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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.ย. 2024
- FBI Special Agent Clarice Staring from Silence of the Lambs is an under-rated female protagonist with a lot to bring to the table in terms of her personal qualities, but she is also extremely sympathetic to the audience. In this video we'll look into why characters like Clarice work and why characters like Galadriel from The Rings of Power don't.
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A TH-camr once tried to test me...
I left a comment 👇
with some fava beans 🙂
and a nice chianti 🍷
I hope you do the same! 😄
Writers nowadays forgot that nuance is what makes characters great, whether they be woman or man or whateverelse. I've watching Shogun, and while the female are not really main protagonist, they show a lot of this as well. It's such a well written show, it almost made me forgot all the crappy writting in the last years in hollywood or gaming.
Absolutely! I'd really like to know how a lot of them end up in such prominent writing positions 🤔 so many of them just clearly don't have the experience (or skill) required. Shogun is on my to-watch list - I read the book years ago but I can't remember much apart from the start so looking forward to it!
Thanks for the comment and sub man, very much appreciated! 👍
I watched this whole video because it got recommended to me without realizing this isn‘t a big production, your style of narration is really good!!
I have this very elaborate theory that the downfall of female character writing started with Game of Thrones (seriously, the writers couldn‘t handle a single female in that show after they diverted from the source material)
Wow, that's a great compliment, thanks so much!
Yeah Game of Thrones later seasons definitely got a big dose of that when it started going around 🤔 pretty unfortunate considering what they needed to do with Daenerys. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
I hope you will make more videos on this topic, because your analysis was really interesting and accurate (imo) and I'm so keen to see what other strong female characters you'll cover!
I haven't seen either ROP or Silence of the Lambs but your video made me want to watch one of them. 😅
Haha! Thank you very much for your kind words - I reckon watch all of silence of the lambs and maybe one episode of rings of power (don't worry - it will feel like an eternity!) 😅
@@Vivifyre 🤣 I'll take you up on Silence of the Lambs! But I boycott everything produced by Luthercorp on principle, so I'll continue to spare myself that pain.
There´s no point in cloning a male character into a female character. It´s boring. Why don´t they try to find layers anymore? Ripley in Aliens was a frightened woman (she had nightmares), she was courageos, she relied on the soldiers, didn´t trust Burke. Also, she was willing to reverse his hate for androids, could flirt with Hicks, kick the monster´s ass, and become again, a mom. Come on! All that and more in one movie. Now, when there´s a female character I think the producers, acording to woke wave, tell the writers: Make her punch a lot of guys, and make the guys stupids as hell. Sorry, I speak spanish, so may be there are spelling mistakes. Thanks for the video and keep up with the good work.
@@constanzagarcia348 Yeah you got it 👌. To be fair, if galadriel was male in rings of power she would still be boring as all hell, terrible character traits, but apparently that's fine for women these days 👎
... Except maybe if she was male it would more easily straddle the line between cringe and funny 🤔 she might end up like Steven Seagal! 😅
@@Vivifyre Oh, My! there´s no amount of hair gel in the world to cover her hair if she becames like Seagal! On another mather. Could you be interested in talking about evil characters (females and males), but not the cannon ones (Joker, Darth Vader, all the Marvel villains, etc, would be great to know new ones) I was thinking more about Waldo Lydecker from Laura, Milady from The Three Musqueteers, Eve from All about Eve, and Frankestein, and I mean the Dr., not the monster who is acutally the heroe. Perhaps, you have your favorites ones.
@@constanzagarcia348 haha! Yes I'm very fond of well crafted evil characters too. It's definitely an interesting topic for a video because depending on the story they can be literally anything - they can be massively over the top and petty (Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore) or wicked but understated (like nurse ratchet in one flew over the cuckoos nest). There are all sorts of good villains - they just have to serve their story function well and (most importantly) be interesting in some way!
I do love Clarice. It feels good to see a serial killer who targets women get taken down by a woman for a change.
