Let’s hear it for the women! Women have always been inspiring, both on and off-screen. And what could be a better representation than in our very own Hollywood?
Last year Barbie came and we as a collective audience realized how we need more female storytelling on the big screen. However, the long-awaited boom and its cracks have been appearing in the industry’s glass ceiling for a couple of years now. Over the past decade, movies made for women by women have become more and more significant on the screen, and on the stages of the award show. From Michelle Yeoh-starred Everything Everywhere All At Once to Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, the frequency of women-led, women-written, and women-directed movies has rapidly increased in the last decade.
Don’t think that Hollywood still is not a boy town. The industry still has a long way to go, to make the playground even. At the same time, it is still progressing. So, let’s see the list of 3 movies that are women’s stories, empowering women all over the world.
- His Girl Friday (1940)
It’s pretty hilarious and depressing at the same time to think that an 84-year-old film would offer more accurate depictions of workplace gender roles than most movies today. However, starting with a feminist yet comedy movie, His Girl Friday is a must-watch if you are looking for top feminist movies. Rosalind Russell plays the role of Hildy Johnson in the movie who is a star news reporter with a marvelous career and envious professional respect. In the workplace, she mostly has male peers and colleagues, and they treat her differently, mostly because, well, you guessed it, she is a woman. In the movie, Hildy is a woman who is always portrayed as having self-confidence, talent, tenacity, and gumption to do and achieve whatever she wants. Her ability to show warm confidence and approach with empathy differentiates her from her male colleagues and is the key to her success. Since it is a romantic comedy, her relationship with her ex-husband Walter Burns is based on being quick-witted, funnier, and smarter than anyone else, and that is exactly what a feminist dreams of!
- Waiting to Exhale (1995)
If you are familiar with iconic, classic scenes, you must have already come across the scene where Angela Bassett blew up her cheating husband’s car. This is one of those monumental moments that tells you everything about Waiting to Exhale. The movie is based on the novel of the same name, written by Terry McMillan. Published in 1992, the novel became a #1 “New York Times” bestseller so it was expected that we would get a movie out of it with a strong screenplay and awe-inspiring acting. In 1995, the movie was released and since then it has become one of the movies that defines feminism and equality. The story highlights the classic contemporary women’s issues, triumph, revenge, and comradeship, which is beautifully played by the four actresses Angela Bassett, Whitney Houston, Lela Rochon, and Loretta Devine. The plot focuses on four friends as they take their powers back from the men in their lives who have done them wrong. If not anything, then come for the absolute female rage, which is so often misunderstood, and misinterpreted in movies. However, you will be staying for the beautiful ode to sisterhood and friendship, and the absolute power of having strong women in your lives.
- A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
You have often heard the phrase, ‘Strong Independant Woman’. But what about those women who are suffering from mental health issues, and are weak and fragile? Where are their representations? Or is that only kept aside for men? Well, the answer is yes and no. you might not find many films that focus on a female lead who does not fall into the category of a ‘strong independent woman’, but A Woman Under the Influence, released in 1974 is a raw, and beautiful representation of that exact same theme. Gena Rowlands as Mabel in the film gave one of her career-best performances. She plays the role of a housewife, married to a construction worker (Peter Falk). In day-to-day life, Mabel tries to keep it all together but fails. She is drinking all the time and living on the edge. Directed by John Cassavetes, the indie legend and also Rowlands’ husband, the story is about an unwell person, and going through nervous breakdowns. Throughout the film, you see Mabel who has been ignored and has had her spirit broken. The heart wrenching acting of Rowlands would make you empathize with her character, you would end up wondering what really happened? How did a quirky, full-of-life Mabel end up in a one-bedroom apartment, full of kinds and no room to breathe? And maybe that is the realness of it.
