What Fans Want In Female Action Stars

I'm going to own up and say I reread the original post and managed to sink in what you were trying to say.


I'll say that my original opinion doesn't change: It's doesn't matter if the actress is 4'11, or six feet, MOST (and I emphasize most-fans of Femme would be an exception here-I did say most in the previous post) audiences want the PVC,Pout,Kung-fu (Or the nifty acroynym PPK)in their female lead. Yes Femme is down to Earth and tells great story-but asked what the the viewing market desired, and PPK fits the bill most of the time otherwise.

While I can understand the admittedly odd visual of the character beating on men twice her size, I guess the creators are trying to pusht the "size doesn't matter" theme.

So I hope I answered what you were asking-PPK is really what most of viewing public wants IMO, size nothwithstanding....
 
Tinalera said:
I'm going to own up and say I reread the original post and managed to sink in what you were trying to say.


I'll say that my original opinion doesn't change: It's doesn't matter if the actress is 4'11, or six feet, MOST (and I emphasize most-fans of Femme would be an exception here-I did say most in the previous post) audiences want the PVC,Pout,Kung-fu (Or the nifty acroynym PPK)in their female lead. Yes Femme is down to Earth and tells great story-but asked what the the viewing market desired, and PPK fits the bill most of the time otherwise.

While I can understand the admittedly odd visual of the character beating on men twice her size, I guess the creators are trying to pusht the "size doesn't matter" theme.

So I hope I answered what you were asking-PPK is really what most of viewing public wants IMO, size nothwithstanding....
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These fans are not the first ones to have a problem with the odd visuals. On my job sites, very tall men I know have problems with those visuals where they refuse to watch shows and movies like that. Even Terminator: TSCC was not acceptable when Summer Glau played Cameron, a cyborg teenage girl, sent back by the adult John Connor 20 years in the past to defend his teenage self and his mother from Terminators hunting them down. Cameron's height of 5'6" DID matter to these guys who refuse to watch the show.

When one of the men heard I was making a cyborg movie with lady cyborgs, he asked me to stop because he did not want to see small women beating up big men. When this guy saw my production shots of my cyborgs almost mopping the ceilings and door frames with their heads, he found my version more believable visually to watch.

Like I said, Peta Wilson was scaled to be as tall as most of her male foes in hand to hand combat and she looked Athletic. No one had a visual problem with her fight scenes. Peta is 5'10" tall. I just looked her up on IMDBpro.com.

In one of the latest threads of the Nikita fan site, the fans are taking bets how many episodes the show will last before it gets canned. They are not happy with the image of a 90 pound weakling fight men twice her size and weight.
 
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bird said:
Height has nothing to do with it in regards to a female action star. It has more to do with the skill, intelligence, and resourcefulness of the character. I think you're confusing the demographics of peeps looking for eye candy with those hoping for a fulfilling story with unique characterization....and I'm NOT saying you can't have both.
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Yes, I am making female action stars, which is why I'm reading the fan comments of shows that feature female action stars to understand what the people want.

The%20End%20Of%20I%20Creator%20The%20Movie%20040.jpg
 
Tinalera said:
I'm going to own up and say I reread the original post and managed to sink in what you were trying to say.


I'll say that my original opinion doesn't change: It's doesn't matter if the actress is 4'11, or six feet, MOST (and I emphasize most-fans of Femme would be an exception here-I did say most in the previous post) audiences want the PVC,Pout,Kung-fu (Or the nifty acroynym PPK)in their female lead. Yes Femme is down to Earth and tells great story-but asked what the the viewing market desired, and PPK fits the bill most of the time otherwise.

While I can understand the admittedly odd visual of the character beating on men twice her size, I guess the creators are trying to pusht the "size doesn't matter" theme.

So I hope I answered what you were asking-PPK is really what most of viewing public wants IMO, size nothwithstanding....
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That will appeal to a certain amount of the population:

I%20Creator%20Picture%20Show%2006_edited-1.jpg



But, so does the visual of size and weigt vs. their opponents.

The fans of 5'10" Peta Wilson and the original Le Femme Nikita don't believe the re-image called Nikita 5'6" Maggie Q will last.
 
Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
How will you ever know what your market wants? :huh:
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I think you should consider your source. Why do you assume that the people making these comments represent your market? Maybe there are a WHOLE bunch of people out there that disagree strongly with these particular fans, but for one reason or another, aren't posting comments on a forum. Are you sure you aren't actually narrowing your audience?

