Why don’t people like strong female centric films?

[StormMistress]

I don’t get it? There are countless strong male lead films what’s wrong with having some female ones too? It’s always good to have strong role models for both sexes.

I get men are stronger than women but we are both capable of leading roles and besides I’m fantasy settings you can be more flexible with strength and the like.

If you don’t like strong female leads then maybe it’s just not your type of movie. That’s fine we all have different tastes and there are plenty of others more to your tastes. Just let us have our strong movie role models too.

[Chazmatazz269]

I doubt there’s any resistance to the idea of strong female characters or leading roles. Most of the recent detractors are bemoaning filmmakers sacrificing quality to meet some sort of bizarre affirmative action standards compelled almost entirely by “woke” ideologues who don’t even watch movies and shows.
I can understand to a limited extent that some people feel the need to see themselves and their ilk represented more and better. But if you’re more interested in representation than in the quality of the art and art form, then you’re out to destroy something, not create something. I’m opposed to that, and i’m certain i’m not the only one.
On the other hand, i don’t fail to relate to characters of all ages, races, sexes, creeds, and colors as long as the characters are written and performed well. So i can’t relate to people who can’t relate to characters who aren’t just like themselves. I also grew up watching LOTS of shows and movies with strong women and people of color. There hasn’t been a shortage of this content as some people suggest. And it’s not difficult to find. That’s how i know the protesters don’t actually invest in the mediums. They’re protesting just to protest, and don’t actually know much, if anything, about what they’re protesting. It’s silly and i’d rather the willfully ignorant weren’t allowed to destroy something they obviously know little and care even less about. Because i do know it and love it.
Make what you want to see. But you don’t need to destroy what others want to see to do that.

[Anonymous]

For the most part i would suggest its because they aren't geniune.

Certainly you are right to say there aren't enough of them but there are some examples of strong female characters, some times leading characters.

The Alien franchise.

The Terminator franchise, Sarah Connor is a strong and capable female character.

Weeds, this might be the best example that I can think of of a strong female lead as she isn't a woman doing what a man would do, she is always feminine but she is the head of her house, the leader of her tribe and stands against and defeats objectively stronger male characters.

The Wizard of Oz and Labyrinth both have female leads / heroines and again they aren't trying to be men and Dorthy isn't even an adult.

Kill Bill?

Charlies Angels?

The Matrix? Not a lead, but never the less the Trinity character is just as capable as her male peers.

I dont think people have a problem with strong female characters or female centrict content, what people have a problem with is bullshit and long may that continue.

[LazerBean]

It's just depends on what the movie is about. For example, I thought the new movie in the predator series, "Prey", was pretty dumb. Like you're going to tell me that a whole squad of trained, hardened killers barely can kill this monster, but this girl with a sharp rock is going to do it just fine? C'mon, that is obvious bullshit marketed towards women. It was just sad honestly, because it would have been such a good movie had they not made it completely ludicrous.

[Crafteroon]

Most strong female centric films fall apart at the story. Some suffer because the director doesn't know what angles to use to make a woman seem both strong and appealing, it either feels distant or sexist.

But in story it happens because you need a fault in the character for the audience to relate to them, but also characteristics that give them strengths. In female-led films either the fault doesn't make sense, or the strengths don't belong to her.

Captain Marvel had a very powerful female character in the lead. Her strength was her perseverance. Why did she have to persevere, because she was a woman. Being a woman became her defining trait, not her strong will, and the audience sees that. Her weakness? No such thing, she was manipulated by others. So when a character is defined by her gender and has no faults, that becomes a female power fantasy, and that's boring to watch.

You want strong female characters? Look at Emily Blunt's films. Edge of Tomorrow and Quiet Place. Is she the sole female lead, no. Does she stand out? Hell yes. Does she have faults and weaknesses that she must overcome? Hell yes. Is she a badass? Hell yes. Why is she interesting? Because not everything revolves around her being a woman. She is a strong character, who happens to be female. In Quiet Place she is a mother and is pregnant, but it's not about her being a woman, it's about her being a parent and her need to survive to look after her kids. That is depth. That is interesting to watch.

