Screenwriting : On Misogyny and Double Standards by Edward Case

Well said Jacqueline! Ripley is a great action hero. She is believable. No big ridiculous karate moves! She used her wit and perseverance to survive. A "strong" woman character does not mean hot fighter chic that fights like a man, talks like a man and does so wearing hot pants. I find it so comical in action films featuring female characters that being sexy = female strength. Sexy is just sexy. To answer your question Edward, the way a writer can 'cross the line' is to write a great script! Create an authentic, realistic female character! Write it so damn well that talent will be fighting to get that part! Why? Because it would be a fresh take on a boring stereotype.

Salt was also written for Tom Cruise and the role went to Jolie when Cruise was committed to another project (Day and Knight, I think). Haywire, is another example of a pretty gritty, no holds barred action thriller, with a strong female lead, played by Gina Carano. She is tough, because that's who she is. As Beth rightly pointed out, the problem happens with the character is undermined by making them sexy - then it becomes comical.

Salt had a female lead that wasnt sexed up, Hanna is another that wasn't (and it would have been weird if she was), Hitgirl from kick ass (I havent seen the second one yet). Lisabeth Salander, They are out there, rare... yes... even tomb raider (Jolie wasn't in body tights throughout the entire film).

and kill bill 1 & 2

Great examples. Well... except for Tomb Raider, which also costarred Jolie's left breast and her right breast. ;)

One thing, all these female action characters (generally speaking) not only have to be drop dead gorgeous they also have these over the top mad skills or super intelligence or super gravity-defying fighting moves. It's just so unbelievable. But, I get it. It's fun. It's entertainment. I did like "Salt." I appreciated some of the realism. I mean, Jolie weighs like 100lbs, right? So seeing her fight dirty, sneaky, smart. Pushing off of walls to give herself more momentum fighting someone twice her size was great. I loved that they addressed the physical fact that she was a woman and therefore had to fight differently than a man. She also got the crap beat out of her too. Anyway, that character was a definite improvement. Nonetheless, I'd love to see a 'real' regular woman, not a beauty queen with mad skills, put in a situation where she'd have to do incredible things to save the day. :)

imagine doing Falling Down but having ??????? as the main character. just as a thought exercise.... Also Gravity had a powerful Sandra Bullock.. This got me to thinking: how would you tell an action story with a female lead. For instance, how would you adapt a story like The Hurt Locker to a woman lead? I'm working on a scifi action script right now (for my MFA) I have/am seriously considered rewriting my protagonist to be a woman. It would make some of the plot much more compelling, and i think fit into the theme much better...

@Todd. I think you may be onto something... Best wishes on your script!

@Todd, yes, likewise. A strong female lead part is gold nowadays.

And yes, I can see how there's only so much a writer can do whether for a female or male lead (the original story that became Total Recall featured a man better described as a Woody Allen than Arnold Schwarzenegger or Colin Farrell). I think a significant segment of the U.S. audience is particularly repelled when violence against women, or involving women, becomes graphic. Other countries that do this, whether France, Norway, Hong Kong or Japan, seem to get away with this easier. Kill Bill is a great example, but not without its critics (or, in this article, a backhanded compliment: http://www.policymic.com/articles/67263/kill-bill-and-our-troubled-relat...). Even the videogame version of Tomb Raider, already sexualized, was criticized for being misogynistic in its newest, grittiest form. More than a few pointed out the attempted sexual assault in the game made it feel uncomfortable. Now I love the character of Ripley (a male part in the original Alien script), but her evolution from tough girl to richly layered character in Aliens only further highlights the issue at hand - how rare it is to find a real CHARACTER in the action genre today. Todd, I hope your lead's more Ripley than Lara.

Great article Edward, thanks for sharing it. Yeah, I have never cared for the rape/revenge storyline. It's so wrong on so many levels. A female character is raped and then that rape "empowers" her to take revenge thus her strength still comes from... men? What?!! These rape/revenge films were written and directed by men, right? -- Kill Bill, Spit on Your Grave, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, some Dirty Harry films too? I'm sure there's more that I can't think of right now... So -- just an observation -- we have a predominately male perpetrated violent crime against women portrayed in a film created by men, the victim is written by men with a masculine point of view on how a victim should react -- an eye for an eye. Hmmmmm. Has there been a film with this storyline written and/or directed by a woman? The only one I could come up with that's close is Boys Don't Cry, written and directed by Kimberly Pierce. I know that film's focus is on transgender but it certainly features a horrific rape and murder. No revenge though...

Let's face it - men and women are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to violence. Women might kill for their children and family, while men might simply kill out of anger. For a woman to kill for vengeance otherwise, she has to have come from a dark place. I'm generalizing obviously, but a woman serial killer's aren't very common unless its because of some form of abuse or violence against them.

