100. Baby from Dirty Dancing, played by Jennifer Grey
99. Cherry Darling from Planet Terror, played by Rose McGowan
98. Vivian Ward from Pretty Woman, played by Julia Roberts
97. Samantha Baker from Sixteen Candles, played by Molly Ringwald
96. Stifler’s Mom from American Pie, played by Jennifer Coolidge
95. Layla from Buffalo ’66, played by Christina Ricci
94. Marquise de Merteuil from Dangerous Liaisons, played by Glenn Close
93. Karen Silkwood from Silkwood, played by Meryl Streep
92. Marnie Edgar from Marnie, played by Tippi Hedren
91. Briony Tallis from Atonement, played by Saoirse Ronan
90. Gertie from E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, played by Drew Barrymore
89. Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca, played by Judith Anderson
88. Jean Brodie from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, played by Maggie Smith
87. Malena Scordia from Malena, played by Monica Bellucci
86. Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors, voiced by Levi Stubbs
85. Gilda Mundson Farrell from Gilda, played by Rita Hayworth
84. Matty Walker from Body Heat, played by Kathleen Turner
83. Annie Savoy from Bull Durham, played by Susan Sarandon
82. Severine Serizy from Belle Du Jour, played by Catherine Deneuve
81. Gloria Swenson from Gloria, played by Gena Rowlands
80. Catherine Tramell from Basic Instinct, played by Sharon Stone
79. Phyllis Dietrichson from Double Indemnity, played by Barbara Stanwyck
78. Bess McNeill from Breaking the Waves, played by Emily Watson
77. Thelma Dickinson from Thelma and Louise, played by Geena Davis
76. Alabama Whitman from True Romance, played by Patricia Arquette
75. Coraline from Coraline, voiced by Dakota Fanning
74. Annie Porter from Speed, played by Sandra Bullock
73. Kate “Ma” Barker from Bloody Mama, played by Shelley Winters
72. Marge Gunderson from Fargo, played by Frances McDormand
71. Elisabet Vogler from Persona, played by Liv Ullmann
70. Sally Albright from When Harry Met Sally, played by Meg Ryan
69. Bonnie Parker from Bonnie and Clyde, played by Faye Dunaway
68. Ada McGrath from The Piano, played by Holly Hunter
67. Soshanna Dreyfus from Inglourious Basterds, played by Melanie Laurent
66. Alice Hyatt from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, played by Ellen Burstyn
65. Lee Holloway from Secretary, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal
64. Barbarella from Barbarella, played by Jane Fonda
63. Annie Wilkes from Misery, played by Kathy Bates
62. Sylvia from La Dolce Vita, played by Anika Ekberg
61. Regan MacNeil from The Exorcist, played by Linda Blair
60. Mary Poppins from Mary Poppins, played by Julie Andrews
59. Mildred Pierce from Mildred Pierce, played by Joan Crawford
58. Margo Channing from All About Eve, played by Bette Davis
57. Adrian Pennino Balboa from Rocky, played by Talia Shire
56. Nikita from La Femme Nikita, played by Anne Parillaud
55. “Baby” Jane Hudson from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, played by Bette Davis
54. Summer Finn from 500 Days of Summer, played by Zooey Deschanel
53. Judy Barton/Madeleine Elster from Vertigo, played by Kim Novak
52. Debby Marsh from The Big Heat, played by Gloria Grahame
51. Amelie from Amelie, played by Audrey Tautou
50. Jessie from Toy Story 2, voiced by Joan Cusack
49. Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, played by Louise Fletcher
48. Alex Forrest from Fatal Attraction, played by Glenn Close
47. Evelyn Mulwray from Chinatown, played by Faye Dunaway
46. Blanche Dubois from A Streetcar Named Desire, played by Vivien Leigh
45. Paikea Apirana from Whale Rider, played by Keisha Castle-Hughes
44. Charlotte from Lost In Translation, played by Scarlett Johansen
43. Ofelia from Pan’s Labyrinth, played by Ivan Baquero
42. Margot Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums, played by Gwyneth Paltrow
41. Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, played by Audrey Hepburn
40. Mindy “Hit Girl” Macready from Kick-Ass, played by Chloe Moretz
39. Chihiro Ogino from Spirited Away, voiced by Rumi Hiragi