It's not that people don't like strong female centric films. It's because not everyone knows how to make a good character centric films where the lead happens to be female. But some do, and the movies they make are worth watching.

[genericname85]

i don't think there's an issue with strong female centric films. i mean tomb rider was never an issue or pretty much every movie Angelina Jolie ever made where she pretty much always played a strong female character. same with Ellen Ripley in Alien or Terminator. Or like Mulan and Frozen from disney. there's countless more examples.

however i think there's an issue with this forced medial agenda that bashes men and over glorifies women. like the female version of ghost busters was clearly just a bitter attempt at virtue signalling for equality without any work at the actual plot of the movie. or like in star wars, where suddenly every male character is degenerated into some sort of whimp, while women dominate the story. it's not that we hate strong women. but why force such unrealistic twists into known and loved francises? that's just a weak attemt at forcing a gender agenda.

so like if i smell a political corporate agenda behind a film with a strong female role, i automatically hate it. it's clearly noticeable when "strong female" is not a means for the plot but just forced to make a political point.

[Sixgunsound]

I can respect a movie where a woman is the lead character a lot more if they aren’t exhibiting masculine qualities to solve the problem as a token female. Lately it seems that most movies play to the common denominator of stoic scantily clad badass who uses physical power to advance the plot, typically involving weapons and explosions. Diplomatic solutions are a thing, psychological solutions also count, and the everyday heroism of keeping a household running despite all odds should be getting a lot more respect than it does.

[The_Shadow_Dweller]

If you are talking about Bat Girl then I would like to say that the studio had invested vast amounts of money in that project. If they did not want any kind of strong female lead, then they would not have given the green signal in the first place.

They understand that they need to maintain a balance between male and female leads anyhow. And they are striving to do it. But if the movie itself is kind of hopeless, even according to them, then they had to take necessary action. Better botch a movie than letting it release and botch the whole potential franchise. DC is already struggling enough. They do not want to take the chances, not again after WW'84.

[jhl_x]

The current trend of female-led films is basically put a woman acting like a man in action movies and do the laziest storytelling possible, loaded with cliches and political messaging, usually feminist. The result is a copy-paste of already existing movies, that people don't even care if a guy is male or female, but with bland plot and characters, since they're special because they're women, therefore oppressed by male villains.

Just like the issue regarding female sports, its supporters must decide if they want to attract a female audience that didn't care about the thing before, or if they want to cater to an already existing audience, that is mostly composed by men.

[BUTIMRIGHTTHO]

Batgirl? I heard something happened with that. Also the only strength that matters is mental strength. Physical strength is darn near worthless without mental strength.

@StormMistress I honestly my alter ego is oddly a woman. Also my favorite show: The Queen's Gambit was lead by a female and that character was so inspiring to me because it reminded me of my alter ego. I'm not gay nor do I want to be a woman but for some reason my mind doesn't think in terms of black and white.

Also why don't people like strong female centric films? You know why. Look at our world. Don't be naive and think our world is this shitty but everyone somehow is holy and good.

[SixFootSexy]

Alien and Mad Max were good female-centric films. Today, most films are so woke, they will sacrifice a good story for the sake of the "message" and it ends up being a steaming pile of ____.

To be fair, they don't make good strong male role models anymore either. Or even just FUN satirical movies like they had loads of in the 80's and early 90's.

Demolition Man

[Phoenix98]

Because they are normally poorly made and they are made in a way that it's really blatantly obvious that there's an agenda behind it either political or social.

And that's why they aren't good, the female characters aren't written to be good characters they are written to advance an agenda they aren't genuine they're forced. and that's why they are trash.

Alien is a great example of a good female lead character it's universally beloved as one of the most iconic movies of all time and everyone loves Ripley. And that's because she was written to be a good characters and that's it.

