Strong Female Characters In Film: The Ultimate Guide

Strong female characters are those that take charge in a situation and lead the way. They don’t need to be the most beautiful or the strongest but they do need to be respected, admired and loved by the audience.

They don’t possess any sort of weakness which makes them more realistic than most other female characters.

Strong female characters can also be found in male dominated genres such as action films, horror films and war films where women are usually portrayed as helpless victims or objects of desire.

For example, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games series is a strong female character who defies gender stereotypes by being stronger than any other boy or man she meets along her journey.

 

 

In these situations they are usually portrayed as weak and submissive which makes things easier for the main character who is usually strong enough to take control of the situation.

The main reason why strong female characters are popular among audiences is because they allow us to see ourselves in them; we can imagine ourselves being like this character when faced with similar circumstances. It’s like seeing yourself in a mirror without knowing how you look like because you don’t know what people look like on the outside and what their personality is like on the inside!

Strong Female Characters In Movies

 Strong female characters in movies are a great way to show how strong women can be. They can act as a role model for young girls and boys, showing that females can be strong and independent.

Strong female characters in movies are also very important because it shows that women are not just limited to being mothers or wives, but they can do many other things.

The first movie I ever saw with a strong female character was The Princess Bride. In this movie, there is a woman named Buttercup who is considered to be the fairest of them all.

She does not need help from anyone and she is not afraid of anything. She has to fight all kinds of enemies in order to find her true love and save her family from certain death at the hands of some evil men who want her dead.

Buttercup is portrayed by Robin Wright who had never acted before but she did such an amazing job that she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress (and she deserved it).

1. Ellen Ripley — Alien

 Ellen Ripley is the main protagonist of Alien and its two sequels, Aliens and Alien 3. She was portrayed by Sigourney Weaver in the 1979 film Alien, which also launched her career as an action star.

The character also appears in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2010).

Ripley is a United States Colonial Marine working on board the USS Sulaco in 2122, when she and her team find evidence that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation has been conducting illegal experiments on prisoners at a remote prison planetoid known as Fiorina 161.

They discover that a Xenomorph creature has escaped from the prison colony and killed most of the inmates. As they try to escape their pursuer, they crash land on Fiorina 161 and put down in a cave where they are trapped by a force field.

Ripley and co-worker Parker are attacked by Facehugger larvae but manage to kill them before they transform into adult Xenomorphs, including one that impregnates Ripley while she is unconscious.

She later gives birth to an adult Xenomorph in her sleep, only to have it killed by her ex-lover Dallas, who becomes infected with an embryo after touching his face during his battle with the Xenomorph Queen’s mate Bishop. The

2. Christine Mcpherson — Lady Bird

 Christine McPherson, known as Lady Bird, is an American actress and activist. She was born in Chicago and raised in Sacramento, California. McPherson attended U.C. Berkeley, where she studied sociology and international relations, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979.

She moved to New York City after college to pursue acting, landing roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway before moving to Los Angeles in 1981. She appeared in more than 20 films over the next few years before appearing as Karen Jackson in the 1984 film Body Double, directed by Brian De Palma.

In 1985 she played Connie in The Blue Lagoon, directed by Ron Howard; her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1988 she guest starred as Dr. Mallory Chyen on MacGyver and then played Linda Purl on the sitcom Empty Nest from 1992–1993 opposite Tim Daly and Bebe Neuwirth. In 1993 she co-starred with David Duchovny in The X-Files episode “Drive”.

3. Clarice Starling — The Silence Of The Lambs

 Clarice Starling’s obsessive drive to solve the case of serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) is her undoing.

The Silence of the Lambs, the first movie adaptation of Thomas Harris’ book, is an amazing piece of film-making. The story, about FBI agent Clarice Starling’s (Jodie Foster) pursuit of serial killer Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), is riveting and the screenplay by Ted Tally is tight and gripping.

The movie is based on Harris’ novel which won him a 1981 Edgar Award for Best Novel his only award.

The Silence of the Lambs has been adapted several times since it was published in 1988 and has spawned an impressive array of sequels, prequels and spin-offs: Hannibal Rising and Red Dragon; Hannibal as well as Hannibal’s Children; Hannibal Rising II;

Hannibal Rising: Legion; Red Dragon (which was directed by Brett Ratner); Red Dragon Rising all set post-Silence Of The Lambs in which Clarice Starling tracks down a copycat killer after she escapes an attempt on her life by Lecter; Red Dragon Bedtime Stories which features Clarice trying to find out who framed her for another innocent man’s crimes; The Silence

4. Cleo Victoire — Cleo From 5 To 7

Cleo Victoire is the sixth and final installment in the Cleopatra series. It is an American comedy film that was directed by Henry Krieger and released in 2000. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, James Garner and Michael Richards.

