Warning: spoilers ahead for Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and Captain Marvel!
There has been a significant cultural shift in media, with women moving from being mere love interests to playing strong leads in TV shows and movies. According to Variety, the number of top-paying films featuring strong female leads has rapidly increased from 28% to 42%. This figure is close to the percentage of high-paying films with male protagonists making this shift amazing. These shows and films help normalize the idea that women can hold positions of power, contributing to a rise in women-owned companies and more women in executive roles. They also show young children that their dreams are not too big and that achieving them is possible. However, strong female lead roles haven’t reached their full potential and are flawed in many ways.
One way strong female lead roles are flawed is in how they reinforce this idea that women can’t be brilliant and be at their peak professionally while also being happy in love. An example of this is Grey’s Anatomy, where Meredith Grey experiences a streak of medical success while Derek Shephard, her husband, was away working for the government. However, the moment he returned to fight for their marriage, she lost a patient. This implied that, career-wise, she could only be at her peak when she didn’t have Derek by her. Similarly, in Scandal, when Olivia Pope compromised her morals by entering a shady deal to rig the election so that the love of her life, Fitzgerald Grant, could become President of the United States. She stood by her morals unless it came to Fitz. This narrative is really harmful as it could lead young women to believe that being in a serious relationship could stunt their career growth. It is prominent on TikTok as well, with many women posting that “love is an illness for women with ambition.” This could lead to women suppressing their romantic side and functioning like a “robot” with the sole goal of working hard. This could also lead to them postponing marriage or meaningful relationships until it’s too late. Women should be able to have both: love and ambition. Yes, it is harder to balance both, but it is not as black and white as it is portrayed in the media.
Another way the strong female lead roles are flawed is in how the roles are one-dimensional, with their roles being overly incredible and extraordinary to be appreciated rather than original and simplistic. An example of this is live-action Mulan, where Mulan has inherited her fighting ability rather than being taught how to fight. The crew decided not to show that arc to emphasize how exceptional Mulan is compared to the other male warriors she fights with. Another example is Captain Marvel, where Carol is fully powerful and invincible in the beginning, and towards the end, she reaches her full potential by getting past her mentor’s gaslighting. It signifies this norm that women have to be exceptional in their fields, with fewer emotions, to be seen as good enough. It sidetracks emotions, as with emotions it is more plausible for women to be seen as weak. It signifies that to surpass the patriarchy and be head to head with men, they have to be exceptional in their fields with nothing else stopping them.
Lastly, strong female roles are flawed through ageism, where women above 40 are rarely portrayed. Men can continue acting until they are 70 in leading roles, but it is harder for women to have lead roles as they get closer to 40 and older. Older women are typically cast in supporting roles like mothers and grandmothers, while older male actors can keep being cast as action heroes or romantic leads. An example of this is Mean Girls, where Rachel McAdams, who played Regina George, was 26, while her mother in the movie, Amy Poehler, was only 32 years old. A woman who could have actually had a prominent age gap with Rachel McAdams could have been cast as Regina’s mother, but they chose not to, as older women are not found as attractive. Another example is Orange Is the New Black, where Elizabeth Rodriguez, who plays Aleida, is only three years older than her on-screen daughter, Dascha Polanco. The character was made younger than her actual age to portray Aleida as an attractive woman that uses boyfriends to get money, rather than focusing on her role as a mother. This makes young women anxious of aging, promoting jokes about how “old” they’ll be in their 20, and terrified of getting regular aspects of aging like wrinkles or gray hair. This depiction exacerbated the need and pressure for Botox and plastic surgery. Nowadays, it is so common that women in their early twenties get Botox to prevent wrinkles in their thirties.
Overall, while media representation of women has come a long way from merely a love interest to a strong lead, there is still much progress to be made in how women are portrayed on screen. True portrayal of female leads encapsulates women as complex people who can be ambitious and powerful, along with flawed and emotional. The media has a crucial role in society’s views, so it is important that the media break past stereotypes and show a wider variety of roles for women, ensuring that children don’t believe they have to be a certain way to be accepted. Women can start blazing their own paths and being who they want to be without worrying about aging or keeping a façade of being invincible just to get to the top.