I was reading an article about kick-ass females in film adaptations and something really bothered me. The piece, over at Word and Film took its basic inspiration from the upcoming
One for the Money based on Janet Evanovich's book. Stephanie Plum - played by Katharine Heigl in the movie - does do some asskicking - quite a bit of it fairly comically, intentionally comically. But she also gets her ass saved by Mister Morelli. But it's not whether Stephanie is kick ass or not that bothers me - I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to seeing the movie. It will be fun. No big whoop. Nothing earth shaking. Just a cinematic good time. Cinematic is perhaps too big a word for my expectations. I will have popcorn, soda, watch the flick and enjoy. But take a look at the list of kick ass females and tell me what stands out.
Clarice Starling -
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris 1991
Maggie Fitzgerald -Million Dollar Baby/
Rope Burns by FX Toole 2004
Ree -
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell 2010
Lisbeth Salander -
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson 2009, 2011
Mattie Ross -
True Grit by Charlies Portis 2010
Do you see it? Over a dozen years separate Clarice Starling in Harris'
Silence of the Lambs in a film role owned by Jody Foster and Hillary Swank's Oscar winning performance as Maggie in
Million Dollar Baby. OVER A DOZEN YEARS!!! Surely there were some other
'kick ass' females in that period.
Do you agree? What other 'kick-ass females' in film that would make your list?
According to the AFI, Jody Foster as Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs is considered the 6th greatest protagonist in film history, period, so she has some pretty big shoes to fill. Remember Dr. Lechter describing her cheap brown shoe? The thought of that still sends shivers up my cliche spine.
So who are your top nominations for kick ass female protagonist from a screen adaptation?
And if your favorite kick ass female hasn't made it out of the pages of a book, who is she?