Cleo Victoire follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Cleopatra Jones, which was released two years earlier. Like its predecessor, Cleo Victoire received generally positive reviews from critics.

However, unlike its predecessor, it did not receive any Oscar nominations or awards.

The story centers around a young woman named Cleo who works as a bail bondsman named “Cleo” (Jennifer Love Hewitt). She has a strong dislike for tattoos and also loves animals (she owns a pet cat named “Cat”).

One day she meets her old high school crush (James Garner) who has returned to town after years away at war. He is now married with children but still loves her after all these years!

5. Sabrina Fairchild — Sabrina

 Sabrina Fairchild is a fictional character in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch series. She is portrayed by Melissa Joan Hart as a teenager, and later as an adult. She is one of the main protagonists of the show.

Sabrina was created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and has been voiced by various actresses throughout its run.

Sabrina was born on March 14, 1991, to Victorian parents Helen and Edward Spellman, who are her only living relatives. Her parents are witch descendants from Salem’s Lot, Maine. This means that Sabrina’s heritage lies within a long line of witches going back centuries.

The family also has some vampire-like tendencies due to their heritage, such as having fangs and having strong powers including telekinesis; however, these are kept hidden from Sabrina so she can live a normal life and not be teased about her magical powers like other children her age (despite being aware of them).

Sabrina lives with her Aunt Hilda (also known as “Aunt Hepzibah”) and cousin Ambrose Spellman.

Sabrina attends Baxter High School where she meets her best friends Zelda Fitzgerald and Melissa DiPesto along with two others named Valerie White and Roxie Richman who become close friends with each

6. Fa Mulan — Mulan

 Fa Mulan is a Chinese legend about a woman who disguises herself as a man to save her father’s life. It was adapted into a Disney animated film by animator and director Ron Clements and John Musker, who also directed The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992).

It was released in theatres on June 19, 1998.

Mulan saves her father from being executed when she dresses as a man in order to take his place in the army against his wishes.

The film was based on an ancient Chinese poem entitled “Mulan Jin Ping Mu” (夢中飛王), written by Liu family historian Hua Xin Zhong during the Tang dynasty. The story takes place sometime around AD 627-629, which corresponds with the late Sui dynasty.

The setting is Emperor Gaozu of Tang’s campaign against Li Mi’s rebel forces in Shanxi province during the late sixth century. The Emperor sends for his elder daughter Fa Lu to marry Li Mi, but Fa Lu refuses because she believes that Li Mi will harm her people and cause them to become slaves under him. Instead, she disguises herself as a male warrior named “Ping” to fight Li Mi’s men with

7. Elle Woods — Legally Blonde

 Elle Woods is a fictional character and the protagonist of the film Legally Blonde, who is portrayed by Reese Witherspoon.

The character was created by screenwriter Karen McCullah Lutz and producer Cathy Davidin, and Witherspoon based her on herself.[1] Elle’s personal life is presented as a series of vignettes that allow the audience to experience her through different points in her life.

In each vignette, Elle finds herself in a new situation that challenges her moral compass. She must decide whether she should compromise her principles or follow them.

Elle Woods is introduced as an idealistic college graduate who has just opened her own law firm named “Legally Blonde” with best friend Paulette (Reese Witherspoon). Elle meets Warner Huntington III (Matthew Davis), a handsome but arrogant law student at Harvard University who turns out to be Paulette’s boyfriend

After discovering that Warner has no intention of pursuing his law degree at Harvard, Elle decides to teach him about what it means to be a lawyer by suing him for breach of contract before getting him into Harvard Law School so he can graduate on time.[2][3][4]

8. Nelly Lenz — Phoenix

Nelly Lenz is a songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles, California. His sound has been described as “a blend of hip-hop, R&B, pop, and soul” with a “uniquely crafted blend of his own music.” He has written songs for artists such as Justin Bieber and Jhene Aiko, who have released three songs that he co-wrote.

He has also produced records for artists such as Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, and Rihanna. In 2015 Nelly released his debut album Swimming Pools (Drank), which featured the #2 hit single “Just Can’t Get Enough”.

He followed that up with his sophomore release Heatstroke in 2016 which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and included the Top 10 hit “Closer”. Both albums were certified Platinum by the RIAA.

In 2017 he released Royalty which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and included the Top 5 hits “Tupac Back” & “I Hate U I Love U”, as well as the Top 10 hit “Good Drank”. The album was certified Platinum by

9. Veronica Rawlings — Widows

 The third novel by Veronica Rawlings is the story of three women, who are not just friends but true sisters.

