In the Shadow of Sigourney

June 28, 2015 5:48 AM

On the heels of their recent discussion of "Aliens" in their Movie of the Week series, the folks at the Dissolve have put together an impressive list inspired by the last survivor of the Nostromo: "The 50 Most Daring Film Roles For Women Since Ripley"
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI (53 comments total)

FURIOUS 7
posted by Artw at 5:51 AM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is a great list.
Needs more Ellie Sattler, though.
posted by phunniemee at 6:01 AM on June 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

This is great but I feel like Sarah Conner deserves to be higher up. I recall watching Terminator 2: Judgement Day as a pre-teen and coming to the realization (a shame that it took that long) that women can indeed be badass! I love her character in that film. James Cameron had a number of strong women in that era: Ripley from Alien(s), Sarah from Terminator, Lindsey from The Abyss.
posted by Fizz at 6:01 AM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is great, and I would add Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) from Melancholia.
posted by Mapes at 6:06 AM on June 28, 2015 [7 favorites]

This is great but I feel like Sarah Conner deserves to be higher up.

Higher up? You grasped that the list is chronological, yes?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:09 AM on June 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

I mean, I suppose someone could make an argument for the passive, meek Sarah Connor from The Terminator being a more daring role than the badass take-charge one from the sequel, but you had better be prepared to make your case there.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:12 AM on June 28, 2015

richochet biscuit. Hahaha....oops, I just saw that she was 13 and my Buzzfeedificated brain was instantly outraged. Thanks.
posted by Fizz at 6:19 AM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

Where's Furiosa ?
posted by Pendragon at 6:28 AM on June 28, 2015 [8 favorites]

Good list. The distressed mom from The Babadook should be there too, though. That was a tough role.
posted by beerbudget at 6:30 AM on June 28, 2015 [4 favorites]

Where's Furiosa ?

That was my first question too, Pendragon, when I first read the list. They state at the beginning, "We tried to limit ourselves to one role per actress, where possible". And though they made exceptions for Holly Hunter and Susan Sarandon, they went ahead with only "Young Adult" for Theron.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:34 AM on June 28, 2015

This list is dated for June 26, 2015, yet contains no Furiosa. RECOUNT!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:36 AM on June 28, 2015

I love a kick-ass woman action hero as much as anyone else but I'm glad it's not just geezer-birds in the list
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:48 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'd also suggest Angela Davis in Strange Days.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:51 AM on June 28, 2015 [9 favorites]

Two Days, One Night is the best film I've seen in a long time, and Marion Cotillard is just incredible in it.

Also, everything about Ida was wonderful but especially Ida's Aunt.
posted by dng at 6:52 AM on June 28, 2015

Young Adult Is thoroughly worthwhile if you've not seen it though.
posted by Artw at 6:53 AM on June 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

Wait. This list isn't on 50 pages, and it starts with number one? Holy shit, gay people get married, and everything starts turning upside down. RICK SANTORUM WAS RIGHT
posted by fungible at 6:53 AM on June 28, 2015 [16 favorites]

That's a great list. Victoria, Marge Gunderson, Vera Drake, Wanda: roles that didn't really play it safe - in their time - for the actresses. Thanks for posting.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 6:59 AM on June 28, 2015

This is a great list. I was glad to see Morvern Callar included, because it is such a fantastic movie. I was surprised to not see any of Krzysztof Kieślowski's movies on the list, though, nor any of Catherine Beillat's.

In this age of high-budget miniseries, I wonder what a parallel list of shows might look like -- at least three of the actresses in Top of the Lake might qualify, for example. The opening credits alone of Orange is the New Black has more female badassery than most of Hollywood's annual production, for that matter.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:15 AM on June 28, 2015 [5 favorites]

That is a great list, and some really nicely done short analyses/reviews of the films, too. Only thing missing that I can think of is that I would've liked to see Lola from Run Lola Run.
posted by mstokes650 at 7:15 AM on June 28, 2015 [9 favorites]

Only thing missing that I can think of is that I would've liked to see Lola from Run Lola Run.

