NON sexualized female lead movies

We need to have a definition here for sexualized.

Kill Bill doesn't appeal to any sexual pulse in the spectator. I don't know about you but skin tight leather is not enough.

Catwoman was in skin tight leather and was arousing. The Bride is not. And that yellow suit is just the result of Tarantino's weird iconography that makes The Bride unique.
 
Although my nick name for Uma Thurman is "Ugly Uma", because frankly I don't understand how anyone can find that mashface remotely attractive, that aside, I didn't look at her character and think "D@mn! When you're done kickin' @ss I wanna doink you!"

However, as I look down this list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_action_heroes some of these could be viable candidates for after-hours hanky panky.


Black Widow (Natalia Romanova) in The Avengers (2012 film) and Iron Man 2. - Possible
Lara Croft from Tomb Raider films - Yup
Alice from the Resident Evil films - Ick. But that blue-skirt cop in #2 would work!
Batgirl from Batman and Robin - Alicia Silverstone? Blecht.
Catwoman from Catwoman (film), Batman Returns, The Dark Knight Rises - Done deal
Ellen Ripley from the Alien series[1] - ACKK!!!
Trinity from The Matrix series[2] - Not even if she ate a double cheeseburger and a gallon of icecream.
Coffy from Coffy - ??
Foxy Brown from Foxy Brown - ??
Selene from Underworld (film series) - Oh, h#ll yeah!
Sheba Shayne from Sheba Baby - ??
Friday Foster from Friday Foster - ??
Thana in Ms. 45 - ??
Inspector Jessica Yang in Supercop[3] - ??
Barbara Meredith from Zorro's Black Whip - ??
Rita Arnold from The Tiger Woman (1944 film) - ??
Elektra from Daredevil (2003 film) and its spin-off - Jennifer Garner... probably
Deunan Knute from Appleseed - LOL!
Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell - Nope.
Nikita, from La Femme Nikita - Probably
Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill - ACKK!!
Mathilda from The Professional - No pedo bears, please
Æon and Sithandra from Æon Flux (film) - Charleze and I have a misunderstanding
Pauline in the movie serial The Perils of Pauline[4] - ??
Hanna Heller from Hanna (film) - Nope.
Sarah Connor from the Terminator franchise - Nope.
Princess Leia Organa from Star Wars - Fair game.
Evelyn Salt from Salt - AJ is too scrawny by now
Violet Song jat Shariff from Ultraviolet - MJ? Pfft. No.
Flying Snow from Hero - ??
Moon from Hero - ??
Yu Shu Lien from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Nope.
Jen Yu from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - ??
Yau Mo-yan from New Dragon Gate Inn - ??
Golden Swallow from Come Drink With Me and Golden Swallow - This just creeps me. Pass.
Yang Kaiyun from The Shadow Whip - Pass
Cataleya Restrepo from Colombiana - Mmm... possible
Slim Hiller from Enough - Lopez... pass. She scares me.
Diana Guzman from Girlfight - ??
Luz from Machete - MRod is heinous. Pass.
Ching from The Heroic Trio - ??
Yim Wing Chun from Wing Chun (film) - ??
Rei from the Zero Woman series - ??
Etain from Centurion (film) - ??
Yuki Kashima from Lady Snowblood 1 and 2 - ??
Madeleine in Thriller: A Cruel Picture - ??
Supergirl from Supergirl (film) - Fo SHO!
Quorra from Tron: Legacy - Tear it up.
Babydoll from Sucker Punch - Yick. Pass.
Padme Amidala from Star Wars - Fair game
Storm from X-Men - I got yerr storm right here!!!


Yeah, Ugly Uma's ugliness aside, I don't find that character the least bit sexual.
I swear I'll pull out my magic invisible katana and chop off anyone's hand that tries to unzip that shiny yellow jumpsuit in front to me.

Feature_KillBill01-med.jpg

Yick.
 
