TV/Movies Megathread

[The Larch]

Apparently Moffat and Gatiss, the creators of the Sherlock series, are going to prepare a new one for the BBC based on Dracula. Colour me curious...

[Valmy]

Ok that makes more sense.
I agree that the post Carrie Fisher shift to more empowered female leads in action movies is a good thing, and not just for feminist reasons.  The helpless damsel in distress role is just boring.

Yeah but that happened decades ago.

[viper37]

Ok that makes more sense.
I agree that the post Carrie Fisher shift to more empowered female leads in action movies is a good thing, and not just for feminist reasons.  The helpless damsel in distress role is just boring.

Yeah but that happened decades ago.

someone should tell the über left.

Though, tbh, the 80s were not particulary strong on interesting female characters.  Most of them were there to support the male lead and you really could have change any of these characters from any movie.  Even tv series were like that.

I think the real shift occured with Buffy.

[Valmy]

Even if I accept your premise Buffy was still decades ago 

[HVC]

does the first terminator count asa  strong female lead, or does it fall more into the horror damsel running away from the unstoppable. i'd count terminator 2, but that's 90's

[garbon]

Even if I accept your premise Buffy was still decades ago 

And we still have things like Twilight that are hugely popular.

[Valmy]

Even if I accept your premise Buffy was still decades ago 

And we still have things like Twilight that are hugely popular.

Twilight it is not exactly a damsel story though right? She chooses to go after the vampire dude even with everybody telling that is a stupid thing to do. I mean I think that is true. I have only ever seen videos of people talking about it.

[Grey Fox]

"I also don't have a TV"

[Valmy]

"I also don't have a TV"

Then man I am really getting tired of paying hundreds of dollars a year for cable and netflix.

[Barrister]

Even if I accept your premise Buffy was still decades ago 

And we still have things like Twilight that are hugely popular.

Twilight it is not exactly a damsel story though right? She chooses to go after the vampire dude even with everybody telling that is a stupid thing to do. I mean I think that is true. I have only ever seen videos of people talking about it.

Twilight is totally a damsel in distress kind of story.  She even has two hot boys fighting over her later on.

Bella has some degree of agency in the story, and even becomes a vampire herself later on, but she is hardly an empowered character.


That being said if you want a movie from the 80s with a powerful female lead you have to look at Ripley from Alien(s).

[The Brain]

Aliens is a great outlier. All the badasses in the movie are female. I mean I love Michael Biehn as much as it's possible for a man to love another man, but he was just competent. Vasquez is soo bad.

[viper37]

Even if I accept your premise Buffy was still decades ago 

feels like yesterday to me

[garbon]

Even if I accept your premise Buffy was still decades ago 

And we still have things like Twilight that are hugely popular.

Twilight it is not exactly a damsel story though right? She chooses to go after the vampire dude even with everybody telling that is a stupid thing to do. I mean I think that is true. I have only ever seen videos of people talking about it.

'I want to be a victim*' is not a damsel in distress story?

*actually that's also roughly the lyric from a hit Katy Perry song

[Valmy]

That is actually an interesting question. Not sure. I mean if I undergo self-destructive behavior that necessitates somebody having to bail me out, is that a damsel (or dude I guess) in distress story? I thought the main idea was that this woman was pure and good but put into danger by evil necessitating being rescued. That strikes me as different then somebody intentionally putting themselves into danger. But I guess tropes can have many different varieties. 'Girl does stupid shit and needs to be rescued' I guess is just a variation.

But I guess the more pertinent point is we are never going to have a sense of purity in our media but that powerful women are not exactly a novelty anymore. There are plenty of examples out there.

[garbon]

That is actually an interesting question. Not sure. I mean if I undergo self-destructive behavior that necessitates somebody having to bail me out, is that a damsel (or dude I guess) in distress story? I thought the main idea was that this woman was pure and good but put into danger by evil necessitating being rescued. That strikes me as different then somebody intentionally putting themselves into danger. But I guess tropes can have many different varieties. 'Girl does stupid shit and needs to be rescued' I guess is just a variation.

Totally that. Same girl who also stays in bed for a long stretch when her vampire lover leaves her, writes endless emails she never sends and then jumps off a cliff in despair.

But I guess the more pertinent point is we are never going to have a sense of purity in our media but that powerful women are not exactly a novelty anymore. There are plenty of examples out there.

I'm not sure we're at an optimal point yet. Besides powerful women aren't new, not even in the last few decades. What happened in the past few decades is the frequency with which a woman could be powerful without being evil/worthy of punishment.