Women Heroes in the Movies...

[Truth Seeker]

Well, with Hedi's article(Sci Fic News page) stating the obvious...about women heroes showing on the screen...is in jeopardy, or is it dead?

Problem? Yes...it is in our society.

What will take to change it, and how long?

Yes, my questions are vague, but there is enough to read between the lines.

Express constructively...your solutions for this dilemma.

 

[Maerdwyn]

1) Make Better Movies.

Both Catwoman and Elektra stunk, and looked like it from the previews. The Lara Croft movies were only passable, and still did excellent business. It's not that teenage boys are scared off by women heroes and their sexuality - it's that if that's the ONLY thing that's bearable in a movie, the movie is dead on arrival.

2) Start off with mass marketable premises.

You can't sell Catwoman as a mass market heroine when most of the mass market thinks of Catwoman as a villain from Batman. You can't sell Elektra as a mass market heroine when she's a relatively obscure (speaking in terms of the general population, that is. If every single person who ever bought a comic in which Elektra appeared went and saw the movie, it would still flop.) character whose only introduction to most people was through another superhero movie that wan't very good and didn't do all that well, and which incidentally, killed off the character you're trying to promote. Wonder Woman is known by more of the public, is unambiguously a heroine, and remembered fondly from TV series, and is on TV now in Justice League. In other words, there is large enough fanbase to support a movie. A decent movie, featuring her, would do well at the box office.

 

[Mimic]

I have to agree with Maerdwyn, if your going to make a heroine movie make it about someone the majority of people know about. Go to anyone on the street and throw out the names Spiderman, Superman, Fantastic four or X-men and at least 90% would have some vague idea about what they are.

Now do the same with Elektra and all you will get is a blank stare and "Who's that?" as a reply. Whats the draw? Nobody will care enough to go.

''America is not ready for a female superhero,'' says Catwoman producer Denise Di Novi. ''Men [don't] want to see it — especially teenage boys — and it seems like women don't want to, either.'' Reasons Charlie's Angels screenwriter John August: ''Studios think all teenage boys are horny, and therefore want to see a beautiful girl kicking ass. But teenage boys are also kind of terrified of women, so the sexuality drives them away.''

That statement is all kinds of wrong, I don't think people really care if the hero is male or female. Its all about the plot, the script and the acting. Yes teenage boys are horny but are they going to spend 20+ dollars watch a bad movie for 2 hours to get some T&A or are they going to literally take 30 seconds and get it off the internet? The sooner Hollywood figures that out the better. They can't just stuff a women into a tight leather outfit and then wonder why nobody watched the movie.

 

[WayneLigon]

1) Make Better Movies.
2) Start off with mass marketable premises.

Pretty much I agree. I wouldn't say Elektra was a bad movie, certainly not Catwoman bad, but the point about her being virtually unrecognized as such is a very good one.

Wonder Woman is probably the way to go; she's the most recognizable female heroine we have.

 

[nakia]

Another issue is source material (if we are restricting ourselves to comic based movies), which Maerdwyn alluded to. Successful, female superhero stand alone comic books are rare. Wonder Woman is the exception (and I am sure her solo book does not do nearly as well as JLA).

This, to me anyway, gives some creedence to the "not ready for a female superhero" argument. Female super heroes do not do as well in the comics medium, either.

Yet, there are certainly successful movies that feature prominent women as heroes. They just don't seem to be comic related -- like the Alien films, The Matrix (Trinity kicked a lot of butt), or Kill Bill. Maybe it is the comic connection that makes things problematic.

 

[Umbran]

The solution is simple - make a good movie.

Catwoman and Elektra were, by all accounts I've heard, horrible films. They dont speak to whether the audience is ready for female superheroes. They only speak to whether the audience is ready for really lousy movies.

 

[Klaus]

I agree with the other posters. Making good movies is the way to go.

Comic books starring solo females don't sell as well because they tend not to be written as well, not because of the hero's gender.

 

[nakia]

Let me be a bit of the devil's advocate and turn things around:

Maybe one's standard of "good" (writing, movies, etc) is related to perceptions of gender and expected gender roles. Take the first two Alien films for example. Ripley is a strong female character, no doubt, but in some ways retains some traditional female roles. She's the scared woman alone in the dark in Alien, and the mother protecting her daughter in Aliens.

An interesting experiment would be to have an established writer with a built in fan base, someone known for good writing (Bendis, maybe, or Morrison or someone), write, say, Spider-Girl and see what happens.

Of course, there may be numerous examples already out there. Neil Gaiman's work, like Sandman, features numerous female protagonists and was popular. But Sandman certainly wasn't a traditional super hero book.

Now, I am not saying Catwoman did not suck (I have not seen it and don't intend to because, well, it looks like it sucks). I'm just playing devil's advocate and questioning assumptions.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, sticking an attractive actress into revealing outfits doesn't make a good movie.
A good script/director/acting makes a good movie.

Once Hollywood realizes this (they really do not seem to know, all things considered), they might start making good heroine movies.

Oh, and expensive SFX do not replace a good script either.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Truth Seeker]

I agree with the other posters. Making good movies is the way to go.

Comic books starring solo females don't sell as well because they tend not to be written as well, not because of the hero's gender.

Uhm...Birds of Prey(comic)...has been doing pretty well