NickClapper said:
I actually think it's bad that there's a generation of film watchers (and, dare I say it, makers) coming through who think that The Bride is a 'strong female character'.
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Regardless if Tarantino intended her to be a fetishized "adolescent-male fantasy" character, she is undeniably strong in the film. She experiences extreme physical and emotional pain but gets over it fairly confidently... with no men involved. And in the end she triumphs over the men who betrayed her. That's female power right there, regardless if she looks hot while she does it.

But she's not one of the strongest female characters in cinema. The two best and most heroic have to be Clarice from The Silence of the Lambs, and in a more surreal sense, Ripley from Alien. Although Clarice is much stronger in the sense that she overcomes a male-dominated workfield and a sick criminal underworld.
 
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Why do 'strong' characters always have to be wielding weapons? Can female characters be strong without guns or samurai swords? Why does it have to take a surrealist, violent fantasy (or a sci-fi like Alien) to create a strong female character?

I don't know, but, for me, these characters all come from a profoundly masculine conception of what a 'strong woman' should be like. I can't read books like Jane Eyre, Mary Barton or Wuthering Heights without thinking that a lot of modern films are really failing to deliver proper human female characters who are strong role-models, without them having to cut people up, blast aliens to pieces or indulge themselves in retaliatory anal rape.
 
NickClapper said:
Why do 'strong' characters always have to be wielding weapons? Can female characters be strong without guns or samurai swords? Why does it have to take a surrealist, violent fantasy (or a sci-fi like Alien) to create a strong female character?
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Lamb's Starling is not strong because of her climatic shoot-out with Buffalo Bill, it's how she establishes herself as a strong individual when not on duty.

Another strong character is Thelma from Thelma and Louise, and not because she kills the rapist. Instead of giving herself up the easy way, she refuses to return to her mundane life. Also, if you want an even less violent female hero, there's Annie from Annie Hall. She has her personal weaknesses like any human being, but she's confident and reluctant to let her past relationships keep her down.
 
NickClapper said:
Why do 'strong' characters always have to be wielding weapons? Can female characters be strong without guns or samurai swords? Why does it have to take a surrealist, violent fantasy (or a sci-fi like Alien) to create a strong female character?

I don't know, but, for me, these characters all come from a profoundly masculine conception of what a 'strong woman' should be like. I can't read books like Jane Eyre, Mary Barton or Wuthering Heights without thinking that a lot of modern films are really failing to deliver proper human female characters who are strong role-models, without them having to cut people up, blast aliens to pieces or indulge themselves in retaliatory anal rape.
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+1

I'm curious to hear one or more of our female regulars chime in.

BTW, Ray -- Uma is not even slightly ugly. Sheeeeeiiiit, you crazy.
 
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fernando97echeverria said:
Lamb's Starling is not strong because of her climatic shoot-out with Buffalo Bill, it's how she establishes herself as a strong individual when not on duty.

Another strong character is Thelma from Thelma and Louise, and not because she kills the rapist. Instead of giving herself up the easy way, she refuses to return to her mundane life. Also, if you want an even less violent female hero, there's Annie from Annie Hall. She has her personal weaknesses like any human being, but she's confident and reluctant to let her past relationships keep her down.
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But she spends the whole movie facing off against a serial killing cannibal, that's the basis on which her 'strength' is revealed- not because she actually does anything that real women do.

Annie Hall is my favourite film and I love Diane Keaton with all sorts of parts of my heart but Annie is not really a strong female character and bringing her up as an example is kind of clutching at straws. Annie's definitely very human but she's also ditzy and flighty (that's part of her charm) and is definitely a creation of a very masculine mind (Allen's).
 
NickClapper said:
Why do 'strong' characters always have to be wielding weapons? Can female characters be strong without guns or samurai swords? Why does it have to take a surrealist, violent fantasy (or a sci-fi like Alien) to create a strong female character?

