Women have consistently received the short end of the stick, whether in the real world or in fiction. In Shakespearean times, female characters were almost always portrayed by male actors, despite the surplus of strong women in plays like The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Macbeth, and The Twelfth Night.
The science fiction genre wasn’t very accepting of female characters for a long time, either, at least until authors like Ursula Le Guin helped break the mold. Movie characters like Alien’s Ellen Ripley and Ex Machina’s Ava eventually became cinematic landmarks, proving that women are generally more capable than men. That said, there are still far too many sci-fi female characters without a storyline worthy of their epic personalities.
10/10 Claire Dearing Doesn’t Need Any Emotional Lessons From A Velociraptor Tamer
Jurassic World
The first Jurassic Park’s Dr. Ellie Sattler is an exceptionally driven paleontologist, but she never once loses sight of what really matters. On the contrary, Claire Dearing in Jurassic World is a high-octane hard worker, so much so that she half-forgets to keep her nephews safe.
Moreover, Claire’s subtle reaction to Owen fixing his motorcycle at the beginning of the film signifies that women, no matter how independent, will somehow lose their composure in the presence of a grease-stained manly man. Claire is smart enough to handle the multiple aspects of her own personality without taking emotional lessons from an admittedly hunky velociraptor tamer.
9/10 Padmé Amidala Is Relegated To Romance, Heartbreak, And Painful Childbirth
Star Wars
Luke is frequently considered to be the Chosen One’s chosen heir, completely ignoring the fact this his sister Leia is also Darth Vader’s biological daughter. Women in Star Wars have recently begun to hog all the spotlight, especially with Rey being the protagonist for all three sequels.
Unfortunately, the prequel trilogy failed to benefit from this new era of female empowerment. Padmé Amidala was a proficient ruler and anti-Senate rebel long before she married Anakin Skywalker, but the story focuses more on her romantic relationship than her accomplishments. Amidala was even killed off after giving birth, almost as if she had no legacy to offer her twin children.
8/10 EVE Is A Female Robot Because Even Space Humans Can’t Evolve Beyond Gender
Wall-E
Animated movies have been routinely criticized for depicting non-human female characters using human anatomical standards. Shark Tale’s Lola is a lionfish/dragonfish combo, but she looks like Jessica Rabbit (who is herself an example of overt sexualization). Similarly, Shrek’s Donkey only realizes that Dragon is female when he notices her long eyelashes and lipstick.
Luckily, EVE in Wall-E doesn’t adhere to these physical stereotypes, given her nondescript egg-shaped body and blank visor. However, EVE is supposedly one of very few female robots aboard the Axiom, making audiences wonder why there are gendered robots in the first place. Would Wall-E have fallen in love if a “male” robot had returned to Earth?
7/10 Amelia Brand Exposes Her Emotional Bias At Several Points In The Story
Interstellar
Interstellar is a visual and auditory masterpiece, taking Christopher Nolan’s creative aesthetic to extragalactic heights. Its story and characters, on the other hand, could do with a serious rewrite. Blending emotions with hard science is an admirable endeavor in theory, but it rarely works when acted out.
Dr. Amelia Brand is supposed to be a renowned researcher and biologist, and she still believes that love can “transcend time and space.” Although this explanation isn’t meant to be taken literally, it devitalizes Brand’s scientific prestige. What’s worse is that Brand openly admits to being in love with Wolf Edmunds, which further affects her bias. She manages to locate a habitable planet in the end, but only out of sheer luck.
6/10 Jennifer Parker Is Marty McFly’s Highschool Sweetheart And Token Girlfriend
Back To The Future
Back to the Future and its equally entertaining sequels established the framework for teen sci-fi comedies. As one of the most influential movies in modern history, it takes viewers on a journey through time as well as society. Marty McFly and Doc Brown are forever cemented in pop-cultural memory.