[Guanfei]

They do, when it's well made.
Which they aren't most of the time, because a "strong female lead" today is just an invincible woman that can beat anything and anyone, and is magically better than everyone else, especially men who are dumbed down so they can't outshadow her. Basically Mary Sue surrounded by idiots with penis.
Women lead were much better when movies didn't care about looking "feminist". Look at what was made in the 80's, especially action movies. Terminator, Alien, or more recently with Alita Battle Angel, or even the disliked Ghost in the Shell. This is a good female lead. Because being women doesn't make them magically stronger. They're stronger through their experiences.

[NathanDavis]

this is actually not true...

there are dozens and plenty of films that are lead by women and they have been very successful even among men

and they are not a new thing either... I've been watching them since the 90's lol

and I am quite sure that there's many other from times before

[SlothySlob]

I've seen a video on yt about strong female leads in recent marvel movies. His critique was in a sense that strong females are portrayed as stoic, masculine, silent.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fjNyeDlqgqE

[jshm2]

WTF are you blabbing about?

Strong female leads are as liked as strong male lead films. Hunger Games, Us, Terminator etc etc.

What you're confused about is Oscars and other film awards. They are more down to marketing and reception of the film team, than the quality of the film itself. It's little to do with the film lead roles.

[mstbooblover]

Never have I been aware that a strong and leading female character in a movie could be a problem, whatever they evolve into in the story. I don't think a good leading character is linked to a gender. A different gender still allows to demonstrate the differences in approaching the situations in the movie. Seems rather interesting to see as well the male as female approach.

[ArtemisSilver]

It depends entirely on how they're written. I like a strong female character and lead, but I really don't like woke political stuff being ramrodded into my entertainment.

For example, Jainway, an awesome powerful female in trek fiction. Burnham in the new trek, an absolute psychopathic shitlord, Same with Rae in star wars.

A lot of my favorite Warhammer 40k characters are females, and they're written as whole people, not just 2d sex dolls or woke political totems.

[Sixgunsound]

It’s been a minute so I completely forgot about voyager, but when that was still airing new episodes, I would stay up until midnight because that’s when it aired on a free local channel. I wasn’t really as big of a fan of Kate Mulgrew in the first season, but as she grew into the role she became a much better and more capable actor and the character became a better leader. I don’t recall ever caring that a woman was captain because I was still a kid at the time and hadn’t been trained by the adult world that that mattered yet.

[ArtemisSilver]

Well that and she wasn't written to be a psychopath like so many woke propoganda protags now

[Sixgunsound]

If you go back into TNG, a lot of Patrick Stewart lines actually sound like conservatives today.

[ArtemisSilver]

The left has drifted hard in recent decades. Heavy Marxist influence in academia combined with bad times and no counterbalance.

[joeldalton]

This is silliness. Because for the most part, female-led movies suck. They're so concerned about "The Message" and so worried about a female lead failing on film that they write her to be damn near invincible. This makes for a boring story.

[GreatnessBack]

I like plenty of female centric films and video games.
I liked Mad Max: Fury Road. That was a female centric movie and Max was just there.

If a female centric movie was not received well, it's most likely because it was trash. Trash is trash.

[DryGermanGuy]

I think there are a number of good films around with strong female leads: The Alien series, Salt, Erin Brockovich, Kill Bill, Bound, Thelma & Louise, Legally Blonde, Monster...

[Jouth]

I feel like it's easier to fuck up. So often I see a movie that's meant to have a strong female lead and she just ends up being a bitch.

Every now and then, you'll see someone write and cast it properly and she ends up being a badass and it's great. Usually that's not the case tho. Not sure why that is.

[Keepitreal007]

I don’t mind the female lead but for me it’s about the movie. Most females can’t pull it off. Not sure why. But the one female I love watching and can pull it off is Jennifer Garner. Peppermint was awesome. Loved her in Alias.

[FilmGuy93]

I don't think anyone has a problem with strong female leads. What they don't like is when the female lead doesn't suit the story.