38. Mia Williams from Fish Tank, played by Katie Jarvis
37. Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, voiced by Kathleen Turner
36. Older Daughter from Dogtooth, played by Aggeliki Papoulia
35. Ursa from Superman II, played by Sarah Douglas
34. Ann Darrow from King Kong, played by Fay Wray
33. Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn from Mulholland Dr., played by Naomi Watts
32. Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind, played by Vivien Leigh
31. Coffy from Coffy, played by Pam Grier
30. Kym from Rachel Getting Married, played by Anne Hathaway
29. Trinity from The Matrix, played by Carrie-Anne Moss
28. Lady from Lady and the Tramp, voiced by Barbara Luddy
27. Louise Sawyer from Thelma and Louise, played by Susan Sarandon
26. Nina Sayers from Black Swan, played by Natalie Portman
25. Enid from Ghost World, played by Thora Birch
24. Rosemary Woodhouse from Rosemary’s Baby, played by Mia Farrow
23. Mrs. Robinson from The Graduate, played by Anne Bancroft
22. Dory from Finding Nemo, voiced by Ellen Degeneres
21. Veronica Sawyer from Heathers, played by Winona Ryder
20. Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction, played by Uma Thurman
19. Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs, played by Jodie Foster
18. Laurie Strode from Halloween, played by Jamie Lee Curtis
17. Carrie White from Carrie, played by Sissy Spacek
16. Bridget Gregory from The Last Seduction, played by Linda Fiorentino
15. Catwoman from Batman Returns, played by Michelle Pfeiffer
14. Matilda from The Professional, played by Natalie Portman
13. Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, played by Noomi Rapace
12. Jackie Brown from Jackie Brown, played by Pam Grier
11. Eli from Let the Right One In, played by Lina Leandersson
10. Sugar Kane Kowalczyk from Some Like It Hot, played by Marilyn Monroe
9. Hildy Johnson from His Girl Friday, played by Rosalind Russell
8. The Bride from Kill Bill, played by Uma Thurman
7. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, played by Emma Watson
6. Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, played by Judy Garland
5. Princess Leia Organa from Star Wars, played by Carrie Fisher
4. Clementine Kruczynski from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, played by Kate Winslet
3. Sarah Connor from The Terminator, played by Linda Hamilton
2. Annie Hall from Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton
1. Ellen Ripley from Alien, played by Sigourney Weaver
So, readers, what female characters would you include on a list of the 100 Greatest?
I know what will be the TV series greates characters.
But movies… I have rarely seen really intresting female characters on screen to make me say “Wow, she is awesome”.
Most are just OK or you can tolerate them.
It’s so sad… but I don’t think that there are really that awesome characters.
Or I don’t remember them.
Which is a pity.
If you were not limited to American cinema though, I have some ideas.
Thanks for the link, and for bringing my attention to my mistake about the Wachowskis.
I’m excited to see the lists of female film characters that feminists come up with.
I think it’s interesting that a lot of the more three dimensional characters on the list are in films that were adaptations of novels. Jean Brodie is one of the most fascinating characters around but I wonder if that is due to Maggie Smith or Muriel Spark. I never read the book so don’t know myself.
I think the folk (men?) who compiled the list confused ‘greatest’ with either ‘coolest’ or ‘sexiest’ most fit in either.
Does Jackie Brown really count as a blaxpoitation character? That’s Grier’s Foxy Brown surely. Jackie is a worthy inclusion but a little on the ‘cool’ side I guess.
Plus what’s with the lack of names? (older daughter and Stifler’s mom plus The Bride etc.) I’m sure it says something about how we (by which I mean most definitely ‘they’) like our screen women; less human, autonomous and individual.
Darn it! This list is going to make me think constantly about who should’ve been included. I think I’d replace over 80%.