My favorite filmmaker has said, time and time again, that he doesn't ever try to replicate the success of his past movies. He doesn't look for any special magical formula that he or anyone else has created. All he does is try to make movies that he would enjoy watching. I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of the most successful directors follow the same strategy.

Forget your audience. Who cares what they think?! Make a movie that you think is good, and hopefully, you'll find a group of people who agree with you.

Unless you're making softcore porn, the look of the actress should come secondary -- find someone who can act.
 
If you're looking for believability in any action show, then change the channel. There hasn't been a truly believable action show ever. It's all entertainment. Female's in the lead kick ass.

Covert Affairs is fun.

Alias was good. But, Garner had two looks, serious and sobbing. She cried in every episode.

She Spies kicked ass. I have the DVDs, and every episode on VHS.

Cleopatra 2525, kick ass chicks in the future. Great, fun show.

Never liked the show Le Femme Nikita. But, the original movie was excellent.

What do fans want from female action stars? Someone they want to fuck desperately.
 
To me the ultimate female action character is Smilla from SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW. She's bad ass without giving up one ounce of her feminity or the reality of what's going on. She doesn't do martial arts or wield a gun, she's bad ass because of her brain and yet she does risky things to achieve her goals.

James Cameron is one of the few men who can write a female action lead without making it seem like "write for a guy then change the gender tenses". Look at the Special Edition of ALIENS where the subplot about losing her daughter motivates Ripley's temper and actions, especially playing surrogate mother to Newt.

These are all story and character related reasons. Depth and meaning are the key.
 
Sigourney Weaver is the best!

How appropriate -- my 1,000th post is in admiration of a James Cameron heroine!

Ripley is badass.
Sarah Connor is badass.
Neytiri is badass.

All of them are played by actresses who know how to act, not just be tall.

All hail King Cameron!
 
I have to agree with the idea that there are going to be different groups who like different things, so it's hard to say.

LLC you mentioned about tall men and their difficulties with the visuals. Do you feel there's a bigger audience of men or women out there for strong females? Maybe it is more men, but maybe a bigger demo would come out if women (whatever size) were shown a character they can relate to, whatever the height.

An example I use of what I think audience wants, and catering to that audience: I am a big fan of the Dresden Files books, and looked forward to seeing it on screen. My disappointment went through a number of things, but my biggest issue was "Murphy": in the book she's a slightly dumpy short blonde who's tough as nails-in the tv show they had to make her a gorgeous willowy bruntette-what the heck? I turned the show off and contented myself to the books. I prefered the dumpy blonde to the willowy brunette, because the book Murphy had real character, and was a tough cookie.

As far the Terminator TV series-I don't know the girls height who played the terminator, but I didn't like her at all(probably because the actress couldn't pull off a "robotic"personality IMO).

I have no issue with a smaller character beating up larger, but I'll put this caveat-work it so the size is to her advantage, and focus more on pressure points. I will say, unless the girl has almost inhuman strength, she can't be kicking people halfway across a room (my written character can, but she has a background that would explain it lol)
 
Cracker Funk said:
I think you should consider your source. Why do you assume that the people making these comments represent your market? Maybe there are a WHOLE bunch of people out there that disagree strongly with these particular fans, but for one reason or another, aren't posting comments on a forum. Are you sure you aren't actually narrowing your audience?

My favorite filmmaker has said, time and time again, that he doesn't ever try to replicate the success of his past movies. He doesn't look for any special magical formula that he or anyone else has created. All he does is try to make movies that he would enjoy watching. I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of the most successful directors follow the same strategy.

Forget your audience. Who cares what they think?! Make a movie that you think is good, and hopefully, you'll find a group of people who agree with you.

Unless you're making softcore porn, the look of the actress should come secondary -- find someone who can act.
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I have actors who can act. You're just into mindless pranks and comedies.

Science Fiction is an entirely different animal. My cast are ACTING like robots, not humans.

If a filmmaker does care about what the fans want and what they like, they don't belong in show business.
 
Tinalera said:
I have to agree with the idea that there are going to be different groups who like different things, so it's hard to say.

LLC you mentioned about tall men and their difficulties with the visuals. Do you feel there's a bigger audience of men or women out there for strong females? Maybe it is more men, but maybe a bigger demo would come out if women (whatever size) were shown a character they can relate to, whatever the height.

