A List of the Best On-Screen Female Friendships
This past week, I sat down to watch Amazon Prime’s new film, Sitting in Bars with Cake. It was a heartfelt dramedy that not only left me in tears, but left me pondering about the female friendships in my own life. The two main characters of the story, Jane and Corinne, have been best friends since a young age, and when the film starts, they had recently moved to Los Angeles together. While celebrating Corinne’s birthday in a bar, they come up with the idea to put Jane’s love for baking to use by crafting a new cake every week and taking it to bars. This idea started as a way to build confidence and get attention from the men in the bars, but it became something much more sentimental after a difficult diagnosis. The film explores the themes of selfless friendship and love in a time of despair. After completing my watch, I was struck with several different emotions, but gratitude was the biggest. In the year of Barbie and The Eras Tour, girlhood is on the rise in the world of media. Women everywhere are thoughtfully taking in the beauty of what being a woman truly looks like, despite all of the struggles we may face. I have found friendship to be at the center of this conversation almost every single time. The bond women are able to create with one another, despite any differences, has always been such a beautiful betrayal in movies and television. Watching Sitting in Bars with Cake and reflecting on the female friendships I have in my own life inspired me to compile a list of the friendships I have watched between women in the media; these are my five favorites.
#5- Rory Gilmore and Paris Geller
From frenemies to roommates, Rory Gilmore and Paris Geller were a dynamic duo from the popular show Gilmore Girls. Their first interactions on the show are filled with jealousy and competition, but the two are able to put their academic goals to the side for the sake of their friendship. After high school, the girls decide to dorm together at Yale University, where they became even closer. Even with the tension of trying to be the best in their class, the two remained best friends. Rory and Paris are a great example of a friendship that remains kind and strong without sacrificing personal ambition.
#4- Amy Antsler and Molly Davidson
In Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut, Booksmart, the theme of female friendship is heavily explored through the two main protagonists, Amy and Molly. Before graduating high school and heading to college, the dynamic duo decide they need to break away from their “nerdy” stereotype and go partying with the rest of their class. The night ends up getting out of hand and realizations unfold along the way, but Amy and Molly recognize that they would be lost without each other. No matter what college, relationships, and high school parties throw their way, they will always be each other’s best friend.
#3- Jenny Young, Erin Kennedy, and Blair Helms
The 2019 Netflix film, Someone Great, is a story about a woman in New York City whose nine year relationship has reached its end. The movie depicts Jenny Young experiencing heartbreak in the rawest form and looking back on all of the good and bad moments of her relationship. In order to get her out of her head and celebrate her recent promotion, her best friends from college, Erin and Blair, join Jenny on a day of fun in the city. This is a hard place for the friends to be, not only because Jenny’s romantic relationship is coming to an end, but because the friendship between the three girls will soon be changing. Jenny will be moving to San Francisco in a matter of weeks, and the friends realize that this chapter of their friendship is about to close. Despite this, they are still everything to each other, and Blair and Erin shine a positive light in one of the hardest moments of Jenny’s life. They stop everything they are doing to be by her side and give her comfort, but they also push her to better herself and not dwell on the failure of her relationship. Throughout the film, their friendship is healthy, honest, and strong. It truly is the heartbeat of the film.
#2- Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins
The 2000’s sitcom Parks and Recreation is well known for its vibrant characters and comedic genius. At the core of the show is Leslie Knope’s deep passion for Indiana’s parks and recreational services. She desires to make big changes, and Ann Perkins, a citizen of Pawnee, unknowingly becomes Leslie’s way in. From the very beginning, the two women form a strong connection due to their caring ways, and eventually Ann starts working at Pawnee’s Park and Recreation center. The girls share so much of their lives together in and out of the office, by sharing relationship advice, caring for each other when one is sick, and encouraging each other through it all. Leslie and Ann are one of the best sitcom best friend duos.
#1- Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March
Sisterhood is a bond between women that can never be broken. Little Women, the depiction of four young sisters throughout different seasons of their lives, is a beautiful example of how changes in life do not have to change your relationship with others. The girls not only grow up together, but they grow through loss, challenges, heartbreak, and healing. Through it all, they do not lose focus of how much their sisterhood matters to them, even when they feel moments of betrayal.