When I was a kid, I remember sitting in front of the TV watching the DVD version of Pirates of the Caribbean. In a film that surrounded the stories of men like Jack Sparrow and Will Turner was Elizabeth Swann. I still remember, to this day, the goosebumps and stars in my eyes as she stood on her ship, addressing the men before her in a rivetting speech before the battle.
Now, as an adult, I find myself longing to see proper portrayals of women on my screens once more. Characters like the iconic Éowyn from Lord of the Rings as she drives a sword into a villain, showcasing the strength she had all along, saying, “I am no man.”
Or Saoirse Ronan’s Ladybird as we watch her meander through the crushing yet somehow uplifting plunge into finding her personhood — a performance that still lingers in my mind to this day.
With remakes being a rising trend in the world of cinema, I find myself seeing less and less of those portrayals. Instead of new, intriguing, women-led movies, we are getting spinoffs where characters originally played by men are being recast as women in an attempt to be more diverse.
The question arises: is this progress toward diversity, or are we backtracking by not allowing women to play new, different roles?
With talk of a new woman version of James Bond in the air, the question arises on whether the adaptations of male characters into female ones are an act of true diversity or a sidestep away from creating authentic and unique female roles in film.
Actress Jenna Ortega voiced the thoughts of many women in an interview with Variety, where she said that she didn’t want to see another “Jamie Bond.”
“I love that there’s a lot more female leads nowadays, I think that’s so special. But we should have our own,” Ortega told Variety.
Our own.
Throughout the years remakes of classic films have taken center stage, such as the 2016 version of Ghostbusters with Melissa Mcarthy and Oceans 8 with Sandra Bullock as a new George Clooney. There is a sense of lacklustre that comes when giving any talented actress an already-made male character that already exists in his universe and has his own set of characteristics.
All the built-in traits and personas these already developed characters have are being passed on to actresses when, instead, we could be seeing them take the stage with new roles that are refreshing and can be attributed to only themselves.
It’s as if in the writer’s rooms, directors are too lazy to flesh out new female protagonists, so instead, they’re giving them scraps from already developed male characters.
Margot Robbie is rumoured to star in a remake of Pirates of the Caribbean. The idea of Margot Robbie in a Pirates movie would be spectacular to see; there’s no doubt about it. However, instead of putting her in a franchise that already has such a well-known protagonist and strong female leads, why not give her a chance at her own franchise, letting her play with new stories, developments, and plots?
Women deserve roles where they don’t need to keep in mind the previous actor who played that character, how they were played and then be forever scrutinized for not “doing him justice.”
The rise in the portrayal of women on our screens is significant, and it’s incredibly important that we continue to see women in leading roles. By continuing to give them their own characters, we pave the way for stories that can be groundbreaking to audiences.
The raw, authenticity of originality of an actress stepping into the shoes of a character no one has met before to showcase their truths, their portrayals, their characters.
It’s something of our own.