Women Movie Villains

[xoxoxoBruce]

Lots of questions about the limited women's roles in movies, but no roles more than villains.

[DanaC]

Or because filmmakers assume that for the threat to be credible it has to come from a male source. Facing and beating a male super villain grants status to the hero - besting a woman is just to be expected because she's only a woman. It doesn't grant status - if the hero has to really struggle to overcome the male villain it increases his status further - but if he has to really struggle to overcome the female villain it actively reduces his status.

I remember spending time on some gaming and general geek forums and some of the disdain and even anger at the idea of female super heroes kicking about with male heroes and winning fights was amazing. It always baffled me, because they were willing to suspend disbelief at the notion of a man flying, turning into a mutant, or being given superpowers by a spider bite - but the idea that a woman could beat a man in a fight was a stretch too far. Why? Maybe because they wanted to imagine themselves in that narrative and a powerful woman was not what they wanted in there with them. Or because a woman's presence in that fantasy on an even footing with male characters devalued it by reducing the status of any male character who fought her.

Woman are allowed to be heroes and villains as long as the primary weapons they employ are sex and cunning.

[Clodfobble]

I'd like to see those stats broken down by just kid movies. Lots of kid movies have female villains.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Or because filmmakers assume that for the threat to be credible it has to come from a male source. Facing and beating a male super villain grants status to the hero - besting a woman is just to be expected because she's only a woman. It doesn't grant status - if the hero has to really struggle to overcome the male villain it increases his status further - but if he has to really struggle to overcome the female villain it actively reduces his status.

Yes that was pretty much where I was going with the 5 questions I wrote under the graph.

Woman are allowed to be heroes and villains as long as the primary weapons they employ are sex and cunning.

Using their Cun... nevermind

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I'd like to see those stats broken down by just kid movies. Lots of kid movies have female villains.

No kiddie movies...

To see, we compiled demographic data on the villains in the ten highest-grossing action films (domestically) from each of the last 30 years, looking at age, race, gender, occupation, motivation, and much more. (Excluded were sci-fantasy movies set in other worlds, though ones set on contemporary Earth were included. Period pieces were also excluded.) From Lethal Weapon to Jason Bourne, from Speed to Spectre, these graphs represent 300 of the past three decades’ most high-profile baddies. Note to Hollywood: Women can commit crimes, too.

[Undertoad]

Just watched a movie with a woman villain three days ago: "Okja"

(I hated it, but everyone else will love it!)

[Gravdigr]

The character 'Ma Ma' in "Dredd", the remake of Judge Dredd.

Played by Lena Headey:

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I remember spending time on some gaming and general geek forums and some of the disdain and even anger at the idea of female super heroes kicking about with male heroes and winning fights was amazing.

Until they were shuttered, the IMDB forums were full of that crap.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

I'd like to see those stats broken down by just kid movies. Lots of kid movies have female villains.

To riff off Dana, there isn't that status threat when kids best a female villain.

Hollywood's reality leaves a lot of people out in the cold. Alec Baldwin's latest is as a blind man. I saw it described as putting on a disability costume. Baldwin sells tickets but...

[fargon]

All the female villains are in Disney flix.
101 Dalmatians, Snow White, and others.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by fargon

All the female villains are in Disney flix.
101 Dalmatians, Snow White, and others.

And in the real world.

[Pi]

Originally Posted by fargon

All the female villains are in Disney flix.
101 Dalmatians, Snow White, and others.

It sucks to be a step mom in Disney movies

[Griff]

They might as well dress them in red shirts.

[Gravdigr]

Newb: "Who is that in the red shirt?"

Trekkie: "Doesn't matter."

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

Newb: "Who is that in the red shirt?"

Trekkie: "Doesn't matter." That's just Target

FIFYETIDNF(fixed it for you even though it didn't need fixing)