Happy Women’s History Month! Whether you’re making an article about a special woman in your life, a prominent female figure in history, or even a contribution by a woman, it’s great to celebrate and give love to the women who impacted our society. Unfortunately, the portrayal of women in the realm of fiction remains unappreciated in our media-literate era. This is something we refer to as “strong female characters” but this tends not to get a good name nowadays.
A strong female character in our definition, is referred to as a woman that is portrayed as strong as the name says. Besides strong, other adjectives that are typically portrayed include but are not limited to fierce, independent, sexy, and tough. There are more of these traits, but these are often the defining adjectives we see in movies nowadays with female characters.
However, this isn’t always true of a strong female character as they can be quiet, resilient, plain in looks, and gentle but still be considered a strong female character as they possess an inner strength. So, what’s behind the portrayal of female characters that have people often shouting on their YouTube or X posts that garners so much debate? Let’s take down the assumptions and try to understand without going into hate as to why these are so polarizing.
1. Strong Female Characters are Hated for Being Strong and Independent
Assumption:
If you are a movie watcher, then you know that the media does not have the best history of handling character archetypes, including female leads. Some have pointed to recent examples of strong female characters with the recent live-action adaptations of the classic Disney princess movies as examples of how NOT to write female characters. The prime example to take from this is the live-action adaptation of Mulan (2020). In the movie, Mulan is portrayed as a strong, powerful woman who is gifted in combat and with the power of chi. This is not a bad thing per se, but what I will touch on in a moment will explain this. Mulan is portrayed as being skilled in combat beyond her years.
Fact:
The general argument is that these characters are often portrayed as perfect; in other words, they lack growth and nuance, which is not exactly the name of the game in the media discourse. This is not to say that they need to be riddled with flaws to be relatable, but the lack of any logical connection gives less reason for the audience to relate to her. They can be strong and independent but also have flaws that can make them relatable.
Take the example of Mulan in the original 1998 Mulan film. She starts the movie as a strong-willed, progressive young woman who only joins the Chinese army because she wants to help her aging father. As we all know by now, she is not allowed to join the army because she has no combat skills, and by societal rules, women cannot join the army. Right off the bat, you can relate to her–she is independent and strong, but she also has a deep sense of caring and hard work. She is not perfect, but she is vulnerable because she has something to overcome.
2. The “She’s Just Awesome” Example
Assumption:
Who doesn’t love an awesome female character that will kick scum to the curb and do awesome stuff? I sure do. But this is also another of what makes certain female characters widely disliked. Often, these characters are widely disliked for being too well-liked or are competent in a skill set or area without any hard-earned development or establishment. Let’s take a look at Rey from the Star Wars sequel trilogy and specifically, let’s take a look at Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.
When we first meet her, Rey is an orphaned scavenger girl on a planet called Jakku. She scraps metal from leftover ships to her boss in order to make a living. Where does this come from? We don’t know because the story never gives or shows us anything as to where and how she got these skills. This isn’t to say that you should pile all of her skills into one scene or act, but it should be established why they do this. Her journey then goes on to forget this as she manages feats throughout both movies with ease; she goes on to become a Jedi, defeats Kylo Ren in their very first showdown, and goes on to fight Luke Skywalker, who has years of experience and Jedi training under his belt while she has NONE. Is this clear or really explains where her skills come from? No, because she has no weaknesses to grow from and we never get where her strengths come from. Because she’s just awesome.
Fact:
This doesn’t mean female characters need to be weak. It just needs to have a logical explanation of where it comes from. Let’s take the example of Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games to make this comparison. When we are first introduced to Katniss, she is established as competent with a bow and arrow, and independent, which generally seems admirable. There’s a reason that she is iconic for her archery skills. But icons aside, Katniss’s development doesn’t start in a vacuum. In The Hunger Games, she is established as someone skilled in archery because grew up hunting to provide for her poor family in poverty-ridden District 12. Unlike Rey, this is logical because we don’t need an explanation as to how she’s good at hunting; her early establishment in the story can lead us to infer this was a skill she picked up at a young age and is therefore well-earned. While it doesn’t seem the most important, this plays a role in establishing what makes Katniss, Katniss as we read (or watch) her journey from volunteering as tribute in the Hunger Games to protect her sister to her struggle against the oppressive Capital through the series.
3. The Flawless Role Model Trap
Assumption:
Ah, the girls. They always seem to be flawless in all they do, don’t they? Are they, though? The flawless role model trap can be defined as such in name. The perfect example of this is Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In her titular debut movie, we are introduced to her as a super-powered amnesiac woman named Vers who has been trained by the Kree to become a strong warrior for its military but is considered held back by her emotions. Her journey in the movie follows her discovering the origins of her powers, which takes her to Earth for whatever reason. However, one thing to note about this portrayal is that it’s fundamentally not a very memorable or great portrayal of a female role model for women. For one, this can be considered to be unrealistic as this holds a character to a standard that isn’t human. Her amnesia, while a potential plot point, and the aforementioned emotional control could’ve been better explored, but this gets no such depth nor does the plot remember it. She really spends most of the movie either blitzing through bad guys or being there to “save the day”. Flawless role model trap? Check.
Fact:
Can role models be flawed? Of course! As humans, we aren’t perfect and that’s why the flawless role model isn’t realistic. And this is true of any character, even female ones. Let’s take a look at Avatar Korra from The Legend of Korra to compare. Early on in Season 1, Korra is established as the next reincarnation of the Avatar, a person who is capable of bending the four elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. She’s quite talented in the first three elements and is mastering the fourth by the time she’s starting. Strong? Check. However, she is also established to be overconfident, hot-headed, and quite frankly, very immature in how she handles her power like half of us when we were all teenagers in high school. Not a great start. The series follows her progression as we see her begin to better hone her Avatar skills while navigating the challenges of her world from political intrigue to anarchy to near-death more than once to facing inner demons, all while growing as a better Avatar. This brings about a real progression in her character from immature and hot-headed to more mature and wiser by the end of Season 4. And quite believable if you ask me because she starts out strong but not too strong. Flawless role model trap? Nope, all good.
“So, how do I spot well-written female characters?”
In my personal opinion, there is no such thing as a strong female character. They are characters who are female and are portrayed as strong because the plot, the writing, and the story want to portray them as such. My answer would be to take these examples above and think about them. This isn’t too much of a stretch because what you’re analyzing is the character’s inner world. Think about your inner world. What strengths do they have? Weaknesses? Virtues? Vices? If you can’t spot any that may be consistent or clear, then chances are she may be a poorly written character.
While this may sound a little vague, this is the easiest way to spot good character-building and by extension, world-building). This is just one example, but it should be some signs to look out for. Of course, this is just my opinion, and there are other examples of how to do character-building in writing.
What is your favorite female character and why? Let us know @HerCampusatSJSU!