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

Recommended Videos

me and my dog

New member
Aug 26, 2010
206
0
0
The Procrastinated End said:
me and my dog said:
Sexist Snip
You do realize that just because you say that you aren't trying to be sexist doesn't make you immune to saying sexist things right?

Responding to your other posts:

Women have worked on farms since a long ass time ago.
Women who are a part of the police and other agencies don't sign away their femininity upon joining.
You don't need a Y chromosome to kill someone.
Women who actually do physical work for the sake of an income don't become tomboys.
You obviously did not read all my comments. Go on Wikipedia. If you disagree then apparently Wikipedia is sexist. Also dude I am not talking about real life police women or real life female farm workers. I'm talking about Clarice and Annie Wilkes. It's just a movie. Since Clarice's seems to only have a life in the law enforcement then yes she is tomboyish. Since Annie Wilkes life is mostly on a farm(not just a job)she would probably become tomboyish.Why are you assuming that I meant all female workers everywhere? I never said that only men could do something(I am not the sexist one here). I said that women that did it would probably become tomboyish(not tomboy).
 

me and my dog

New member
Aug 26, 2010
206
0
0
theSovietConnection said:
me and my dog said:
theSovietConnection said:
me and my dog said:
The shawshank redemption- Also no women in sight.
You couldn't really fit a woman into Shawshank Redemption because Andy Dufresne was serving in a maximum security penitentiary, which aren't mixed gender institutions.
Yeah the problem was there were scenes taking place outside the prison
And how many of those were there? With the exception of Brooks getting out, Red getting out, Andy getting out, and the trial, there were very few that didn't involve a prison work crew.
It doesn't matter how few there were.
 

me and my dog

New member
Aug 26, 2010
206
0
0
gmaverick019 said:
me and my dog said:
gmaverick019 said:
JourneyThroughHell said:
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.
this. those are all just coincidences, they were portayed that way because it made SENSE to have a male role and possible little to no female leads in those parts.


you wanna know a good movie i just saw? inception. the chick from juno played an amazing character in which she wasn't a small role nor was she a tomboy.
Halloween had a leading female role. Kill Bill had a leading female role. Read my thread better next time.
alright? i dont know what you were trying to poke at there but i dont see what you are argueing about then?
How does it MAKE SENSE to have a male role in Halloween and kill bill,but not a female one like they did?
 
Sep 14, 2009
9,073
0
0
me and my dog said:
gmaverick019 said:
me and my dog said:
gmaverick019 said:
JourneyThroughHell said:
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.
this. those are all just coincidences, they were portayed that way because it made SENSE to have a male role and possible little to no female leads in those parts.


you wanna know a good movie i just saw? inception. the chick from juno played an amazing character in which she wasn't a small role nor was she a tomboy.
Halloween had a leading female role. Kill Bill had a leading female role. Read my thread better next time.
alright? i dont know what you were trying to poke at there but i dont see what you are argueing about then?
How does it MAKE SENSE to have a male role in Halloween and kill bill,but not a female one like they did?
well alot of it is backstory, but alot of times in scary movies, they have a main character be female, as it adds to the lore of "BAH BIG MONSTER/GUY! HE MIGHT *insert disgusting thing here* TO HER!" so yeah, it makes sense for halloween.

and for kill bill, with the plot twist they had going into volume 2 or whatever, it made alot more sense to have a woman than a man, and plus do you think the writers sit down and go "OH HELL NO! there is no way in hell im having a main character that is female in a big movie!" they go with what fits in the story/how the writer(s) envisioned it.

and we can't forget it seriously hasn't been that long since women were JUST simple housewives, so the whole lore/build up from stories and legends (what some movies are based off of) dont have women as dominating roles, so for a while they didn't have anything to build off of.
 

theSovietConnection

Survivor, VDNKh Station
Jan 14, 2009
2,418
0
0
me and my dog said:
theSovietConnection said:
me and my dog said:
theSovietConnection said:
me and my dog said:
The shawshank redemption- Also no women in sight.
You couldn't really fit a woman into Shawshank Redemption because Andy Dufresne was serving in a maximum security penitentiary, which aren't mixed gender institutions.
Yeah the problem was there were scenes taking place outside the prison
And how many of those were there? With the exception of Brooks getting out, Red getting out, Andy getting out, and the trial, there were very few that didn't involve a prison work crew.
It doesn't matter how few there were.
Yeah, and given the context of the era the movie is set in, it wouldn't make sense to give a woman a prominent role. Like it or not, women weren't lawyers in the 40s, and American society was still quite sexist up past the late 60s.
 
