Babes In Boyland
Sexism and stupidity -- that's what this year's sci-fi and horror heroines are made of.
      by Sarah Kendzior

Character Type #4: I'm middle-aged, and I kick ass!

Despite its phenomenal box-office success, little has been made of What Lies Beneath, and that's because there's nothing that can be said that hasn't been said before. It's a good horror film, a well-done montage of Hitchcock's greatest hits. The acting is fine, the scenes are well-shot, and it's scary. But for me -- and for a lot of people, I think, who like Hitchcock a little too much -- there was just no there there. But the one thing that did strike me was the performance of Michelle Pfeiffer.

Yeah, life could be worse: Michelle Pfeiffer with husband Harrison in What Lies Beneath.

It's interesting that in a genre dominated, over the last two decades, anyway, by teenagers, Pfeiffer's character of Claire Spencer was the only one to make any real impact this year. A lot of this had to do with the grade-A talent behind the movie -- director Robert Zemeckis, stars Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford. The script was decent, if not original, but what made the movie special is that, for once, the female lead was convincing. There was a plausibility that allowed certain moments that could have been over-the-top -- the bathtub scene comes to mind -- their real fright, and it's a conviction that comes with age.

Finally, we were free of the Hewitt -- here was a woman who was older, but still beautiful, smart, talented if a bit unhappy with her life. The vulnerability in Claire's relationships and her insecurities about her professional status came across not as fill-in-the-blanks characterization, but as a well-drawn portrait of an interesting woman. What Lies Beneath is a slow movie, one that encourages the characters to think, and not simply react. Hitchcock's films are among the most frightening for precisely this reason -- the acts take time to unfold; Psycho, for example, entirely changed gears mid-picture but only after one event had naturally led to another. Pfeiffer, an experienced actress, pulled this off nicely, never over-playing the role or mugging for the camera like her younger, insipid brethren do. Laurie Strode's not gone -- although her modern successors sure seem to indicate it -- she's just grown up.

Of course, this is the year 2000, one of the crappiest years for movies ever, and so Michelle's got to have a flip side. That doubtful honor goes to Kim Basinger in Bless the Child, a lousy film full of annoying female characters. However, where teen slashers like Urban Legends and Blair Witch 2 bring on women that are just downright offensive, Bless the Child is atrocious in a lite-rock kind of way. It's too women-y, too cloying -- but it doesn't make me want to eliminate half the world's population. This dubious achievement also has to do with age -- Basinger's character, well into her forties, is obligated to have an actual life and responsibilities, even if they involve rescuing angelic six-year-old girls from a demonic cult led by a child star gone bad.

Oh crap. Just when I'd blocked that out.

Character Type #5: I'm Connie Nielsen!

Connie Nielsen with some Australian dude in Gladiator.

I've decided that all that is right and wrong about women in genre 2000 can be summed up in one actress. That actress is Connie Nielsen, so very, very good in the Gladiator and so very, very dreadful in the Mission to Mars. But she is indicative of a far more interesting trend in female roles -- while traditionally female-friendly mediums like sci-fi seem to be shunning the estrogen-prone, women are going to where the action is in a big, big way.

Gladiator, though undoubtedly a chick flick (hello, Russell Crowe in leather!), has only one female protagonist, but she is cool. She is Lucilla, royalty and friend of our valiant gladiator, despite the protests of her incest-prone brother Joaquin Phoenix. She is independent, dignified, and seriously self-possessed, and you know why? 'Cause she's in an action film.

I can't explain it, but the greatest female roles this year seem to be in movies with a lot of fighting, swordplay, or other acrobatic adventures. The best film of the year -- with two of the greatest roles for women ever -- is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a gorgeous, moving, exciting, inspiring, intelligent movie about women, the men they love, and the men they fight. I'd say more about Ang Lee's wonderful martial arts feast to the eyes, but I would never shut up, and if you're still with me at essay word 4000, you know I'm not kidding. Just see the damn thing. It won't make up for all the drek we've been through this year, but it will come close.

The greatest chick movie ever made: Zhang Zi-Yi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

And then, of course, there's Charlie's Angels, the immature counterpart to Crouching Tiger that's adorable just the same. The great thing about both these movies is that they seem to acknowledge not just that girls have a wide range of emotions, thoughts and interests (same as guys -- who'da thunk it?) but that their audience may not be the blithering fools Brian de Palma has mistaken them for. After seeing Nielsen in Gladiator, I instantly regretted my "Kathie Lee Gifford in space" comment made after seeing Mission to Mars, in which she is (of course) the only girl of a futuristic team of astronauts and thus (of course) the stupidest one of the very stupid bunch.

But action -- that's where we seem to be headed. As I look to the future, and hear grumblings of a Crouching Tiger sequel and see Angelina Jolie looking so, so cool as Tomb Raider's Lara Croft, I look forward to seeing this genre feminized in the way sci-fi and horror were in the past. And, hopefully, next year, my list of admirable sci-fi/horror movie chicks won't consist entirely of Radha Mitchell in Pitch Black, Anna Paquin in X-Men and Jennifer Lopez in The Cell. With cyberpunk/sci-fi films like The Matrix 2 (again, a movie with a strong female lead and very action bent) coming out and fantasy films like Harry Potter with strong a girl character in the works (yeah, Hermione!), perhaps the future won't be quite as bleak as our recent past.

Then again, I hear Artisan's making plans for Blair Witch 3. Hey, no one said being a chick was easy -- even genre-style.

We welcome your comments on The 11th Hour and this feature. Please send letters to: letters@the11thhour.com

< Previous Page