Live Poll: Favorite Movie Heroine of 2019

Didn't see "Chaper Two" yet but I loved Beverly as a kid. She was awesome. 

Added; thank you!

Ohh, that's right: Rey will be in a 2019 flick - I'm so glad I can add her. I'm really tired right now but, soon, I'll add as many as I can from your list. Thank you!

I've added five so far and may add more -- I just haven't found the time to do so yet but will soon. Thanks again.

The second inclusion criteria is "A few characters from movies officially released in 2018, but not included in the 2018 poll, are included for reasons such as that they were more widely released and seen in 2019 than in 2018."

Umm...? You have more than 35 options. What happened? Pretty sure you know that's unacceptable (poll creation wise).

It might make things easier if you remove 2018 Bird Box and Destroyer. While movies with less than 1000 votes like 'Ride Like a Girl'. You can keep if you pare down the obvious ones out.

Grace from 'Ready or Not' for instance? It's good she's has self-preservation in mind. But how does that make her a heroine?

Or can you group all three Terminator Dark Fate women (into a single image option) as you paired up other same movie options?

I'm sorry, Stephen, I think I may have missed this post of yours, unfortunately. Yeah, I went up to 39 at one point just so I could see all of them in one place to try to figure out how I was going to get it to 35. I really wanted to keep Bird Box and Destroyer because I thought they fit in well and I figured I could justify it because they were distributed more widely in 2019: for instance, my city didn't get Destroyer until spring of 2019 and I didn't see ads and trailers on Netflix for Bird Box until 2019 so I didn't get to add them to 2018's list.

Grouping all three from Terminator is a great idea and something I wanted to do but I couldn't find an image in which all three are visible and recognizable. That was a big annoyance, actually, lol. 

I felt compelled to leave the smaller films in because, as you probably know, I prefer smaller, indie films and, while I didn't see 'Ride Like a Girl,' it seemed perfect and I love to think that polls can get smaller films some well deserved exposure. I especially wanted to give 'Waves' a bit of exposure because that film is exquisite and my favorite film of the year -- she was also my self-indulgence option, lol. 

NDbportman suggested Grace and, although I didn't see th film, I often agree with portmanfan so thought it was a safe bet -- and, again, I didn't see the movie, but I often find survivors heroic in a way that's really compelling and resonant, especially, for me, when the character is a woman. Am I getting the wrong idea about the character and movie?

I finally got down to 35 by getting rid of Charlie's Angels because it had a 4.5 rating and moving Eve from 'Just Mercy' to my 2020 list because while technically a 2019 movie, it wasn't released in the States, and many other countries, until 2020. I must have deleted someone else but I can't even remember who it was so I'm hoping that's indicative of an ok decision. 

Anyway, thanks for the input. 

Absolutely. I've just been waiting for a lot of films to be released. I do this poll every year in January. 

Merry Christmas to you, too, Joe. I haven't seen most of the movies on the list, either, and now is the time of the year that I get to add characters from my kinds of films, which usually aren't released until the end of the year. I also liked Molly a lot and she may very well be my vote. She's definitely among my top few from all the movies I've seen this year (many that aren't on the list).  

I couldn't disagree more about Clarice: that is a feminist movie if I've ever seen one and her gender is central. 'Just off the top of my head: 1. ) the scene of her in the elevator, at the beginning of the movie, with men all around her and she looks so small and rather uncomfortable - the kind of discomfort that only a woman can know about the weight of the male gaze. 2.) The scene in the car with Scott Glenn's character, Mr. Crawford, a heroic figure, when she holds him accountable for his sexist behavior at the funeral home. When he tries to explain it away, Clarice responds that the police look up to him to see how to act and "it matters, Mr. Crawford. It matters."  3.) The scene at the funeral home where she stands, once again, small among many men, and the (male) police officers don't listen to her instructions and, instead, all that is shown is the male gaze. 4.) Clarice finds out that Crawford sent her specifically to see Dr. Lecter, at least in part, because she is an attractive woman who Lecter will respond to and, in fact, one of the reasons that she gets so much from Lecter is because she is a woman but she transforms her initial stance to that of a confident, strong investigator who matches his intellect and goes toe-to-toe with Lecter and will not allow him to dismiss or belittle her. 5.) One of the reasons that Clarice is the one to crack the case is that she can understand Buffalo Bill's pathology and motives, in part, because she knows what it is like to seen as an object, which is what Bill's victims are to him in the extreme: physical objects who merely possess what he wants because of their sex and are the most severe example of a misogynist means to an end. 6.) What Miggs does to Clarice. 7.) How Dr. Chilton treats Clarice.
The film illustrates how all of these examples of misogyny and objectification, small relative to what Catherine Martin and Buffalo Bill's other victim's go through at his hands, are simply smaller-scaled, less brutal, and less extreme parts of the same social pathology and Starling is a heroine not only because she saves Catherine Martin (although a woman saving a woman is a powerful statement) and stops Buffalo Bill (although, again, a powerful motif) but because she stands in stalwart opposition to all sorts of sexist treatment and it is that insight and commitment that ends up being so vital in the search for a literal killer of women. 