Apr 19, 2010
1,544
0
0
me and my dog said:
You obviously did not read all my comments. Go on Wikipedia. If you disagree then apparently Wikipedia is sexist. Also dude I am not talking about real life police women or real life female farm workers. I'm talking about Clarice and Annie Wilkes. It's just a movie. Since Clarice's seems to only have a life in the law enforcement then yes she is tomboyish. Since Annie Wilkes life is mostly on a farm(not just a job)she would probably become tomboyish.Why are you assuming that I meant all female workers everywhere? I never said that only men could do something(I am not the sexist one here). I said that women that did it would probably become tomboyish(not tomboy).
Again, being a part of law enforcement doesn't make you tomboyish, and since that's all there is to your reasoning, Silence of the Lambs is removed from your examples.
And as for Wilkes; she lives on a farm because that's where she fucking lives. You can't judge someone based on their home.
According to the bold text you think that anyone who is in law enforcement or agriculture is incredibly likely to become tomboyish.
 

me and my dog

New member
Aug 26, 2010
206
0
0
Furburt said:
me and my dog said:
]Read my comments again. I never said that women could not work on a farm, I said that they would probably turn into tomboys if SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WORKING ON THE FARM. Also go on Wikipedia and type tomboy. Women that participate in activities of physical nature or activities mainly meant for men.Since you said that law enforcement is a male dominion then I guess that would make Clarice tomboyish. Also read my thread again. When I was talking about Clarice I did not say tomboy, I said tomboyish.
YOU LIKE CAPS DON'T YOU?

Anyway, I personally think you're splitting hairs here. Tomboy, tomboyish, they both point to the same conclusion. Clarice meets, at best, part of the definition given on the wikipedia article, which is not sufficient to deem her a tomboy, or tomboyish.

"A tomboy is a girl who exhibits some characteristics and or behavior considered typical of the gender role of a boy"

Let us look at Clarice. Apart from being interested in Law Enforcement (For reasons other than "It's what guys do", explained in the novel), there is nothing else masculine about her, at all. Past being engaged in a typically 'masculine' profession, she doesn't exhibit male characteristics. By your definition, that means that any woman who's ever been in say, the army, police, fire brigade, any other traditionally male dominated area of work is automatically a tomboy, or at least tomboyish.

As for Annie Wilkes in Misery, what masculine characteristics does she exhibit? I watched the film recently, and I can't think of a single thing. Enlighten me.
You can't take the Clarice being interested in law enforcement apart. That would make her tomboyish at least. Also there is a difference between tomboyish and tomboy. Tomboyish- she is interested in male traits and activities(which Clarice is). Tomboy- She only does male activities and has no interest in female activities. You did not read the whole definition. Clarice is a girl that prefers activities that are of physical nature and are meant for the men dominion(law enforcement)=tomboy. These are the official facts. Stop trying to go around them. Annie Wilkes is a woman who is hard working on a farm. Since of course hard and dangerous work is a male dominion,the Wikipedia would classify her as tomboy(or tomboyish if you prefer).
 

me and my dog

New member
Aug 26, 2010
206
0
0
The Procrastinated End said:
me and my dog said:
You obviously did not read all my comments. Go on Wikipedia. If you disagree then apparently Wikipedia is sexist. Also dude I am not talking about real life police women or real life female farm workers. I'm talking about Clarice and Annie Wilkes. It's just a movie. Since Clarice's seems to only have a life in the law enforcement then yes she is tomboyish. Since Annie Wilkes life is mostly on a farm(not just a job)she would probably become tomboyish.Why are you assuming that I meant all female workers everywhere? I never said that only men could do something(I am not the sexist one here). I said that women that did it would probably become tomboyish(not tomboy).
Again, being a part of law enforcement doesn't make you tomboyish, and since that's all there is to your reasoning, Silence of the Lambs is removed from your examples.
And as for Wilkes; she lives on a farm because that's where she fucking lives. You can't judge someone based on their home.
According to the bold text you think that anyone who is in law enforcement or agriculture is incredibly likely to become tomboyish.
Go on Wikipedia type tomboy "a girl who prefers activities that mainly of physical nature and meant for boys". Since Law enforcement(Clarice)and hard farm working(Annie Wilkes) are of large physical nature and a male dominion then yes that would make them tomboys. This is not my opinion, I'm just reading the facts on Wikipedia. You disagree?TOUGH.
 