I don't know, but, for me, these characters all come from a profoundly masculine conception of what a 'strong woman' should be like. I can't read books like Jane Eyre, Mary Barton or Wuthering Heights without thinking that a lot of modern films are really failing to deliver proper human female characters who are strong role-models, without them having to cut people up, blast aliens to pieces or indulge themselves in retaliatory anal rape.
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That's the problem with Tarantino movies. You shouldn't try to see some reality in them, they are surrealistic like you said.

Kill Bill is one kind of female empowerment, not necessarily the only ones. And it's an action movies so of course there are guns (and frickin' gorgeous katanas).
 
NickClapper said:
Why do 'strong' characters always have to be wielding weapons? Can female characters be strong without guns or samurai swords? Why does it have to take a surrealist, violent fantasy (or a sci-fi like Alien) to create a strong female character?

I don't know, but, for me, these characters all come from a profoundly masculine conception of what a 'strong woman' should be like. I can't read books like Jane Eyre, Mary Barton or Wuthering Heights without thinking that a lot of modern films are really failing to deliver proper human female characters who are strong role-models, without them having to cut people up, blast aliens to pieces or indulge themselves in retaliatory anal rape.
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This is taking Dima's thread off course.

Action in film has all of that violence and more.
 
TheArtist said:
Kill Bill is one kind of female empowerment, not necessarily the only ones. And it's an action movies so of course there are guns (and frickin' gorgeous katanas).
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The point I've been trying to make is more that these seem to me to be masculine, highly sexualised, versions of female empowerment. I just can't imagine Kill Bill being made by a female filmmaker or, for that matter, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo being written by a woman. To me, these plots smack of male wish fulfilment.

Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
This is taking Dima's thread off course.
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Meh, I think that an absorbing, albeit slightly off-topic, discussion makes for more interesting reading than threads where people pose questions and then answer their own questions whilst ignoring everyone else's advice.

Might just be me though.
 
NickClapper said:
Why do 'strong' characters always have to be wielding weapons? Can female characters be strong without guns or samurai swords? Why does it have to take a surrealist, violent fantasy (or a sci-fi like Alien) to create a strong female character?
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Valid point. But now we're kinda getting at the whole point & purpose of having "the" lead character be male or female.

So, before I went hog-wild on yet another tangent I thought I might revisit Dima's OP to confirm that we were racking our brains for 'asexual strong female characters', 'asexual strong female action characters', or just 'asexual lead female characters?'

dlevanchuk said:
I'm trying to compile a list of recent (2000 or newer) movies, with a lead female character that aren't sexualized (aka non leather wearing or no shirt skirt) and kicking ass.
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Asexual lead female characters.

Cool.

Julia & Julia. I don't think sexuality was much of any point to either story.
Morning Glory. Just a young professional trying to get her sh!t done w/o interference.

Alright, enough off the topOmyhead.
Lettuce gitowork...

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2012&p=.htm
  • Elizabeth Shaw in Prometheus was an attractive character that even engaged in sex, but I don't think that qualifies as 'sexualizing' her. Sex is a part of normal life. It does not define the character or create a motivating force such as Bella in Twilight where Edward & Jacob are flat out fighting over reproductive rights. Bella is a "sex goal" between those two characters. If "she" were a "he" there'd be no story. If Shaw were a guy there'd still be a story in Prometheus.
  • Seline in Underworld Awakening (poor as the film is) is an asexual lead.
  • I don't think anyone was sexy in The Devil Inside.
  • Mallory Kane in Haywire could be a tough call. Was she a sexually active woman pretty much just doing her job as professionally as possible? Yeah. So, was the character "sexualized?" Could her gender be switched, role rewriten appropriately and the fundamental nature of the story remain? I think so, so I say "No. Not sexualized."

