley needs to see all of the Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli films. Maybe not all for the purpose of promoting female empowerment, but just because they are so awesome. :D
  42. Paul and I just watched an older comedy called Adam’s Rib (1949), on the recommendation of the Jewish feminist New Yorkers that I sat near on the plane a few weeks ago. I don’t watch a lot of older films, but this one was really good. Paul liked it as well. I’m adding it to the list.
    My airplane acquaintances also recommended one called Yentl. I have it coming in my Netflix queue next.
  43. Yentl had wonderful music and performances, but the story was high contrivance, and I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough. You might disagree, so I won’t spoil it for you by giving you any plot element.
  45. As for books, here’s a list that you might like (the maturity levels for these vary; you’ll probably want to read some of them first)
    The Artemis Fowl series, by Eoin Colfer
    Eon, Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman
    The Disreputable History of Frankie Landeau Banks by E. Lockhart
    Dramarama, by E. Lockhart
    A Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
    Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
    Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan (actually, a lot of her books are great)
    Aurelia by Anne Osterlund
    any book by Joan Bauer
    any book by Shannon Hale (especially her Books of Bayern)
    The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
    The Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter
    Good Enough by Paula Yoo
    There’s a lot more but that’s all for now…
  49. Yeah, I actually read about that test a while ago at the Exponent blog, here.
    Drives me crazy now that I can’t sit through a movie without paying attention to see if it passes that test.
  52. Because there is a lot of obviously compelling movie subject matter that just doesn’t have a lot of girls around.
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