Art3rius

New member
Aug 8, 2010
93
0
0
Can someone move it to the off-topic section so he could annoy the off-topic users instead? It's in the wrong section anyway.
 

Art3rius

New member
Aug 8, 2010
93
0
0
Furburt said:
me and my dog said:
You can't take the Clarice being interested in law enforcement apart. That would make her tomboyish at least. Also there is a difference between tomboyish and tomboy. Tomboyish- she is interested in male traits and activities(which Clarice is). Tomboy- She only does male activities and has no interest in female activities. You did not read the whole definition. Clarice is a girl that prefers activities that are of physical nature and are meant for the men dominion(law enforcement)=tomboy. These are the official facts. Stop trying to go around them. Annie Wilkes is a woman who is hard working on a farm. Since of course hard and dangerous work is a male dominion,the Wikipedia would classify her as tomboy(or tomboyish if you prefer).

Here's my Oxford English Dictionary of the word tomboyish.

"Adj.1. tomboyish - used of girls; wild and boisterous"

I believe it has the same definition in the free online dictionary. Neither of your definitions correspond to any "official" definition. Like it or not, because it's freely available to edit, wikipedia is not a reliable source, no matter the context. Check the sources it quotes.

However, this is rapidly turning into an argument over semantics, but I'm sure we can agree that Clarice Starling is far from "wild and boisterous".

On to your Annie Wilkes point, how exactly is hard working and dangerous a male dominion? Many women work in hard labour and dangerous jobs. You're eithercoming up with definitions so fast I can barely keep up with them, or you're totally dependent on stereotypes, which is exactly what I assume you started this thread to complain about.
I agree. According to mine it's 'A girl considered boyish or masculine in behavior or manner'. Being a law enforcer does not mean you're boyish or masculine in either aspects.
 

Nocturnal Gentleman

New member
Mar 12, 2010
372
0
0
Furburt said:
me and my dog said:
You can't take the Clarice being interested in law enforcement apart. That would make her tomboyish at least. Also there is a difference between tomboyish and tomboy. Tomboyish- she is interested in male traits and activities(which Clarice is). Tomboy- She only does male activities and has no interest in female activities. You did not read the whole definition. Clarice is a girl that prefers activities that are of physical nature and are meant for the men dominion(law enforcement)=tomboy. These are the official facts. Stop trying to go around them. Annie Wilkes is a woman who is hard working on a farm. Since of course hard and dangerous work is a male dominion,the Wikipedia would classify her as tomboy(or tomboyish if you prefer).

Here's my Oxford English Dictionary of the word tomboyish.

"Adj.1. tomboyish - used of girls; wild and boisterous"

I believe it has the same definition in the free online dictionary. Neither of your definitions correspond to any "official" definition. Like it or not, because it's freely available to edit, wikipedia is not a reliable source, no matter the context. Check the sources it quotes.

However, this is rapidly turning into an argument over semantics, but I'm sure we can agree that Clarice Starling is far from "wild and boisterous".

On to your Annie Wilkes point, how exactly is hard working and dangerous a male dominion? Many women work in hard labour and dangerous jobs. You're eithercoming up with definitions so fast I can barely keep up with them, or you're totally dependent on stereotypes, which is exactly what I assume you started this thread to complain about.
Not to mention stereotypes that don't make much sense since when it comes to farming there are many cultures that consider it a woman's job anyway. Also, being in masculine jobs does not make an automatic tomboy. I know some seriously girly fire fighters. Since when does doing harder a formerly masculine jobs make you a tomboy? Are female doctors tomboys too?
 

me and my dog

New member
Aug 26, 2010
206
0
0
Furburt said:
me and my dog said:
You can't take the Clarice being interested in law enforcement apart. That would make her tomboyish at least. Also there is a difference between tomboyish and tomboy. Tomboyish- she is interested in male traits and activities(which Clarice is). Tomboy- She only does male activities and has no interest in female activities. You did not read the whole definition. Clarice is a girl that prefers activities that are of physical nature and are meant for the men dominion(law enforcement)=tomboy. These are the official facts. Stop trying to go around them. Annie Wilkes is a woman who is hard working on a farm. Since of course hard and dangerous work is a male dominion,the Wikipedia would classify her as tomboy(or tomboyish if you prefer).

