Vault101 said:
........so without the presence of men female (characters) are by default ditzy mindless and annoying? I don't know if thats what you're saying but thats what it sounds like
No, sorry, those were two thoughts crammed into one paragraph.
1) I think female characters can, and should be able to stand toe to toe with male characters. And they usually do, as most characters may lack in one way or another they make up for it in other ways.
2) And that from what few movies I've seen with all female leads it's at least split in half between charming characters, and airheads. That's if the numbers are not tilted in the airhead direction.
How to beat the high cost of living (1980) and the Sweetest Thing (2002) are two movies I really enjoyed. Both starring a trio of women, I found both funny, the Sweetest Thing has a few cartoonish moments some for the better some for the worse, but overall, I'm pleased with those two movies. In How to Beat the High Cost of Living the characters are engaging, balanced, there's a scene where one flashes a crowd, it's presented as a panicked reaction, a last ditch effort to help with their heist, she's using her body to distract a group of people, and she's embarrassed - compare that to I don't even know how many movies where a female character uses her body because it's easier at the time. Not to say women should be embarrassed of their bodies, it's okay to use a bit of sex appeal to help things along, but when all it is is a tit flash it tends to dumb down the character. And, in a simple comparison I think the over all reaction is if THE woman character shows her tits to get what she wants = it's male pandering. BUT, if it's a movie starring women, and ONE of them shows her bits it equals female empowerment. And I don't think that should be the case, I find I want both to be be judge the same.
So where I'm cool with the scene in How to Beat the High Cost of Living, not so cool with (let's say) the Whole 9 Yards - as dumb as I am that Amanda Peet in the buff gives me a big smile, she plays a fairly ditzy character that's supposed to be capable of becoming a hitman. And I think because that is a movie with Male and Female characters, it's easier to stack her against the guys, and see that that character is a bit of an airhead. And when the majority, or whole leading cast are women, and this happens, or things like it, and the characters on screen do not care, it kinda brings them all down a bit. Again, I think it is okay to use sex appeal, but then compare it to when I see men doing it in movies or tv, the handsome man approaches the woman, sweet talks her, flashes the pearly whites, and gets his way, then that's usually commented on, or he's surprised it worked, or he's smug with him self. As opposed to when female characters do it, I find it's usually results in her smiling, pleased with herself. An example of a female character I think is handled well when it comes to sex appeal is the leading character in the show Lost Girl. She's a succubus, she feeds off sexual energy, and she can, and does, use that to her advantage, and uses her body to help matters along, but we are talking about her using her words, or charm, hardly ever her body to get those things done, and she uses her brain to do so when needed. I do not think this happens with female characters enough, as opposed to the boob and metaphorical high-five.
Then with the Sweetest Thing, there's plenty of sexual humor in it, however I don't find much of any of it is at the women's expense. Christina Applegate's character uses her body and situational happenstance to play with a biker, for fun, but again, she's not flashing him, she's not trying to manipulate, she's having fun and without dumbing herself down. There are scenes where the ladies are having fun, laughing, smiling, singing about stroking men's egos, but I don't think they fall into a trap where in more movies I find women characters in groups start to dumb down. Most of the time they're laughing, not giggling. They're reactions are "oh shit!" and not "OMG, LOL!". I have some issues with all male casts as well. I don't see the point in the Expendables, I like action hero movies, I like '80s action hero movies, why take a group of action hero dudes and just toss them into a movie where they do action hero guy things? Why do so many male centered movies have to have at least one horn dog asshole? I could make more paragraphs on that.
But anyways, I find, overall that more female centric movies dumb the characters down, or makes things into a cartoon. And that having a decent mixed sex leading cast can lead to further thought or at least easier to spot the bullshit. Same with a majority of all male casts.
