Have you noticed that in some of the best films of all time, women play small roles or are tomboys?

[me and my dog]

Now I am not being sexist or anything like that. I just noticed after watching a bunch of movies that either won awards or were just plain great movies, that there were either small roles that women played or there were not any women at all in the movies, and if they dID,then they are usually tomboys.

The Godfather- The only real big female characters that had real roles in that were Micheal's sister and his girlfriend Kate.Even then it was still a small role. Won best picture and is regarded by some for being the best movie of all time.

No country for old men- The only female that mattered was the main character's wife and she is barely seen. Won best picture.

The departed- The wife of Matt Damon's character was the only female I saw that even talked. Won best picture.

There will be blood- There were not even any women in that movie. Won Best actor.

Also some the best war movies like saving private Ryan and the hurt locker won best picture and neither of those even featured women. Don't say that men play a bigger part in wars than women because we have ton of women defending our country along with men.

The dark knight- Spoiler alert:They killed the leading lady halfway through the movie.Some people probably did not even notice her with Heath Ledgers great acting.

The shawshank redemption- Also no women in sight.

Forrest Gump- Spoiler alert: I know the girl was an important part of the movie, but it seemed like they didn't show her as much as they could,plus when they did, they showed how messed up she was and then they killed her at the end.

The lord of the rings trilogy- Did you notice that they barely showed much of the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen until the very end? They had references through out but never anything big until the end. Most of it was either Frodo's adventure or the battle for middle earth but never much love life in between.





Now I know that in some movies women play a big role(ex: Titanic,Aliens,Silence of the lambs,Misery).

But in some of those films, the women are tomboyish or just manlike ex: Ripley from Aliens, Clarice Starling from Silence of the lambs or Annie from Misery,and it's possible for the actresses to be overshadowed by other things like Hannibal lecter could overshadow Clarice or the Aliens themselves can overshadow Ripley. Also Titanic was a romantic film so of course the woman has to play a big role. Misery is one exception, but the girl was still tomboyish.

Pulp fiction- This is the only film I can come up with on the spot that had a great leading female role that was not tomboyish and the film wasn't romantic. Even then, she was still not seen as much as the other people in the movie.

Good fellas- the girl wasn't seen very much and like I said before, she seemed kind of tomboyish. That might just be me though.

Brave heart-another spoiler alert:They kill the first girl at the beginning then the rest of the movie was mainly fighting. They showed a relationship with William and the queen, but that was like the last quarter of the film.

The Excorsist- The female role we cared about was possessed by the devil most of the time.

The Shining-She was kind of overshadowed by Jack Nicholson.

Halloween-Also overshadowed by Michael Myers.

So do you think women have small roles in some of the greats or can you think of some films where women had major roles and the film wasn't a romantic and the girl wasn't tomboyish? By great I mean really great. So no, the girl from Scary movie does not count. Here is the the one example I could think of.... the bride from KILL BILL.

 

[The Rockerfly]

Hmm interesting however I think it might be a coincidence, having watch 90% of the films on that list I can safely say I didn't like them for their strong women roles

I mean it all in all helped create a better atmosphere but they were not the main reason

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Umm, the movies you name basically have male protagonists and that reasoning is enough for you to include them in the list, because the protagonists overshadow the supporting characters.

You use the word "overshadowed" a lot, but that really doesn't mean the movies are sexist nor does it imply any kind of coincidence.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Some of these had a point, but most are rather silly. Saving Private Ryan, guess what, women didn't serve on the front lines in WW11, and there were women in all the non-combat scenes. Arlington, etc.

The Godfather- Never seen it, can't judge.

No country for old men- NSCJ.

The departed- NSCJ.

There will be blood- NSCJ.

Also some the best war movies like saving private Ryan and the hurt locker won best picture and neither of those even featured women. Don't say that men play a bigger part in wars than women because we have ton of women defending our country along with men.- I already brought this up, and this was one of your worst points, as there aren't as many women in the military as men, and up until somewhat recently the couldn't serve in combat. Also, Starship Troopers has quite a few female characters.

The dark knight- She was still very integral.

The shawshank redemption- Wasn't it a male only prison? Because if so...

Forrest Gump- Spoiler alert: You're grasping straws here...

The lord of the rings trilogy- Eowen. Galadriel. Did you ever actually see these movies?