Totally agree with you ruby, and this is why Clarice is one of my all-time favorite heroines (interestingly, Foster was Oscar-nominated along with Sarando and Davis who played two other iconic heroines: Thelma and Louise) the fact that this young, highly ambitious but slightly insecure pint-sized single-handedly defeats a ruthless psychopath and even manages to lure a crime genius into helping her, by being nothing more than herself, not trying to use "men's" ways, and never indulging into seduction or other clichés, is a powerful statement about the power of women. My other favorite heroines on that level are Sarah Connor, Ellen Ripley and Norma Rae.

Today's depiction of powerful women reminds me of that great quote from Tootsie:  "I think I know what y'all really want. You want some gross caricature of a woman to prove some idiotic point, like power makes a woman masculine, or that masculine women are ugly. "
Today it's more like women have power by either embracing traditional masculine traits (strength, weapon-skills...) or feminine traits from a male perspective (sexiness, seduction...) or both.

Hard to avoid caricature with such limited ranges of depiction. That's why I loved Frances McDormand in "Fargo" : high professional skills and sweet personality, she can be friendly and protective but also straightforward and intimidating, and handles a complex investigation while pregnant. The film would have been a totally different experience if she was a man.

 

Désolé cher ami...

rubyfruit76, great points about Clarice and... It's very much ironic that one of the only characters who treats her with certain degree of respect is Hannibal Lecter, easily a much more dangerous and depraved individual than practically anyone listed... But also much more intelligent and prone to recognize intelligence in others. He tests Starling once or twice to se whether she would see through him if he will try to emulate a typical male behaviour and when she does he drops the act. 

What I really love about Hannibal franchise in general is how complex the characters are: most are never just a function, they're a multitude of unique events which shaped individuals for better or for worse.That makes both antagonists and protagonists relatable to a degree. Thomas Harris's novels are arguably even better in that regard, although most of the audiovisual media based on the franchise provides great interpretations, as well. 

Once again, ElMo, your perspective, intelligence, and writing humbles me. And you mentioned another one of my favorite heroines and characters -- Frances McDormand's Marge in Fargo; it doesn't surprise me that we both like her so much, too.

And Nikolay, you're so right about the Hannibal franchise creating complex characters and the compelling relationship between Clarice and Lecter. The complexity of Lecter, for example, is such a strong reason for the popularity of the franchise: we get the excitement that well written and developed villains evoke but also feel empathy for him and even cheer him on sometimes, all the while not being let off the hook because we are also forced to see his savagery, which translates his complexity into a complexity the audience contends with as we get to know him. You nailed it when you say that we relate to both the antagonists and protagonists. Have you read alll of the Thomas Harris novels? I've only read one but I thought it was great and the movies, especially Silence of the Lambs, definitely made me want to read all of them. 

Anyway, thank you, everyone, for such a cool discussion. 

Link 1: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6146586/mediaviewer/rm1828030209




Link 2: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6146586/mediaviewer/rm1643480833




You can pick which to add.

Thank you! 'Added (although I used a poster photo for better cropping). 

I haven't seen the movies but she seems like a good addition so thanks for suggesting her. She helped me figure out who to cut to get the number down from 38, while also getting to add someone. 

You're welcome.

Oh, you saw an image of them together? Maybe one was added later. As for me, I thought I had scrubbed the internet to find one where all three were readily visible and recognizable but couldn't find one. I'll certainly check the images again; maybe someone found something of the three that I could use because I wanted to do that from the start and got really frustrated that I couldn't find an image that would let me. Thanks: if there's one of all three, I'll be pretty happy. : )

Oh, wow, you found one! It's so late that, at first, I didn't notice the link. How weird that it is not in Grace's photo gallery. Thank you so, so much!

Now, I have to go back and figure out who to put back in, lol, but it's worth it. : )

Shoot, I don't think it will crop well but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Either way, thank you.