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2011&p=.htm
Wow. What a dearth of female lead stories. D@mn. That's sad.
  • Red Riding Hood... Can't imagine that as a male lead story (if it ain't broke...) Cr@p story. Don't remember Red being a babe.
  • Cataleya Restrepo in Colombiana... Semi-sexy. But not sexualized.
  • SlutterPunch girls - poster girls for pedo bears.
  • Mercedes Tainot in Larry Crowne. D@mn. You know... adult adults just don't have the same perspective on relationships as young adults do. So, the same metrics as applied to Twilight - boy chases girl - its not even really the same. Yeah, opposite gender attraction applies, but somehow I just don't see Edward and Jacob's attraction to Bella anything akin to Larry's attraction to Mercedes. So... IS SHE SEXUALIZED? Mmm... no. Not really.
  • The Iron Lady. Puh-leeeze. No.

http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2010&p=.htm
  • Alice Kingsleigh in Alice in Wonderland. Nope.
  • Evelyn Salt in Salt. Kinda not really sorta.
  • Nina Sayers in Black Swan, although definitely doable I think her mental health BS clearly would keep any sensible guy away from the "package of bugs/spider/maggots with nice wrapping paper." Not sexualized, although definitely a target of sexuality.
  • Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat Pray Love. I sure didn't want her. Too many mental health issues for my preferences.
  • June Havens in Knight and Day. Pssht. Fo sho. I'd pass, but that was their intent.
  • Elise Clifton-Ward in The Tourist. Yep. Ooo la lah! She was just WORKING it all through that show! (sigh... ) :no:
  • Nicole Hurley in The Bounty Hunter. Yep.
  • Alice in Resident Evil: Afterlife. I dunno. Is that SUPPOSED to be sexy? I don't think I'm too objective on this one.
  • Olive Penderghast in Easy A. H3ll, yeah. Character's under age for me, but the character was trying to do that innocent girl next door thing. Pfft.
  • Sophie in Letters to Juliet. Not that I recall. Best I remember, I think she was just doing her investigating thing with her new old girlfriends.
  • Maggie Murdock in Love and Other Drugs. Uhhh... YEAH! I don't think Jamie was looking to hook up with either of the McDonalds sisters.

mcdonalds.jpg


  • Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Yeah, it's a sad excuse for sex as a motivating factor but... they were trying. But I don't really think she was the 'lead' so much as she was the MacGuffin, which is really really sad.
  • Nanny McPhee in Nanny McPhee Returns. Oh, sweet Jesus, no.



Alright. I think I've contributed more than my fair share to this discussion.



Cracker Funk said:
BTW, Ray -- Uma is not even slightly ugly. Sheeeeeiiiit, you crazy.
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Buddy, you can have her.
Gopher it.
umathurman5ht.jpg

Nom nom nom to you.
Go crazy.
 
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NickClapper said:
The point I've been trying to make is more that these seem to me to be masculine, highly sexualised, versions of female empowerment. I just can't imagine Kill Bill being made by a female filmmaker or, for that matter, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo being written by a woman. To me, these plots smack of male wish fulfilment.



Meh, I think that an absorbing, albeit slightly off-topic, discussion makes for more interesting reading than threads where people pose questions and then answer their own questions whilst ignoring everyone else's advice.

Might just be me though.
Click to expand...

That may also be the way of looking at information from more than one angle.
 
Seriously, here is the history of how the female action hero began.

It did not start with Alien.

It started back in 1975 with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUBnxqEVKlk

Which led to breaking the ice with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBQ_ie8ideo
 
Holy crap! there is some heated discussion going on!
By "over-sexualized" i mean using female distinctive features (Tits and ass) as a focus of the character that makes them to stand out.

Underworld, 5th element, Kill Bill (Vol 1), Tomb Raider, etc -- The clothes either were minimal OR extremely unnecessarily tight.

Salt, Flightplan, Aliens - lead girls weren't wearing something that belongs in the stripclub, but semi-normal daily clothes.


Comparison

Sexualized:
Kate-beckinsale-workout-diet-training.jpg



Non sexualized
angelina-jolie-salt-set-10.jpg
 
Ray,

Good stuff, man.

The studios use eye candy with their action movies. The eye candy can even be the stunts and effects. It does not have to be the costumes.

Dima, what eye candy will your action film use?
 
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