But in some of those films, the women are tomboyish or just manlike ex: Ripley from Aliens, Clarice Starling from Silence of the lambs or Annie from Misery,and it's possible for the actresses to be overshadowed by other things like Hannibal lecter could overshadow Clarice or the Aliens themselves can overshadow Ripley. Also Titanic was a romantic film so of course the woman has to play a big role. Misery is one exception, but the girl was still tomboyish. Extremely feminine behavior is gender stereotyping, and even worse than no women. This, frankly, is the worst point so far, and that's saying something.

Pulp fiction- I think you yourself explained why this one makes no fucking sense

Good fellas- NSCJ.

Brave heart-Fun fact, did you know that in the past, culture was different and women were often not involved in combat, nor were they considered equal to men? Screw historical accuracy, let's stick some more female characters in!

The Excorsist- Do you know what the word Exorcist means? Movie wouldn't make much sense without demonic possession.

The Shining-That's because he was the one that went crazy! Damn it! And if she went crazy, you'd probably complain about that, wouldn't you...

Halloween-That's because he's the fucking killer! It's how these movies work! If a woman killed people, you'd complain about her being mannish, wouldn't you?

So do you think women have small roles in some of the greats or can you think of some films where women had major roles and the film wasn't a romantic and the girl wasn't tomboyish? By great I mean really great. So no, the girl from Scary movie does not count. Here is the the one example I could think of.... the bride from KILL BILL.

Here, just look up a list of Best Actress award nominations and winners. There's your list. And frankly, the one you wrote is just picking and choosing among movies that happen to not have strong female characters, and most of the time there's a good reason for it.

 

[me and my dog]

Some of these had a point, but most are rather silly. Saving Private Ryan, guess what, women didn't serve on the front lines in WW11, and there were women in all the non-combat scenes. Arlington, etc.

Yeah but there were a bunch of non combat scenes in saving private Ryan. The girls that had the typewriters at the beginning didn't even talk.

 

[Woodsey]

The Godfather, The Departed and Goodfellas are all films about the mob. So err... Duh.

Saving Private Ryan is about a group of soldiers at the D-Day landings. Yeah, women helped the war effort greatly back at home; why would they have women on the front lines? That's not what the story's about so they don't feature.

Yeah they killed her in the Dark Knight, but she still had a large role and the character had a major impact on the film's events.

LotR has some prominent female roles, but again it's set in a place where the men are the soldiers/fighters.

Just because you can name great films that don't have women featured in them heavily doesn't really prove a point of any sort.

Some of these had a point, but most are rather silly. Saving Private Ryan, guess what, women didn't serve on the front lines in WW11, and there were women in all the non-combat scenes. Arlington, etc.

Yeah but there were a bunch of non combat scenes in saving private Ryan. The girls that had the typewriters at the beginning didn't even talk.

The scene with 3 commanding officers? No shit, do you think that might be because the scene was about their conversation and not about what the type-writers thought of the whole situation?

/facepalm

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

Throughout the entire history of Hollywood, and even up to today, women's roles in movies are simply as plot devices for the male protagonist. Usually romantic interests or as an object of conflict. Movies that are ABOUT a female lead (especially ones that aren't sappy romances) are still pretty rare.

 

[me and my dog]

Umm, the movies you name basically have male protagonists and that reasoning is enough for you to include them in the list, because the protagonists overshadow the supporting characters.

You use the word "overshadowed" a lot, but that really doesn't mean the movies are sexist nor does it imply any kind of coincidence.

Uh dude Halloween had a female protagonist. Most of the movies that I said did not even have "one" protagonist. Ex: Pulp fiction,The departed. Also these movies that I listed are most of the great films out there. They just happened to not have major female roles.

 

[me and my dog]

The Godfather, The Departed and Goodfellas are all films about the mob. So err... Duh.

Saving Private Ryan is about a group of soldiers at the D-Day landings. Yeah, women helped the war effort greatly back at home; why would they have women on the front lines? That's not what the story's about so they don't feature.

Yeah they killed her in the Dark Knight, but she still had a large role and the character had a major impact on the film's events.

LotR has some prominent female roles, but again it's set in a place where the men are the soldiers/fighters.

Just because you can name great films that don't have women featured in them heavily doesn't really prove a point of any sort.

Some of these had a point, but most are rather silly. Saving Private Ryan, guess what, women didn't serve on the front lines in WW11, and there were women in all the non-combat scenes. Arlington, etc.

