Entertainment & Arts

The Male Audience and the Female Heroes

So here's the thing. Us fellas actually do love a good strong female hero to save the day. What we don't like are bad characters. And really that's true of most audiences. Male and female. The constant "you just don't like this movie/show cause you're a misogynist and can't handle strong women!" is quite exhausting to hear every time we give a film fair criticism. And that is just not the case. So here's my take on the matter.

There are several criteria to meet that make a character a good one but I'll simplify it down to this: The characters' skills, or lack there of, must be established. And show, don't tell. Show the characters using their skills and show us why they should be respected. The antagonist should be strong and smart enough to defeat the hero. There needs to be an obstacle for the hero to overcome. Most commonly in the form of a villain but it could also be in the form of a quest, a mission or a challenge. We want to see the character struggle. Because without struggle there can be no strength. With no strength there can be no growth. With no growth there can be no change. With no change there is no story. With no story the movie or show is not interesting

Avatar Korra is an example of a good and strong female hero. At first in the story she meets the typical modern trope of just being naturally good with her powers and always outshines her teachers and peers. This gave her a false sense of superiority. Because of this, during her first actual confrontation with the villain of the story, Amon, she loses. Amon and his grunts were able to outmatch and overpower Korra. We've seen how skilled and strong Korra is already and the fact she loses immediately is what establishes her rival Amon as a credible threat and a worthy opponent. It's because of that dynamic that her final victory was that much more significant and, most importantly, well earned. Her struggle made her stronger. Her strength allowed her to grow. Her growth effected change. The change created her story. We followed her journey and rooted for her because as we watched we became emotionally invested. Because of all that, she became a beloved character and as such, became a strong female hero. One that everyone, guys and girls, can respect.

Now that I've mentioned all of that I'm gonna list below several of my most favorite female heroes who have all gone through the cycle of struggle, strength, growth, and change.

Portia Lin, Dark Matter
Portia Lin, Dark Matter
Yennefer of Vengerberg, The Witcher
Yennefer of Vengerberg, The Witcher
Artemis, Ready Player One
Artemis, Ready Player One
Clarke Griffon, The 100
Clarke Griffon, The 100
Octavia, The 100
Octavia, The 100
Ashoka Tano, Star Wars The Clone Wars
Ashoka Tano, Star Wars The Clone Wars
Teyla Imagen, Stargate Atlantis
Teyla Imagen, Stargate Atlantis
Annie, The Boys
Annie, The Boys
Naomi Nagata, The Expanse
Naomi Nagata, The Expanse
Katara, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Katara, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
Indra, The 100
Indra, The 100
Cirilla of Cintra, The Witcher
Cirilla of Cintra, The Witcher
Lagertha, Vikings
Lagertha, Vikings
Zoe Washburne, Firefly
Zoe Washburne, Firefly
Furiosa, Mad Max: Fury Road
Furiosa, Mad Max: Fury Road
Daisy, How I Live Now
Daisy, How I Live Now
Ellie Linton, Tomorrow When The War Began
Ellie Linton, Tomorrow When The War Began
Michonne, The Walking Dead
Michonne, The Walking Dead
Sara Connor, Terminator 2
Sara Connor, Terminator 2

And last, but certainly not least, the Grandmammy of lady badasses:

drumroll please

Ellen "Get Away From Her You Bitch" Ripley, from the movie Aliens

Thanks for taking the time to read through this. Hopefully you all at least have some new movies and shows to watch or a new game to play. Ideally, you've discovered a well written and good, smart, strong Heroine to be inspired and empowered by.

There were at least a dozen more I wanted to list but MyTakes only allow 20 images. So maybe I'll do another one of these.

Until next time!

The Male Audience and the Female Heroes
Post Opinion