your favorite american films of the past 50 years with female protagonists

May! Good one.

add No Such Thing even though part of the Sarah Polley character was a little bit meek and dull, the other part was not.

some of the other movies listed are objectively awful ("monster"?!)

The way I approached this was to consult my .xls of every movie I've seen since 1992 and jot down all the ones that met the requirements. After doing so, I deleted the ones I disliked or didn't remember enough about to say one way or another. I'm in no position to defend Monster, but I recall not hating it.

rambling rose

outrage & not wanted, both by ida lupino

I secretly love the Wynona "Little Women" movie.

I don't even secretly love this movie, I just love it. I still hate Bhaer though.

― Respectfully, Tyrese Gibson (Nicole), Thursday, May 3, 2012 12:35 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i love this one too

everyone just seemed so perfectly cast

no shame in loving that movie -- it's good! Susan Sarandon was the only one who looked too modern (and portended sexless roles).

would you guys consider jeff daniels to be the clear protagonist of something wild?

Yes; the most interesting character, not at all. It's like American Graffiti: Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, and Cindy Williams are so much more interesting than almost all the male characters.

Alien's an even worse fit than Aliens - Ripley is just one of the big cast, she doesn't become the most interesting until she's the only one left.

she is, however, the protagonist when all is said and done. the movie just takes its time making that clear. i'd say it counts.

xspost Alfred, yeah that's true...I'll give her a pass though because even her regular speaking voice is just so perfectly Marmee, at least to me. It's totally how she sounded in my head all those years!

times square

dang, a lot of the movies i wanted to mention (foxes, the runaways, switchblade sisters) are already up here

if anything in the alien franchise emphasizes the female POV more than others it's probably alien:resurrection.

i actually kind of like that movie.

'little women' is rly good -- winona's last good role (and film), probably.

lol remember when she scored two consecutive Oscar nominations

'little women' is rly good -- winona's last good role (and film), probably.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Thursday, May 3, 2012 3:31 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that reminds me, is winona the protagonist of edward scissorhands? or beetlejuice for that matter?

(i'd humbly suggest that E.S. has dual protagonists, and actually re. beetlejuice i have no idea. is it alec baldwin and geena davis, alec and winona, or just alec?)

good god how crushworthy was winona in those days?

i thought she was rather good in black swan, she's still got it in her, just please stop making her play stupid girlfriend roles!

One of these Halloweens I'm going to get my shit together and do a Lydia/Beetlejuice costume

oh man a couple with lydia and beetlejuice costumes would be off the charts. actually winona+dress + johnny depp from edward scissorhands would be nifty too.

Nah, Edward himself is the protagonist, she's the leading lady.

Beetlejuice is an ensemble piece, mostly led by Winona and Michael Keaton, surely?

xposts

i thought she was rather good in black swan, she's still got it in her, just please stop making her play stupid girlfriend roles!

― former personal denim advisor to the mayor, (La Lechera), Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:08 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah her role in that vince vaughan/king of queens comedy was likewise a kind of harsh meta-assessment of winona's waning fortunes.

Nah, Edward himself is the protagonist, she's the leading lady.

really? doesn't she probably has as much screen time??

It's not about screen-time, though - the mother (forgotten her name) has as much screen-time, too. It's about how the story is presented, who the story belongs to, how the characterisation works...

(what the cinema ticket in your hand reads)

It's not about screen-time, though - the mother (forgotten her name) has as much screen-time, too. It's about how the story is presented, who the story belongs to, how the characterisation works...

― emil.y, Thursday, May 3, 2012 4:14 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

right, i know. in my memory winona's goals are of equal importance, but i haven't seen it in years, so you're probably right.

The Virgin Suicides? Lux is basically the protagonist, but it's also all five sisters as remembered by the teenage boys who worshipped them. So I'm not sure if it counts.

There were a couple I dithered on because of uncertainty about how "American" they were. E.g., A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries or Maria Full of Grace.

or emma, i guess.

i think monster is pretty good

There were a couple I dithered on because of uncertainty about how "American" they were. E.g., A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries or Maria Full of Grace.

― sockless in moccasins (jaymc), Thursday, May 3, 2012 7:20 PM (47 minutes ago) Bookmark

someone mentioned eXistenZ, which i think of as totally canadian

The Virgin Suicides? Lux is basically the protagonist, but it's also all five sisters as remembered by the teenage boys who worshipped them. So I'm not sure if it counts.

― clemenza, Thursday, May 3, 2012 6:07 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm not sure the virgin suicides is even really "about" the sisters at all, which i guess is kind of the point

well, it's about perceiving them, but also about their sense of existing in the perception of others, so

it's about them as objects and not characters. they may be at the center of the story but that center is a void. idk

may be overstating things tho, it's been a long time since i've seen it

I think you're both right...which is why I wasn't sure if it belonged or not.

Ones I liked (to varying degrees) that haven't been mentioned...

Young Adult
Citizen Ruth
Haywire
Strangers With Candy
Waitress
and, um, Dreamgirls?

Has anyone said Juno yet? Or Whip It?

Getting laid and abandoned by Josh Hartnett on the 50-yd line? Doesn't that disqualify Virgin Suicides by these Bechdel Criteria I seem to have missed?

(I assume it's the graphic novelist Bechdel, whose big book I actually read)

Sofia Coppola's protagonist women are interesting and perhaps debatable cases, true, but i would still call them protagonists in Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. and i really like those films.

actually, now that i really think about it, not debatable, def protagonist

Hanna also rad

and btw Ginger Snaps is Canadian!
^ patriotic duty done for the day

Morbius: the Bechdel Test

oops, i want to expand the criteria to include canada then, cuz ginger snaps is great

so's hanna, can't believe i forgot that one

A Question of Silence, for example, tackles the intense emotional reactions of three women

Nobody's mentioned "3 Women" yet! Where are the Altman stans?

it has been

Has anyone said Juno yet? Or Whip It?

I mentioned both.