Here's my Oxford English Dictionary of the word tomboyish.

"Adj.1. tomboyish - used of girls; wild and boisterous"

I believe it has the same definition in the free online dictionary. Neither of your definitions correspond to any "official" definition. Like it or not, because it's freely available to edit, wikipedia is not a reliable source, no matter the context. Check the sources it quotes.

However, this is rapidly turning into an argument over semantics, but I'm sure we can agree that Clarice Starling is far from "wild and boisterous".

On to your Annie Wilkes point, how exactly is hard working and dangerous a male dominion? Many women work in hard labour and dangerous jobs. You're eithercoming up with definitions so fast I can barely keep up with them, or you're totally dependent on stereotypes, which is exactly what I assume you started this thread to complain about.
Your reading the definition of a word, not a meaning. There are probably a hundred definitions for tomboyish when it comes to dictionaries. A monkey can be wild and boisterous so you are wrong about that .Why do you keep denying to simply go on Wikipedia? If you think I am a stereotype then you need to learn the facts. Also would you kindly read the last part of my thread. The topic of this thread is people telling me any films that have a major female character in them that have completely lady like features. Not to have people complaining about the definition of tomboy and sexist. If you don't have the time to read the whole thread then your argument is invalid. Since women are more delicate than men, then hard work of any type would be a male dominion. So yes that makes them tomboyish.
 

ecoho

New member
Jun 16, 2010
2,093
0
0
suhlEap said:
me and my dog said:
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.
fair enough in the hurt locker, but there wouldn't have been any women in saving private ryan, because there was no women in the army during world war 2. plus that film tries to make america look amazing during the war whoch is bullshit. howevee that i a story for another time.
Ok i gotta ask what did we (the US) do wrong in world war 2?

OT: ok women are NOT alowed to be placed in combat its a rule in the US is it a stupid one? yes i know at least 5 women who would make great solders. Do i understand why? Yes women would be a distraction on the battlefeild if they were mixed with the male solders as most guys tend to think with their groan.
 

Ridergurl10

New member
Dec 25, 2008
312
0
0
I can't even begin to say how much some of the comments on this thread seriously disturb me. I know it shouldn't suprise me to see such uneducated comments on the internet, but really . . . this just goes above and beyond.

There are so many amazing films with female charactors in strong leading or supporting roles that I won't even try to list them here.

Chamale said:
For the historical movies, of course, it's justified. Before the 1960's, women just didn't have interesting roles in society. Nearly every woman was simply a housewife, and they weren't allowed to do exciting things and live their own lives.
I don't want to seem mean here, but have you ever taken a history class? There are MANY influential and important women throughout history, and no they were not all simply housewives. WOW, just wow. I am scared for the youth of today . . . I really am.
 

Dcill

New member
Sep 9, 2009
39
0
0
I've got a couple movies for you where the women are leads and they have won Ocars for their roles. Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby (Hilary Swank), Monsterball (Halle Barry), Erin Brokovich(Julia Roberts), Monster(Charlize Therone),The Hours(Nicole Kidman),Shakespeare In Love(Gweneth Paltrow), As Good As it Gets(Helen Hunt), Fargo(Frances McDormand), Silence of The Lambs(Jodie Foster),Misery(Kathy Bates). So it seems that these leading ladies deserved what they got and I'm pretty sure most movies critics would call these good movies if not Great movies. I also find it funny that in your schpeil you never mentioned that Jodie Foster or Kathy Bates won Ocars for there roles. Hmmm that would suggest they were not overshadowed by the other male characters in the movie.
My last point would be that you mentioned Hannibal Lecter overshadowing Clarece. He wasn't even the main character Clarece was. It was all about her trying to solve the case of Buffalo Bill. Hannibal was the supporting character. Sure Anthony Hopkins did a great job, but the movie wasn't actually about Hannibal. See Manhunter the first movie he ever appeared in. Which is about trying to arrest him.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
20,519
5,335
118
What about Alien.

There is not even a mention of Ripley's or even Lambert's gender yet they are both female. That was ofcourse because the script was written with an all-male cast in mind, but the characters of Ripley and Lambert were changed to women to make them more interesting.

But still, that's a movie with a female lead that doesn't harp on her being a woman at all.