NEWS
EVENTS
Top Ten: Female Characters
Wednesday 13th November 2013 | Lauren
1. Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones’s Diary)
From a tale as old as time, or at least as old as Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones is the ultimate Rom-Com heroine, every single woman can identify with her. I refuse to believe she is the only one who drinks a bottle of vodka alone, singing Chaka Kahn. One of the films which defines the British nineties, is not just thanks to the brilliant script, but Renee Zellwegger’s Oscar nominated performance as the unlucky in love singleton we all know and relate to.
2. Leigh Anne Tuohy (The Blind Side)
As a massive Sandra Bullock fan (I just want us to be friends), she was always going to feature in this list, and her performance as the conservative mother who adopts a black boy and becomes the mother he never had, is one of the most heartwarming and beautiful performances you could see. There is a scene in the film where she goes to meet her son’s biological mother, the two women sit and silently hold hands which is horrifically sad and wonderfully moving all at the same time.
3. Ripley (Alien)
This wouldn’t be a list about female characters without Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley making an appearance. One of the most famous women to battle an alien that there is. Dan O’Bannon’s screenplay chose character names which could be transferable to either gender (Ripley, Lambert) and originally Weaver’s character was intended to be played by a man. A lot has been said before about ‘The Last Girl’ in horror movies, but Ripley is the ultimate last girl, she claws her way through to the very end, refusing to give up. She’s bloody brilliant.
4. Mulan (Mulan)
The Disney entry this week is a character who is so badass it hurts. Mulan defies her family and tradition, dresses up as a man and goes to war along with a dragon and a cricket. I saw this in the cinema three times when it first came out, and had my hair cut into the same bob as Mulan (fortunately, it also matched Posh Spice-more on that later), and I still stand by that as being one of the best decisions I have ever made.
5. Shoshanna Dreyfus (Inglorious Basterds)
Quentin Tarrantino has made some pretty good films over the years, but I honestly think Inglorious Basterds is his best work. Shoshanna is the young Jewish girl whose family is slaughtered by Colonol Hans Landa, and is forced to spend her life under an alias, running a cinema and taking history into her own hands.
6. Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins)
Practically perfect in every way, Mary Poppins is one of those characters who is like a warm blanket on a cold evening, comforting and makes you feel a little like you should be out doing something wonderful. A strange mixture of magic and seriousness, Mary Poppins is the Nanny of every child’s dreams, she lets them eat toffee apples whilst riding a magical Merry-Go-Round for goodness sake.
7. Victoria (The Long Good Friday)
One of the best ‘gangster wives’ is Helen Mirren’s Victoria, she is not just arm candy. She helps her partner, Harold, with his deals, and is as headstrong as any of the men in the film. This was all done at Helen Mirren’s insistence apparently, which isn’t really surprising as a woman who has made herself famous for playing strong leading women, from DCI Jane Tennison in ‘Prime Suspect’ to the little known role in The Queen.
8. The Spice Girls (Spice World)
The only reason this film is as brilliant as it is, is because the portrayal of the five girls is brilliant. They are genuinely funny, they don’t take themselves seriously, as individuals or a brand, and even though the film is a completely insane hour and a half of pregnancy, alien invasions and the guy from ‘The Crystal Maze’ they manage to hold it together, and in someway keep it grounded.
9. Effie White (Dreamgirls)
Although she’s not technically the lead, Jennifer Hudson’s Oscar winning performance as the former lead singer, pushed to the back to make way for Beyonce’s Deena Jones. She does not have an easy ride in the film, kicked out of the band and forced to live in poverty as a single mother, but her amazing vocal performances and refusal to give up is what makes this film stand out from all the other Broadway adaptations that have hit the big screen over the years.
10. Princess Leia (Star Wars)
As previously stated, I did in fact have short hair as a child, in tribute to my hero’s Mulan and Posh Spice, but oh how I regretted it when I realised I couldn’t do the Princess Leia ‘style’ like everyone else. Still, despite constant reminders of that very bitter time in my life, Princess Leia remains one of the best female characters in film history. Not a damsel in distress, she is a fighter, a politician and stands up to the men she’s grouped with. What a woman.
Lauren Floodgate (@laurenmary91)