I think well-written female characters are still out there, but we're more likely to find them if we look beyond the big-budget movie and TV blockbusters. Consider Evelyn from "Everything Everywhere All at Once," Sandra from "Anatomy of a Fall," Nora from "Past Lives," Billi from "The Farewell," Rose and Edith from "Wicked Little Letters," and, for the younger crowd, the title character of "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." The girls and women listed here come across as real people rather than walking, talking tropes. Still, I think the point of the absence of a female equivalent of Sam from LOTR is well-taken, and it goes further than unwillingness to show female characters being vulnerable. Outside of comedies like "Bridesmaids" and "Girls Trip," Hollywood screenwriters don't seem keen to emphasize the importance of friendship in their female characters' lives. We don't just lack a female Sam; we lack a female Frodo-and-Sam. I would love to see more interesting and sincere depictions of female friendship in more serious genres. After all, friendship, like any strong relationship between humans, opens the characters up to vulnerability.
Other great examples of female characters done right can be found in most of the work of Cartoon Saloon: "The Secret of Kells," "Song of the Sea," "The Breadwinner," and "Wolfwalkers" -- some of the best animated films of the millennium.
@@kelleyceccato7025 That's a really good point about them not showing (real) female friendship - it seems like the "strong independent woman" hangup isn't just limited to relationships with men 🤔
Lots of good recommendations there, I'll have to check some of those out 👌
cringe
I can't believe that Rings of Power even had Galadriel steal words from Kate Blanchet's Queen Elizabeth - "There is a tempest in me ..." Huge eye-roll moment here. What were the writers thinking -- that nobody would notice that they so blatantly stole the line? . . . and then they ruined it! lol
@@markthompson180 haha! I actually didn't catch that so they got one on me 😅. Maybe I was too worn down by them stealing all the Peter Jackson lotr lines 🤷♂️
Silence of the Lambs is an amazing movie, Clarice is an amazing character ... and Jodie Foster is one of the best actors to come along in modern times. You can't get much better than her.
@@markthompson180 I agree, she's good in everything I've seen her in - think she's quite underrated! No offence to Julianne Moore but I just couldn't get behind her as Clarice 🫤
How can current movie makers not understand that viewers love a character that is flawed, fearful and can be redeemed because we see ourselves in them?
@@mikametcalf3783 they're too hung up on trying to make a point, rather than trying to express something that's true 😅 it's a shame. Thanks for commenting!
I wish your video gets millions of views because you have great content. Try running ads for your channel using some kind of system.
@@Lomiop thank you so much for your kind words! I'm really new and still figuring things out - one of last month's videos only got 2 views so I think there's still lots of learning to do. Having said that, comments like yours are a great motivator, so thank you for taking the time 🙂
Now write a video essay on strong male characters.
I've got an idea for unusual male heroes, so I think you'll get your wish! 😆
Thanks for this vid... I'm working on my first movie, and the protagonist is female. Your vid helped me soak up a little vibe on what I should be doing. I always saw her as another character and not some empty persona designed to make a social statement but this helped me dig a little deeper. I'm about to watch it again, actually. lol.
...and of course by social statement I just mean I get the impression from the vid that it's the MAIN way the writers see them... I'm not a sexist.. haha.
@@JJmonty7s Ah man, that's great to hear you're getting some good value out of the video! Thanks for letting me know, it's such great feedback.
Yeah at the moment having a female character without making her a political statement... Would be more of a political statement! 😂. I'm only half kidding, but I do think your audience would enjoy it more if she was a real person. Best of luck with the project 👍
feminists writers ignore some fundamental thing: if women can do exactly the same as men (and better), why aren't women beating all men in all sports, and be better in all physical activities as construction, military, etc. So when we see a girl-boss in a movie, it feels more like a parody of what feminists want, and never will be.
Why is it so important that women (of both sexes) have to be strong and all const and can't be anything besides that? Why don't you talk about motherly, nice, thoughtful or supporting women? Are those worse than "strong" women? How does the strenght of women make films better? Why is it important in the first place? What about strong male characters?
I'm just genuinely curious and interestingly nobody could ever give me a good answer on any of these questions.
