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Originally Posted by SpM
It seems to me that, nowadays, female characters in "action films" are no longer included just for the gratuitous romance. In the past, I believe that certainly was the case. But the tendency nowadays is for the female character to be strong-willed and independent. She is generally a primary character in her own right, and not simply a "romantic accesory" for the male lead. Compare, for example, the female characters in Bond films today with those of the '60s and '70s. And I suspect that this phenomenon has developed as women's "purchasing power" has increased. Rather than relying on their husbands' or parents' purchasing decisions, as was largely (although not exclusively) the case in times past, they now have the means to make their own purchasing decisions. Films have responded to this, no doubt in consequence of extensive market research.
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There are still not that many 'Ripley' figures about though, and when there is a strong female character then she is notable, which suggests that it is still not necessarily the norm for such characters. I do have to say that having a strong and unique female lead attracted me in to the cinema to watch Kill Bill, as I'd not been all that interested in Tarantino films before; I loved the idea that she was a mother
and an assassin.
It has often crossed my mind whether Jackson made Arwen more strong as a character purely to appeal to the female audience who might not respond to someone who spent their time weaving - the subtleties of the significance of weaving is one of those ideas that just would not have transferred to film! The odd thing about the films is that even though they did give Arwen an active role, it is still a film which has very few female roles, like the books. This does not seem to have kept women and girls away from the cinemas; in fact I seem to notice even more female fans of Tolkien than ever before! It has to be something deeper than the Legolas effect.
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Originally Posted by Bethberry
When high school students write poetry, a fair percentage of the female students can write from a male POV, creating a poem whose speaker is a male, imagining his character and getting into his POV. However, teachers report that male students almost never write poems with a female speaker or create/imagine female characters.
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Possibly it has to do with the youth of the writer - young men do tend to write more about being a young man, not having that much experience of women! While young women tend to write about idealised men/boys when they create a male character. That's just from my experience of teaching writing.
That could be a very interesting topic for a teacher/tutor - how well does Tolkien write from a female point of view? Not much use for examining The Hobbit, but if Fordim decides to teach LotR he has a ready made topic with a gender slant.