Side characters like George and Lorraine McFly also play important roles, as Marty meets his mother and avenges his father in two different timelines. Jennifer Parker, however, isn’t given the same opportunity to shine. Jennifer is a token girlfriend, someone who whispers sweet nothings in the adolescent protagonist’s ear to get both him and the audience all hot and bothered.
5/10 Kaori Is Basically A Skeletonized Version Of What A Real Person Should Be
Akira
Kaneda wants to be with Kei, but the latter wants to free the country from the clutches of the Japanese Supreme Executive Council. Kei is a powerful woman who doesn’t spend time dwelling on romantic prospects. Meanwhile, Kaori is basically a skeletonized version of what a real person should be like.
She ostensibly enables Tetsuo Shima’s mindless actions and behavior, and consequently ends her journey on a bitter note. Kairo is swallowed up and squashed by Tetsuo’s rapidly malforming body, a wretched conclusion for a miserable character. At least the anime adaptation avoids her manga portrayal as a sex slave.
4/10 Vasquez Is A Female Character Who Embodies Toxic Masculinity
Aliens
Private First Class Jenette Vasquez only goes by her last name because she wants to be considered one of the boys. Although this character opened doors for the depiction of badass female champions in action movies, Vasquez falls short on several counts. When Hudson mocks her for her masculine demeanor, she scornfully asks him if he’d “even been mistaken for a man.”
This hilarious quote delivers a potent punch for ’80s viewers, but it certainly hasn’t aged well. Vasquez’s retort is arguably sexist as it indirectly demeans the concept of femininity and sentimentality. On the plus side, she heroically sacrifices her life to save Ripley and Rebecca, taking a bunch of Xenomorphs with her.
3/10 Persephone Seems Like Nothing More Than A Jilted Wife
The Matrix
The Matrix is rich with wonderfully crafted characters of all genders. The Wachowskis had originally intended for Switch to be gender fluid, but “Warner Bros. nixed the idea” in the bud. Nevertheless, numerous major roles are occupied by male-presenting characters, including Neo, Morpheus, Agent Smith, Mouse, Dozer, Tank, and the Architect.
Trinity, Niobe, and the Oracle might be central to the narrative, but others like Persephone are excessively sidelined. This could be due to the Merovingian’s innately domineering nature, but the story makes Persephone seem like a jilted wife and nothing more. Having the brilliant Monica Belluci play someone as one-dimensional as Persephone is like rubbing salt in the wound.
2/10 Korben Dallas Describes Leeloo In Crudely Anatomical Terms
The Fifth Element
Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat is an epic name, befitting her status as a cosmic Supreme Being. As the titular fifth element, she’s endowed with transformational power beyond anything the Earth has seen. And yet, Korben Dallas summarizes Leeloo in purely physical terms — “5’9″, blue eyes, long legs, [and] great skin.”
Granted that he doesn’t know anything about her origins at this point, but his description reeks of objectification. Leelo is also shown wearing minimal clothing, which the film calls “thermal bandages,” as though this scientific-sounding term makes it any less misogynistic. It doesn’t matter if Leeloo is an ordinary human or a divine entity; she deserves to be treated with respect.
1/10 Neytiri Should Have Been The One To Lead The Na’vi
Avatar
Jake Sully and Neytiri te Tskaha Mo’at’ite are much like John Smith and Pocahontas, except their narrative relevance has been reversed. Neytiri is clearly the smarter warrior, but Jake somehow surpasses her cultural intelligence despite learning the ways of the Na’vi from her. He figures out how to tame the Great Leonopteryx, also known as the Turok, something Neytiri should have been able to do.
That said, Neytiri puts up an impressive battle against Miles Quaritch in his MK-6 Amplified Mobility Platform suit, highlighting her combat prowess. Neytiri later becomes the Na’vi’s Tsahìk, leaving Jake to lead her clan as the Olo’eyktan. Avatar was praised for avoiding the pitfalls of anthropocentric discourse, but Neytiri’s portrayal remains questionable.