I agree about television–seems that TV sucks way less in its depiction of strong, complicated women.
Robin, you’re analysis is great. I wish I’d read it prior to writing this … I found it online accidentally as I was writing the conclusion. Lucky! I love what you say over there about Total Film’s responsibility in all this but that movies in general might be to blame.
Most films that I see with Amazing Women are either small, independent films or non-US films. (In fact, I’d love to start a category here that explores non-US films because the women characters are so much more fascinating and complex than what we’ve got going on here.)
Good point about Jackie Brown. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve seen it, and I was confusing Jackie and Foxy. Was Jackie Brown more of a hat-tip to blaxploitation?
I hadn’t noticed the nameless characters. It’s absolutely shocking. I did notice the femme fatale obsession on the list, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.
Oh, one thing I also noticed is that the films directed by women really do have wonderfully nuanced female characters–especially Fish Tank.
So who would I include on *my* list? Hmmmm … I’d definitely put Sally Field’s Norma Rae on there. I’m also a big fan of Shirley MacLaine’s Aurora Greenway (from Terms of Endearment). Helen Slater’s character in The Legend of Billie Jean …
Wow, I’m suddenly having a difficult time thinking of women characters who haven’t been sexually assaulted. WTF.
And, although I wouldn’t include her on my list, I was quite surprised not to see Bridget Jones on Total Film’s list. Seems like she could’ve at least replaced, like, one of the nonhumans …
Oh yeah, and where the hell is Katherine Hepburn?
yeah the more I think about it the more rubbish this list is.
I am fond of Phyllis Dietrichson but maybe the femme fatale character on the list (because more than one or two is unnecessary) could be filled by…. perhaps a Marlene Dietrich character. No coincidence in Phyllis’surname. Lola Lola in Blue Angel? Plus I REALLY want to see Lulu from Pandora’s box in here. She should replace Vivian as she’s a million times more interesting.
Jackie Brown was Tarantino’s hat-tip to blaxploitation I think. It’s funny because the same author created Karen Sisco who’s one of my favourite screen police-type characters of all time. Again, I’ve not actually read the books so the characters’ greatness may be from the author or from the film makers.
Plus where’s Maria from Metropolis? Yes I know I’m adding lots of silent german films but they generated lots of prototypes. She was so politically powerful they created a robot version of her to try and control the workers; that’s a way more ‘great’ character than…well loads on the list.
One obvious addition of an older character is Shirley Valentine. How many women (albeit white and british) have cried with identification upon seeing her?
I was thinking about Norma Rae too. There are so many great characters defined by their work or politics and the TF list is rather light on them.
It could get really boring (too late?)if I just list great characters so I’ll stop. Except obviously I’m going to be thinking about which Katharine Hepburn character should be included and I’m still pondering the over-representation of white characters. Gong Li, Ziang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh all have worthy characters…
I have to disagree with E, there’s TONS of awesome female characters. This is going to occupy me for days.
Yikes, a bigger collection of collaborators, “broken” women, helpless ladies, harpies, and seductresses I have never seen. What a disgusting mess. Leaves out whole decades of film, too.
Who would I add? Better restrict myself to just a few, but…
Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish) in “Night of the Hunter” (1955)
Friede Velten (Gerda Maurus), “Woman in the Moon” (1929)
Maria (Brigitte Helm), “Metropolis” (1927)
Lady Lou (Mae West), “She Done Him Wrong” (1933)
Given the endemic sexism in film and our culture as a whole, these characters are of course still problematic–but lord, they’re better than most of the selections on Total Film‘s list. What an embarrassment.
Although I agree with your general point, the pedant in me noticed an error in one of your details. Jessica Rabbit was a cartoon woman, not a rabbit. She had married a cartoon rabbit, and took her husband’s name. Of course, Jessie the cartoon cowgirl toy is not a human character, so that doesn’t affect the human count.
I was extremely surprised that Norma Rae (from Norma Rae, played by Sally Field) wasn’t listed.