I get what you are saying Luis, men and women do generally use/approach/consider violence very differently. Women killers are very rare and generally kill more passively, like using poison. Male serial killers tend to have a history of serious issues/abuse too. In the context of rape, a victim may fight back during an attack and get the upper hand. But, the scenario of a rape victim going on a massive violent rampage against her attacker and anyone else that gets in her way is really only found in movies. :)

My useless film references have finally found a home. I believe you will find this documentary interesting. Top Fighter 2: Deadly China Doll. It's about action actress stars of the 80s. The film documents the role of women over time, particularly in Asian Cinema and Theater, from the traditional chinese opera to eye candy and then to the action actress stars of today. Now to add to your discussion. I believe female protagonist of action movies need to be vulnerable. The great thing about all of the icons mentioned above (Lisbeth, Kiddo, Ripley, etc) is that they didn't escape unscathed. Sometimes their defeat was physical, sexual, mental...But they at some point learn to approach things differently...Maybe with a different fighting style, or strategically maybe a way that didn't involve fighting at all. But, especially as women on the big screen, if it's an action movie, build that former defeat into a new source of strength for your character. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsU7F0G49gc

The human body, male or female, has its capabilities 'under extreme duress'; Asian films often demonstrate the speed and agility of male and female stars from still to high thriller action but in the US and western film the problem is a psychosocial profiling that keeps power and action using the large, extrinsic muscle groups smothered in pyrotechnics. Sometimes, it pays to dig into the inner resources of the human body, intrinsic collaboration of a well-trained, deep mind and inner body connection; that way you can create something new, exciting, highly intriguing, stimulating, often more powerful, and deadly, than blockbuster action.

@Lauren. Of course there are exceptions :) I did use the word "generally" when referring to female killers. And, there is a huge difference between being a killer, a mass murderer and a serial killer. Statistically, and in terms and vocabulary used in documented FBI profiles, women killers generally use "passive" means. Most "angels of death" are women. Poisoning their victims. I met John Douglas years ago, he was the premier profiler for the FBI, in fact, he's the guy that developed profiling. He was giving a lecture, and talking to him afterward was so insightful. He has several books which are great sources for factual information.

Just some interesting information on top motives for female killers. Which are: Greed; Jealousy (of other women); Lust; Revenge (usually towards other women or a cheating man); Sadistic Pleasure (usually in partnership with a man, she helps find victims for her lover and participates to please him). A key element that MAY contribute to a woman becoming a killer is suffering as a child at the hands of bad parents/guardians and having a life-long history of verbal and physical abuse.

This is America so be free in your wirting, I have been a killer and been killed LOL

Oh, I just wanted to add, in regards to the article posted on this thread that examines rape/revenge as a storyline in movies, especially in Kill Bill, that I disagree with it some because Kill Bill is not necessarily about rape as a motive for revenge. While Uma's character was extremely brutalized, her main motive for revenge was actually due to the presumed murder of her baby. Bill and his band of killers took her child from her. Kill Bill is really about a mother avenging her child.

Hunger Games

Geena Davis in, "The Long Kiss Goodnight " as Samantha Caine / Charly Baltimore "Cutthroat Island" as Morgan.

Don't focus on her being "sexy" the whole time and you can do whatever you want to her...as you have to be hard on your protagonist. But if you make her strong, creative, and capable as you would a man, of course you have to challenge her. I'm not sure what double standard you're speaking of, if you're referring to studios, yes, they rarely make films with female action heroes (unless it's a comic book film and even then they are rarely the protagonist). But studio films are clearly in flux because the old model is so often NOT working anymore.

Some good points being made here (I discounted the mother angle of Kill Bill, for example), but I noticed something with the others. The Long Kiss Goodnight and Hanna were box office disappointments while Cutthroat Island was an outright bomb (but probably not because of the female lead angle - just a bad film angle). Is the audience for these films, outside of, say, Jodie Foster vehicles (and she really makes thrillers, not action films) so limited? Ripley was established as a character as a result of the success of the genre success of Alien, not because she was the main draw in the first film. And as for Katniss Everdeen, she is largely desexualized for two reasons 1) the source material demanded it and 2) she's playing a teen character. The film's success, however, was due to the monster following of the books (we'll see if the new film is as good as advance word says, and hopefully expand the audience for such pictures). Can we conclude anything from all this? It seems that unless it's an adaptation with a built-in audience, that writers who pulled off action films that succeeded wrote the roles gender-neutral, and added the female details later. Does that sound right?

Some really good points there EC, I was going to add "untraceable" here. Aren't there a lot more female action stories that come out through YA literature (like hunger games?) i did a quick search and found a link to this blogpost (http://www.freethoughtblogs.com/ashleymiller/2013/07/23/women-protagonis...). please note that i dont have any affiliation with said blog so I'm not adverting it, just providing it as a quick reference. anhoots, YA stories will probably be riding high for a while which should lead to more opps female led action stories...

That's a fair question, although comedy as a genre gets away with bending rules by definition. So The Heat, while groundbreaking in a lot of ways, did it through a genre that is better suited for such stretching. It's when I hear talk of an all-female expansion of the Expendables is going to be titled "The Expend-a-Belles" that I slap my forehead and think we really haven't progressed very much at all.

I recently saw The Heat and although I find both of them generally very funny, I though they were constantly trying too hard in this movie, trying to be their characters and trying too hard to get a laugh. Many of the comedy elements were way too sophomoric. Also the chemistry between them didn't work well I kept waiting for the gag in the "bonding moments". I didn't hate it I just think both of them have done much better work.