Veronica Rawlings — Widows is a book that has been on my TBR list for a while now, so when I was given the opportunity to review it, I jumped at it.

The story follows the lives of three women in their 40s: Helen, who has been married to her husband for five years and is now pregnant; Julia, who married at 18 and still lives with her mother after 25 years of marriage; and Janey, who has been single for two years and is trying to get back into the dating scene.

The book revolves around these three women and their lives as they struggle with their love lives and relationships. It’s about how these women deal with their problems, how they cope with their emotions and what happens when something terrible happens to them or someone close to them.

10. Blanche Dubois — A Streetcar Named Desire

Blanche Dubois is a character that is always on the move. She has a dream of becoming an actress, but she is not sure if she can achieve it. She tries to make herself look attractive with make-up and clothes, but she never feels good enough.

She also has many problems with her family. Her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski, is very aggressive towards her because he thinks that she is trying to take his boyfriend away from him.

He also thinks that she needs to be controlled by him physically because she is too weak and passive towards men in general.

Her lover, Tom Buchanan, also has problems with Blanche Dubois. He knows that he will never be able to have her as his wife because of their social status as Italians in New Orleans. He does not want any woman to be able to take away his woman from him at all costs so he wants Blanche Dubois out of his life forever!

Female Protagonists In Films

 The female protagonist is one of the most common elements in films, and one of the most important. She is the person whose main motivation is to change something about herself or the world around her, often in order to achieve a goal or complete a quest.

In many cases, these goals are personal or intimate ones, such as finding love or becoming famous. There are also some female protagonists who have more universal goals, such as making a difference in their community or becoming a better person for themselves.

The term “female protagonist” can be used to describe any character who has this sort of motivation; however, it tends to be more common in films aimed at women than films aimed at men.

Female protagonists are often considered to be more important than male ones because they are often more central to the plot; they may not have much dialogue but they’re still important to the story and its characters.

Background On Female Characters In Movies

 The most important thing to understand about female characters in movies is that they are not defined by their gender. In fact, the character of a female character can be more than just the sum of her parts; she can be more than the sum of her story.

It’s important to note that this isn’t meant to suggest that there aren’t problems with male characters in movies. There are many examples of strong, complex men who have been written well and whose stories have been told in a way that doesn’t make them seem like stereotypes or tropes.

However, these characters are few and far between; most movies either feature one or two strong masculine male characters at most (and even those aren’t always written well).

As a result, we tend to see more women than men on screen because women make up about half the population in America and around the world. While there’s nothing wrong with this trend per se, it does mean that more stories are being told from female perspectives without realizing it which then leads to fewer representations of women as full human beings beyond just their gender identity.

Strong Female Characters In Movies

 While many movies have strong female characters, it’s rare that you see a truly powerful one. The best ones are almost always the ones who are capable of both strength and vulnerability.

Here are some of my favorite examples:

The Princess Bride (1987) – In this classic, Westley (Cary Elwes) is a farm boy who falls in love with a woman he rescues from an evil man who wants her for his own nefarious purposes. He disguises himself as an old bookworm and enters the castle where she works as a servant girl so he can get close to her and win her heart.

But along the way, he also encounters some really incredible characters like Fezzik (Mandy Patinkin), Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), and Fezzik’s mother Granny (Catherine O’Hara).

Thelma & Louise (1991) – This film follows two strong women who set out on the road together to find themselves after their husbands desert them. They meet up with some interesting people along the way, including Dean Martin as a cowboy named Sam Jaffe, Brad Pitt as George Hanson,

Writing Women In Film

 The number of female writers in film has been growing since the 1990s, but there are still far fewer women writing screenplays than men. In Hollywood, women make up a small percentage of the filmmaking population — they account for just over a quarter of all directors and writers, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

A recent study by the USC Annenberg School’s Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative found that 25 percent of all speaking characters in movies are female. That’s up from 20 percent just six years ago.

The number of female writers in Hollywood has increased slightly since 2009, when only 22 percent were female writers.

When it comes to hiring women as directors and writers, studios have a way to go before they’re on par with their male counterparts. Only three percent of all directors hired by major studios were women last year, according to an analysis by Variety magazine released this month.

How To Write A Female Protagonist

 A protagonist should be the main character of your story. It’s the person who has a goal and is working to achieve it. The protagonist can be male or female, but there are some things you need to know about writing female protagonists that may help you in your writing.

The first thing you have to consider is what kind of story you want to tell. You have several options when it comes to telling stories: fairy tale, fantasy, historical fiction and science fiction can all fall under this category.

The next thing you need to decide is if you want your protagonist to be male or female. If you write a fantasy novel, then your main character will most likely be male; however, if you write historical fiction or science fiction, then it’s likely that the main character will be female.