Nthing Norma Rae. And, sweet Mother of Pearl, why is Hepburn’s version of Eleanor of Acquitane, “A Lion in Winter” (1968) not on the list?
I hate to be that person who reads this very well written piece that I totally agree with & points out the 1 little issue -but I just have to! Jessica Rabbit still definitely fits in to your point #1, as in she is animated so not even a real person, however she was not a rabbit, she was an animated human, her last name was Rabbit because she married Roger Rabbit. But I say again -you are absolutely spot on with your analysis. Just glancing over at my DVD rack I see Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge, Angelina Jolie in girl, Interrupted, Ziyi Zhiang & Michelle Yeoh have already been brought up, what about Anjelica Houston, she’s fantastic in everything, there are so many choices!
First, the obvious: where the eff F is Maria from The Sound of Music???
Second, do the “guys” at TF know that there were movies made before the 80s? An awful lot of strong female characters appeared in the days when movies makers were trying to make an attempt at “art”, something the industry has abandoned in favour of profit.
At least they had de decency of including Scarlet O’Hara and Margo Channing.
Mildred Pierce
was fierce
No, seriously … These list exercises are so ridiculous, all of them. How can you take 1,000s or 10,000s of movies and pick out the “100 greatest” whatevers from them? What’s even the definition of “greatest”? Box-office receipts? Best acting? It’s clear this list isn’t really even based on criteria, just what the (probably) white, male compilers pulled out of their asses. But, these list things are done, and ought to be done with a little more thought.
I can think of female characters that I think are better than some on this list. I would want to give it some more thought. But the other night, I rewatched 28 Days Later. Now, I know the violence is problematic and the rape (or intended rape) in the country estate is also problematic. But I thought the Naomie Harris character was pretty cool. Also the Megan Burns one, who was younger. They were just very smart, tough women, at neither extreme of superhero or helpless victim, who kept their wits about them in a very difficult situation and acted bravely. Cillian Murphy did show up to help them, but it was just that — help — and not saving the poor helpless womenfolk.
And I see Charlize Theron in that “awards” column — what about Monster? I know, talk about deranged, but that was a fantastic performance and at least tried to treat Aileen Wuornos, awful as her actions were, with some humanity.
And how could Lee Remick not be on that list? The worst movie she was ever in, whatever it might have been, is still worth watching because of her.
I just wrote a long-ass comment and accidentally deleted it, ha!
Sorry, that’s an embarrassing screw up on the Jessica Rabbit thing. Someone pointed it out on our FB page … and then I realized, “Oh yeah, she’s a sexy cartoon woman who’s … married to an animal.” So I stand by my disgust over her inclusion.
I also just read an article in Essence Magazine about their annual Black Women in Hollywood Awards, and I got even MORE upset about this list’s lack of women of color. Absolutely infuriating.
ESSENCE celebrates “simply the best” African-American actresses in Hollywood
where the hell is transamerica? that was an absolutely stellar performance.
and, so few non-american films? catherine deneuve, yes, but jeanne moreau (jules and jim)? anna karina (pierrot le fou)?
and even in the US: where’s anjelica huston? meryl streep? helen mirren?
oh dear…
I can’t believe there’s no Norma Desmond on there. One of the greatest film characters, period, regardless of gender. (A tragic screw-up, mind you, but there’s plenty of male screw-ups in cinema.)
Also, nice to see the Bride there, but Shoshanna Dreyfus is my favourite Tarantino heroine by far. She ended WWII!
I would definitely include Julie Walter’s Rita of Educating Rita… She is such an amazing character: complex, funny, annoying. A woman that looks for more in her life.
I guess what I love about her is how human she is. Weird, huh?
Gee thanks for bashing prostitutes. Because, y’know, we’re not real women either amirite?
Fuck you for degrading all your good work here by just resoundingly endorsing the image of sex workers as not being worth sweet fuck all as far as what is considered a “worthwhile woman”. Thanks EVER so much.
