What we see matters. The characters portrayed in tv, books, and film all tell us more about the world around us. The stories we tell matter.
What we don’t see matters too. When it comes to women in film, it’s not as evenly distributed as the world’s population (which as I write this is 51.9% male and 48.1% female). There is a clear divide between how and when women and men are represented in the stories we tell.
In the top movies from 2007-2012 women were only 30% of speaking characters, 26% of women actors got partially naked (compared to 9.4% of men), and only 10% of movies had a balanced cast of 50%. (New York Film Academy)
Movies, television, and books tell a greater story. And when people are left out, humanity loses. More often than not, each of our real lives look more like a balanced cast, with half the people in our day to day being women. I like to think about it this way – if my life was turned into a movie, many of the women I know would be cut from the story. When people are not well represented (or at all) in the stories we tell, we have work to do.
When it comes to the past two years, here are my current favorite female characters represented in film.
— Katherine Johnson (Hidden Figures, 2016) – While Janelle Monae’s monologue in the court room is my favorite dialogue in the movie, my favorite character in Hidden Figures is Katherine Johnson. Portraying the mathematician employed by NASA, Johnson’s calculations were critical to the success of early NASA missions of John Glenn and Alan Shepard. Storytelling and direction in Hidden Figures tells the story of an intelligent and determined black woman during a physically segregated United States.
— Cruz Ramierz (Cars 3, 2017) – Cruz Ramierz begins as the trainer in the movie, the tool for Lightning McQueen to make his comeback. By the end of the movie she’s the protege that takes the stage. Cruz reveals to Lightning that instead of becoming a trainer, she’s always wanted to be a racer. When she lined up for her first race, she looked around and saw no other car like her around, so she just left. ‘I didn’t belong,’ she said. They didn’t look like her, so she disqualified herself. Cruz represents a relatable character in a movie about cartoon cars, but tells a deeper story of privilege, gender roles, and legacy.
— Queenie (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, 2016) – There’s something about the character Queenie that I love. She could have easily been the femme fatale in this movie, especially with the era of 1920s New York. Instead, she a heroine in the background and falls in love with a pudgy, bumbling muggle. On top of all that, I love seeing J.K. Rowling’s characters using magic for common things. And I loved watching Queenie portray a magical happy homemaker.
Do you know a girl or young woman who is interested in film? Encourage her talent. Are you a playwright? Take a look at the speaking roles in your script and see what gender is saying most of them. Are you a currently working in the film industry? Evaluate the diversity of your team.
The solution ahead of us is letting more women into the narrative, in front of and behind the camera. The solution is creating complex characters on screen that go beyond stereotypes. As a culture we have work to do and it’s worth it.
Those are my recent favorite female characters in film. I’d love to hear yours!