Yeah but there were a bunch of non combat scenes in saving private Ryan. The girls that had the typewriters at the beginning didn't even talk.

The scene with 3 commanding officers? No shit, do you think that might be because the scene was about their conversation and not about what the type-writers thought of the whole situation?

/facepalm

The Godfather, The Departed and Goodfellas are all films about the mob. So err... Duh.

Saving Private Ryan is about a group of soldiers at the D-Day landings. Yeah, women helped the war effort greatly back at home; why would they have women on the front lines? That's not what the story's about so they don't feature.

Yeah they killed her in the Dark Knight, but she still had a large role and the character had a major impact on the film's events.

LotR has some prominent female roles, but again it's set in a place where the men are the soldiers/fighters.

Just because you can name great films that don't have women featured in them heavily doesn't really prove a point of any sort.

Some of these had a point, but most are rather silly. Saving Private Ryan, guess what, women didn't serve on the front lines in WW11, and there were women in all the non-combat scenes. Arlington, etc.

Yeah but there were a bunch of non combat scenes in saving private Ryan. The girls that had the typewriters at the beginning didn't even talk.

The scene with 3 commanding officers? No shit, do you think that might be because the scene was about their conversation and not about what the type-writers thought of the whole situation?

/facepalm

Not that, the scene right before that had a whole room filled with girls typing.

 

[me and my dog]

Umm, the movies you name basically have male protagonists and that reasoning is enough for you to include them in the list, because the protagonists overshadow the supporting characters.

You use the word "overshadowed" a lot, but that really doesn't mean the movies are sexist nor does it imply any kind of coincidence.

Pretty much this.

I'm sure, given time, that the participants of this thread could easily name an equal amount of films with females as protagonist and all men being either absent, inconsequential or feminine.

Also, explain to me how the main character of Misery was tomboyish? She used a gun? Can't think of much else.

Her accent. The fact that she had a deep voice. She was not exactly a princess.

 

[Dexiro]

Kind of seems like you're just digging for reasons.
"Here's a small selection of action-heavy movies, isn't it funny how the main character isn't a woman?"

There are a ton of films out there with women as main characters or as key elements in the plot and you just kind of ignored all of them.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Some of these had a point, but most are rather silly. Saving Private Ryan, guess what, women didn't serve on the front lines in WW11, and there were women in all the non-combat scenes. Arlington, etc.

Yeah but there were a bunch of non combat scenes in saving private Ryan. The girls that had the typewriters at the beginning didn't even talk.

Didn't I mention that? Oh, you quoted before the edit. Look back at my post, it's different.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Umm, the movies you name basically have male protagonists and that reasoning is enough for you to include them in the list, because the protagonists overshadow the supporting characters.

You use the word "overshadowed" a lot, but that really doesn't mean the movies are sexist nor does it imply any kind of coincidence.

Pretty much this.

I'm sure, given time, that the participants of this thread could easily name an equal amount of films with females as protagonist and all men being either absent, inconsequential or feminine.

Also, explain to me how the main character of Misery was tomboyish? She used a gun? Can't think of much else.

Her accent. The fact that she had a deep voice. She was not exactly a princess.

I think you're being more damaging to women than any perceived lack of female characters.

 

[blackdwarf]

on the lord of the rings part i disagree. aragorn and arwen couldn't be together because she was a elf and she was about to leave middle-earth which was a dying world. at the end the world was saved so they could be together. yeah it is a fighting movie, but eowyn fight, took down a mumakil, and killed the witch-king. with the awesome sentence: witch-king: "no man can kill me" *eowyn takes her helmet of* "i'm no man" *witch-king pissed himself*. so yeah there are not much fighting women, but each roll that played by a women is great and lore-wise big.

 

[me and my dog]

Kind of seems like you're just digging for reasons.
"Here's a small selection of action-heavy movies, isn't it funny how the main character isn't a woman?"

There are a ton of films out there with women as main characters or as key elements in the plot and you just kind of ignored all of them.

How are the godfather, the shining,Halloween, The shawshank redemption,There will be blood,action films? Also KILL BILL was an action film and they had a major female role.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

I would disagree with No Country for Old Men. His wife may have been a small roll, but she was one of the strongest characters in the movie and the only person to stand up to Chigurh while fully aware of what kind of person he was. The other person to stand up to him was that trailer park lady.