I didn’t mean for my disagreement over the inclusion of prostitutes to come across as bashing all prostitutes. As I say in the post, prostitutes (et al) are not all necessarily terrible characters …
But I take serious issue with several included on this list, especially Vivian Ward from Pretty Woman. Not only is it an antifeminist film, but the “hooker with a heart of gold” trope needs to be fucking RETIRED from film already.
Of course sex workers and prostitutes are “real women” (whatever that even means); my point is that they often aren’t portrayed that way in film. I would’ve loved to have seen these appear on the list: Charlize Theron in Monster, Elizabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas, Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver …
The fact that Eli from Let The Right One In is even ON this list shows they didn’t watch the movie (or didn’t pay attention). Eli isn’t female, even if the actress is.
That’s a great point. I hear the book went into much more detail about Eli than the film did (and I have yet to see the American remake), but there’s plenty in the film that complicates Eli’s gender enough to NOT warrant inclusion on the list of Greatest Female Characters.
NOTE TO SELF: Don’t randomly list characters if you haven’t seen the films in fifteen years. Jodie Foster’s prostitute in Taxi Driver is fucking twelve years old, so I take it back and would absolutely NOT put her on this list. And let’s be honest, Elizabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas is certainly more complicated than Vivian Ward, but she doesn’t veer too too far from Hooker with a Heart of Gold.
Again, the problem isn’t with sex workers, it’s with the way filmmakers portray sex workers. That needs to change.
Erhm, Eli from “Let the right one in” is not even female, even though sie is played by a female actress.
Infact Eli is not even human. Sie is a genderless child vampire…
Seconding Helen Mirren and Shirley MacLaine, also Ziyi Zhiang & Michelle Yeoh so hard, they are fracking awesome, Kathy Bates is already on the list with Misery, but nearly every female character in Green Tomatoes has a more nuanced personality than Pretty Woman.
Also – where are Franka Potente while we are coming up with foreign actors; where is Selma Hayek in pretty much everything (but for some reason I have her role in Desperado in mind); Kate Blanchett in Elisabeth or as Galadriel in LOTR-trilogy, also while not a big part, Miranda Otto as Eowyn is still a huge improvement over “beleaguered princess”-type fantasy films are so prone to come up with; Tilda Swinton in Orlando as one of the few examples for a non-binary gendered character (she was great in Narnia too, it is not a fault of hers that I hate the White Witch, but more an issue with the source material). Also – River, Kaylee and Zoe in Serenity (okay, so it is a flimsy excuse to put TV-characters there, but if it works. There is also Buffy the Movie.) And if Hermione made it onto the list, why the hell not also Ginny, Luna and Bellatrix?
I see, why it is so difficult to come up with non-white asskicking female characters, but the whiteness of the list is truly blinding. But not a lot of latinas/ black women/ asian women who star in a role developed beyond the tired trops of “wife/gf/best friend/computer whiz”.
The only objection I have is the use of Fighting Fuck Toy – what does that even mean? If my assupmtion is right, then I don’t really see Catwoman as one. Barbarella I can understand in a way, Cherry Darling I know nothing about, but Catwoman, while highly sexualized, isn’t anyones fuck toy, in fact the whole reason for creation of Catwoman is to break free from male control and to live on her own rules.
-Elee
Jessica Rabbit was a rabbit?!? I must have missed that anytime I watched the movie. Well now that you’ve shown that you clearly don’t know all of these movies well enough to really have an opinion about them, I can’t give your opinions too much value.
And what about being animated would prohibit a character from being a well developed, dynamic, and interesting character in a movie?
I have to agree with the commenter above. Why can’t an animated character be great? Coraline is a really strong, well-defined character.
This is a pathetic list.
Wait whats wrong about cartoon female characters?.
Maybe you need to realize that animation is in many ways a superior medium to film. Show me your list of best female characters and i guaranteed you
Hayao Miyazaki female characters can blow some of them out of the water.
I dont see the problem with characters not being directed by women also considering some of the best female directors also write about male characters.(Kathryn Bigelow), and most strong recognizable female characters have been directed by men(Ellen Ripley). *shrug*.