An example I use of what I think audience wants, and catering to that audience: I am a big fan of the Dresden Files books, and looked forward to seeing it on screen. My disappointment went through a number of things, but my biggest issue was "Murphy": in the book she's a slightly dumpy short blonde who's tough as nails-in the tv show they had to make her a gorgeous willowy bruntette-what the heck? I turned the show off and contented myself to the books. I prefered the dumpy blonde to the willowy brunette, because the book Murphy had real character, and was a tough cookie.

As far the Terminator TV series-I don't know the girls height who played the terminator, but I didn't like her at all(probably because the actress couldn't pull off a "robotic"personality IMO).

I have no issue with a smaller character beating up larger, but I'll put this caveat-work it so the size is to her advantage, and focus more on pressure points. I will say, unless the girl has almost inhuman strength, she can't be kicking people halfway across a room (my written character can, but she has a background that would explain it lol)
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Agreed!
 
Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC said:
If a filmmaker does care about what the fans want and what they like, they don't belong in show business.
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I think James Cameron is doing OK for himself, and he has said that he doesn't make a movie by trying to create what he might perceive what people want; he makes movies that he himself would enjoy watching. That's all you can do, really.

Plus, I'm not sure where that line about "mindless pranks and comedies" is coming from. Like you, I'm a sci-fi nerd. Total Trekkie and Avatard to the max.
 
I agree with Sonyboo.

Also, I believe, although some of the visuals looked fake, Smallville's Supergirl, Kara Kent, is one of the best scripted female action heroes with the most depth done to date. Smallville's Supergirl blows the doors off of Helen Slater's Supergirl made decades before. Kara was complex with issues. But, she meant well, had a heart of gold, and had courage beyond measure like a true hero. The chemistry between Supergirl and Superboy was great. They had a traditional love/hate family relationship. But when the outside world endangered one, the other always came to the resuce. That made the characters believable.

Now, back to Nikita. I watched every episode of Le Femme Nikita for all five seasons. The chemistry between Michael and Nikita made it work for the romance crowd. There was a good stunt coordinator for the show that made Michael and Nikita shine. Once again, Peta Wilson being 5'10" tall made her fights with men look more believable because more of her opponents were around her height.
 
Cracker Funk said:
I think James Cameron is doing OK for himself, and he has said that he doesn't make a movie by trying to create what he might perceive what people want; he makes movies that he himself would enjoy watching. That's all you can do, really.

Plus, I'm not sure where that line about "mindless pranks and comedies" is coming from. Like you, I'm a sci-fi nerd. Total Trekkie and Avatard to the max.
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With no knowledge of AI characters and robots.

Before I write a script about robots and AI computers, I watch decades of productions about them, I visit the Smithsonian and NASA and talk about the real history of robots and AI with real experts, and even interview design engineers at work who worked for the Military making AI computers to make my stuff have a real flavor.

Dr. Kaku of City College of NY is a person I interviewed at City College of NY decades ago. He talks about quantum computers opening the doors for AI and has intersting clips on youtube for specials he's done for the BBC and CNN. One of his videos shows evidence that Surragates is around the corner from us right now.

In, I, Creator, there are scenes that shows that as much as Angela would like to be human and tries to immitate them, she knows her limits as a truly intelligent machine and she and Gail try to fit into a world humans brought them into. They know their differences will prevent them from being compatible with humans. Angela doesn't have glands and hormones. So, she knows she cannot feel emtions like a human can. Gail tells her to be glad because that innocense allows her to see things more clearly than humans.

I would also like to give Christina (who plays Angela) and Galina (who plays Gail Storm) a well deserved pat on the back for asking for a list of movies with characters similar to theirs to study for their roles. They studied the acting and makeup the characters in the Terminator movies and TV series used. I also had Galina study Alien Resurrection to study the personality of Ripley's half human and half alien clone, since Gail has the cloned mind of her creator.
 
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I prefer real actresses with talent. Like Streep or the Danish version of Streep, Paprika Steen. And I'm not even gay. I just like foreign films is all.
 
What do I want in a female action hero? Summer Glau....

Seriously though, you should watch the scene in Serenity where she 'gets triggered' and beats up a bar full of dudes, and later on where she beats up a room full of reavers. She moves gracefully, which is how a tiny little girl should fight big guys.

Here's the first one I was talking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwVqW6J4FRc

Check out 1.09, I think that might be a 'pressure point' :yes:
 
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