Eh, she was kind of unoriginal though? I mean if you've seen it once, you've seen in three thousand times.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 7:21 AM on June 28, 2015 [6 favorites]

/watches it sitting on head.
/waits five minutes then watches it
/watches it with the TV tilted at a 45 degree angle
/watches it with feet immersed in grape jello.
posted by Artw at 7:29 AM on June 28, 2015

they made exceptions for Holly Hunter and Susan Sarandon, they went ahead with only "Young Adult" for Theron.

It's a good list, this list. But no exception for Imperator Furiosa is not okay. Young Adult was a hell of a role, but Theron deserves a couple exceptions, really. See also: Monster

I'd also give an exception for Geena Davis, already listed for Thelma & Louise, for The Long Kiss Goodnight, in which she kicked major butt.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:53 AM on June 28, 2015 [8 favorites]

I was thrilled (surprised?) by how many of these I've seen and felt the same things about as this list points out, which means I should probably see the ones I'd rejected because they seemed off-putting in some way. I love how it focuses not on "that's a strong character" or "this passes the Bechdel test" but on "This does a thing movie scripts don't let their actresses be: complex, real, unpleasant, interesting, morally comprised but not because they have sex"
posted by crush-onastick at 7:54 AM on June 28, 2015 [4 favorites]

That's a great list, but I wish the writers had named all the actresses as consistently as they named all the directors.
posted by suelac at 8:07 AM on June 28, 2015 [13 favorites]

Great list, and it added a few movies to my wanna-watch queue... concerning what I have seen, if anyone hasn't and wants to be impressed by a heavy drama then 'Rosetta' may be hard to beat.
posted by mr. digits at 8:33 AM on June 28, 2015

I agree with the poster above regarding Charlize Theron's portrayal of Aileen Wuornos in "Monster". Theron's performance in "Young Adult" was extraordinarily impressive; a very complicated, challenging role where Theron had to take a character who was rather unlikable, did terrible, selfish things throughout the film, all while making the character someone the viewer is interested in spending time with. Not taking anything away from that performance at all. But when the most famous movie critic of our time calls your performance "...one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema", as Roger Ebert did with "Monster", I think it deserves inclusion on a list like this as well.

Other notable omission: Enid in Ghost World.
posted by The Gooch at 8:41 AM on June 28, 2015 [6 favorites]

Great list, but I would have loved to see Christina Ricci in The Opposite of Sex and Winona Ryder in Heathers.
posted by Mchelly at 9:10 AM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

That's a great list, but I wish the writers had named all the actresses as consistently as they named all the directors.

Yeah. The decision to not list the actress at the top of each entry with the character is really weird to me.
posted by dogwalker at 9:17 AM on June 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

This list is sadly US-focused, though. There is so much that is missing (including what is mentioned above), like Fernanda Montenegro in Central Station and Maribel Verdú in Y Tu Mamá También. Oksana Akinshina was fantastic in the wrenching Lilya 4-ever. Charlotte Rampling in Swimming Pool and Heading South.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:17 AM on June 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

And how could I have forgotten Anne Parillaud in Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita?
posted by Dip Flash at 9:21 AM on June 28, 2015 [5 favorites]

Oh hey, if you read to the bottom of the comments on the second "Aliens" link in the OP, Jenette Goldstein (who played Vasquez) shows up.
posted by asterix at 9:30 AM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think that may be the best part of reading this list - realizing it could easily be twice as long with your own additions, even keeping to the "one actor/one film" rule (the leads of 'night, Mother, Shirley Valentine, Real Women Have Curves, Girlfight...).