Definitely worth more content. I'd love to see Polly (and Polly Comin Home) explored as a proper adaptation from a different cultural perspective vs one of the many crappy replacement movies they are putting out now, say a Disney movie to keep the comparison fair like Little Mermaid or the new Snow White when out, what have you.
Admittedly my take on the little mermaid is funny as I loved the cartoon in many ways, but felt it violated the morals of the original story so I've never held the cartoon up as a good adaptation either, just beautiful and creative. But it was a big name, still if any other big name diversity changed movies are of interest that could be used as a healthy comparison to one of my favorite reimaginings of Pollyanna, I'd love to see it even more.
Hmm, judging by what we've seen so far, the new snow white seems to have a lot of fertile ground for criticism so might have to consider it! Be careful what you wish for in terms of adaptions - there's kind of a monkey's paw effect going on just now.
I was once ecstatic to hear they were doing a second age of middle earth show 😬.
Thanks for the comment, I'll definitely consider making it a series 🙂
I think one of my favourite characters is princess Carolyn from BoJack horseman.
@@rockbandny I actually haven't seen BoJack! Sounds like it's worth watching though 🙂
@@Vivifyre yeah, I'd say all the characters are really well written, but princess Carolyn is probably the best female character in there in my opinion.
@@rockbandny nice, i'll check it out! Thanks for the recommendation 🍻
@@Vivifyre np
- 00:26 📉 Writers insist on making female characters strong from start to finish, which weakens the story.
- 01:07 🕰️ Female characters of the past, like Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley, had varied strengths beyond physical power.
- 01:46 ⚔️ Galadriel from *Rings of Power* is used as an example of a shallow "empowered" character.
- 02:29 😕 The lack of character flaws makes audiences unable to relate to modern female leads.
- 03:02 🎭 Male characters are allowed more depth, while female ones are confined to narrow representations of strength.
- 04:23 🎬 Hollywood is uncomfortable with femininity, robbing stories of emotional depth.
- 04:57 👮 Clarice Starling from *Silence of the Lambs* is highlighted as a strong, well-developed female character.
- 06:29 👊 Clarice’s strength comes from intelligence, humility, and courage, not physical dominance.
- 07:00 🎥 Clever use of camera angles enhances Clarice’s vulnerability in tense scenes.
- 09:50 🧠 Clarice’s vulnerability and courage make her relatable and heroic, unlike shallow modern leads.
- 12:22 🎨 Propaganda-driven art lacks the transformative power of good storytelling.
- 12:55 ✍ Aspiring writers should create relatable, vulnerable characters with real qualities, avoiding shallow power fantasies.
@@dameanvil thanks! 🙂
I liked the women of Sons of Anarchy.
Gemma, Agent Stahl, Dr Tara Knowles.
Terrific video! I've been so very frustrated with the 'strong woman' characters the last few years, so poorly written and ultimately boring. Written by idiots. Sadly, young women are buying into this too often. Ugh. Another great woman character from back then is Marge Gunderson from the movie Fargo. She's not necessarily seen as 'strong' but she really is beautifully nuanced, so smart, so strong. (Frankly, any of the women characters in the various seasons of Fargo make good example too, especially the 1, 2 and 5th seasons.)
@@monalucas4254 funny you should say that! Marge was one of the characters I considered doing - might still do a video on her in the future, she's a brilliant and memorable character 👌
@@monalucas4254 also I agree re Fargo characters in general. Kirsten Dunst really nailed it in season 2!
If by "idiots" you mean feminists aka. females, you're right. Because it's them who started this trend.
it get 4 views
Check again 😂
don't end with "anyway" and don't be a culture war hack and ill watch some more
@@michaelcavanaugh thanks for the feedback! Out of curiosity, what's wrong with ending with "anyway"?
@@Vivifyre That’s you been told you bad boi 🤭
I'm happy youtube recommended me a video from someone who doesn't have tons of subscribers! I really liked it, it was captivating, great points and I'm looking forward to watch some more. Great job, if that's of any value from someone who has made zero videos :D
@@zralokvemigraci thank you so much! I'm really surprised and happy to hear so much great feedback in the comments, it's great motivation to continue 😀