The Changing Roles of Women in the Media

I've sat and watched old movies from the 40's, 50's, and 60's and can't help but notice how different the roles were for women than they are today. I sit and watch Hitchcock's "The Birds" and yell at my television set for Natalie Hedren's character to snap out of her catatonic state. Early in the film she tries to save a few dozen school children from the bird attack. Her strong character that was developing was gone as quickly as the birds attacked. Towards the end of the film she has a breakdown and is unable to save herself or retain her sanity as she is attacked by hundreds of birds. Her eyes are blank and emotionless for the rest of the film. This was such a disappointment to me. Her character had such potential to be brave and heroic but it was lost.

The original "Night of the Living Dead" is another example of when a women loses it and needs a man to save her. Judith O'Dea's character, Barbara, is completely panicked by the horrible situation outside the isolated house that she and the others are hiding in. During the last few moments of the film, Barbara seems to grow a back bone and starts to fight back but is startled by the appearance of her brother, now a flesh eating zombie. Her heroic potential is extinguished in seconds as she is pulled outside.

A little over 30 years later, we have a new era of heroines who don't crack under pressure but still retain their femininity. Mila Jovovich plays Alice in the Resident Evil series. She dominates the screen with her strong presence and fearlessness in the face of danger. She doesn't become suddenly comatose at the first sight of danger. When flesh eating zombies surround her, she fights back, kicking, punching, and showing just how awesome heroines can be on the big screen. Birds don't scare her. She extinguishes hundreds of them by filling the sky with fire without panicking or fainting.

When I watch old movies and take notice of how women were depicted, I breathe a sigh of relief as I realize how far we have come. We aren't the damsels in distress we once were depicted to be. We are the heroes that save the helpless. And we still retain our femininity while we kick ass on the silver screen. Birds and chauvinists beware.