Nowadays Ms. Goldstein runs a very fine lingerie shop.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:40 AM on June 28, 2015

I love that Margaret and Morvern Callar are included on this list.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:17 AM on June 28, 2015

I think I would have exchanged Tracey Flick in Election for Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. There's a good argument for both I suppose, but I think Elle edges out Tracey on the Reese-y awesomeness scale.
posted by wabbittwax at 11:38 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is there anyone as reliable as Swinton? She's pretty much brilliant in just about anything, they don't even mention 'We need to talk about Kevin' when they list the films she's been excellent in and that was such a good role, brilliantly realised.
posted by biffa at 12:54 PM on June 28, 2015

The list is in chronological order.
posted by shakespeherian at 4:34 PM on June 28, 2015

Young Adult was great and Theron was amazing in it.
posted by octothorpe at 4:38 PM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

Also there's (IMO) nothing daring about the role in Resident Evil. It's just another Strong Female Character. The list is not 'Ass-Kicking Heroines in the Mode of Ripley.'
posted by shakespeherian at 4:40 PM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think I would have exchanged Tracey Flick in Election for Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. There's a good argument for both I suppose, but I think Elle edges out Tracey on the Reese-y awesomeness scale.

The list is heavily weighted towards the grim-n'-gritty side of things. I think the writers were aiming towards characters that are complex and challenging to both the actress and the audience. Not necessarily likeable. While Elle Woods is subversive in her own way, I wouldn't call her challenging.
posted by Anonymous at 4:45 PM on June 28, 2015

Yeah, this list is not "which female characters kicked the highest and killed the most monsters", it's "which female characters were as complex and interesting and commanding".

That said, I would've liked to see the Lars Von Trier choice switched out for anything else. When your entire film career can be summed up with "Watch Stoic Female Get Brutalized" the Stoic Female character in question stops being complex and interesting and starts looking more like a bizarre fetish.
posted by Anonymous at 4:52 PM on June 28, 2015

This is a pretty good list--I also was hoping to see Furiosa, but to a certain extent that role is kind of straightforward and not as subversive as some of these--but I wonder about the final bit characterizing Amy Dunne as an "anti-heroine". Maybe the writers of the list got a very different read of that character than I did.
posted by IAmUnaware at 5:58 PM on June 28, 2015

No Parker Posey? No Jennifer Jason Leigh?
posted by batfish at 7:29 PM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I just keep thinking of embarrassingly obvious misses. Monica Bellucci? Helen Mirren? Asia Argento? All have played complex and kick ass roles many times over.

This list is a nice start and the summaries are well done, but it is painfully limited.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:13 PM on June 28, 2015

Well, yes. To 50.
posted by Etrigan at 8:49 PM on June 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

Parker Posey isn't really a film role, is she?
posted by shakespeherian at 9:16 PM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Au contraire!
posted by batfish at 8:20 AM on June 29, 2015

hey, someone else saw (and loved) Citizen Ruth!
posted by Eideteker at 12:11 PM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Sarah Conner needs to go back in time and get higher up on the list.

Side note...only 2 African American women made it...I'll just leave that thought out there because I don't know what it means.
posted by Chuffy at 3:46 PM on June 29, 2015

Is there an age requirement, because Mathilda from The Professional was somewhat badass.

Zoe from Serenity...maybe a stretch, but she's badass.

Wait, is this where I comment on the list?
posted by Chuffy at 3:48 PM on June 29, 2015

And how could I have forgotten Anne Parillaud in Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita?

Who could forget Bridget Fonda in...what was that remake?
posted by Chuffy at 3:52 PM on June 29, 2015

I want to celebrate what they did get right (two John Waters heroines! Two Alex Payne heroines! Under the Skin! Gone Girl!) ...but if you're going to include an Ellen Page role--and you should include an Ellen Page role--it's all about Hard Candy.
posted by psoas at 5:20 PM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

That would be the highly forgettable Point of No Return and the original is better.
posted by ostranenie at 10:02 PM on June 29, 2015

Side note...only 2 African American women made it...I'll just leave that thought out there because I don't know what it means.

There are embarrassingly few roles offered to Black women in Hollywood, and the ones that are tend to be either Strong Black Women or Downtrodden Pariahs. Notice other WOC examples are an Asian woman who plays a concubine, another who is an commentary on the submissive Asian female stereotype, and a group of Iranian women who are lumped into one entry. Hollywood is not good at creating awesome female characters; it is even worse at giving the characters it creates to non-white women.
posted by Anonymous at 2:08 AM on June 30, 2015