It’s also important for writers to understand how people perceive gender roles in society today and how these perceptions affect their characters’ actions and decisions as they try to achieve their goals throughout the novel.

1. Write A Female Protagonist Female Doesn’t Mean Feminine

 A female protagonist is not a female character. It’s a person, just like the male character. You can have a female protagonist who is strong and independent, but you can also write a female protagonist that is weak and needs saving from time to time.

The best way to write a good female character is to make sure that your female character has depth. You should focus on what she wants, why she does things, and how she reacts in certain situations. Make sure that your character is believable, real, and three-dimensional.

You can also make your characters more diverse by adding more than one race or ethnicity into your story. This will give your readers something to relate to and add more depth to your work as well as show them how accepting society is becoming of different races and cultures in today’s world.

2. Balance Your Female Protagonist’s Strengths

 The balance between your female protagonist’s strengths and weaknesses is an important aspect of creating a believable character.

A strong female protagonist must have at least two strengths, but you can also add a third if you want. The first strength is her competence. She should be able to do whatever she needs to do, whether it’s fixing a broken router or programming a complex algorithm.

A competent female protagonist will be able to solve problems without someone else coming along and helping her out.

The second strength is her vulnerability. A vulnerable female protagonist is not the same thing as a weak one: A vulnerable female protagonist is one who shows vulnerability in her actions more than she does in her thoughts and feelings. If your character has a lot of vulnerabilities, it will make sense for other characters in the story (and perhaps even readers) to feel sympathy for her and care about what happens next.

The third strength is her humanity — not just physical beauty but also emotional intelligence, compassion and self-awareness. This kind of strength helps readers connect with characters by showing them as more than just archetypes

3. Write A Female Protagonist Great Characters Always Fail

 Great characters are sometimes hard to write. They’re complex, multilayered, sometimes frustrating and difficult to get right.

But there’s one thing I’ve found that makes writing female characters much easier: they always fail.

I’m not talking about being tragic or tragicomic. I mean they fail in the way that real people do. They fumble, they make mistakes and they end up looking foolish or even just plain stupid. But it’s also usually clear why they’re failing and where their mistakes come from.

This is a great way to learn how to write female characters because it allows you to see the world through their eyes and experience what it feels like when you’re trying something new or making a mistake or failing at your best effort. You can see how it feels when you go out on a limb or make an attempt at something new, whether you succeed or fail.

4. Write A Female Protagonist Consider Dependence And Independence

In this article, we will be discussing about the topic of Dependence and Independence. If you are an aspiring writer, then it is essential for you to understand the difference between these two as well as their importance in writing a female protagonist.

Dependence: Dependence is the state of being dependent upon someone or something else. In other words, it means that the main character in your story needs something from the world around her in order to survive and make progress towards her goal.

For example, you can use the following sentence for your story: “I am dependent on my parents for food, shelter and money because I cannot do anything without them”.

Independence: Independence means that a person has complete control over his or her own life and actions. In other words, it means that your protagonist does not need anyone else to live their life or make any decisions for them; they are completely on their own.

For example, you can use this sentence for your story: “I am independent of my parents because I can take care of myself without their help”

5. A Female Protagonist Is A Protagonist

 A female character is a protagonist if she is central to the story, and her presence is necessary to tell the story. If a character’s gender is not stated, they can be either male or female. However, when you have a female protagonist, there are many reasons why this can be beneficial to tell your story:

Female Protagonist Benefits:

1. Women are more likely to read books, so it’s easier for you to reach your audience and get them interested in your book.
2. A female protagonist is more relatable than an average Joe because women experience emotional ups and downs just like men do. That doesn’t mean she’s going through the same trials as Joe does; it means that she’s human like him, which makes her more relatable to readers of all genders!
3. A female protagonist helps you create deeper emotional connections with readers as well as show how beautiful relationships are between couples (or individuals) throughout history or in current society today without having to use stereotypes or clichés like in TV shows and movies where there’s only one man or woman who ends up with the main character at the end of each episode or movie

Strong Female Characters In Film – Wrap Up

It’s no secret that Hollywood is behind the times when it comes to depicting strong women on screen. While movies like Wonder Woman and Black Panther have done a great job of highlighting female superheroes, there are still some glaring issues within the industry.

For example, one study found that only 20% of speaking roles in 2017 were given to women, and just 8% of those roles were considered “strong” (which was defined by having dialogue). That’s not even taking into account the fact that female characters are often portrayed as victims or sidekicks.

So what can be done? Well, in this post I want to address some of these issues, including why they exist and how they can be fixed. I also want to talk about some ways you can respond if you feel like there aren’t enough strong female characters in movies today.