Written by Rachel Redfern.
New York Times film reviewer A.O. Scott said that 2012 was a year of Hollywood heroine worship, and he lists some fabulous movies with strong and unique female characters.
In a similar spirit I’d like to promote my top (female-centered) film and TV show of 2012.
While Turn Me On, Dammit was actually released in Norway in 2011, it wasn’t released until 2012 in the United States, which feels logical enough in posting it in a ‘Best of 2012’ list. Turn Me On, Dammit is cleverly written and hilariously and astutely portrays a young girls coming of age, specifically as she deals with her rampant teenage hormones.
The film has sharp characters, a sex-positive message, and ultimately shows a young woman standing up for herself and her actions. The film is everything that I hope cinema continues to be, original stories with unique female characters and a positive and accurate portrayal of women. You can read my original (and far better) review of the film here.
The category of favorite feminist TV show of 2012 was a bit harder because in thinking about it, I realized that I love lots of shows, but very few should really be considered feminist friendly. So many of the amazingly well-written shows that grace my laptop screen still focus on male stories and male characters. While women obviously play a role in these TV shows (for example, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy) the main protagonists and driving plot forces are still usually only men.
However, there is one show that does fulfill the criteria of strong, unique female protagonist and that is of course, Homeland. Claire Danes is Carrie Mathieson, a brilliant CIA analyst whose obsession with finding terrorists leads her to a recently returned POW who she believes has been turned.
The TV show has been lauded for Danes’ portrayal of mental illness and confident intelligence officer as she battles her way through national security and personal relationships. The show is subtle in a it’s themes of women in politics, sexuality, international affairs and familial relationships and features several prominent female characters other than Danes.
Morena Baccarin is the loyal, yet realistic POW’s wife and Amy Hargreaves as Danes’ doctor-sister and her faithful anchor during her troubles. This award-winning show is one of the best things on TV right now and Claire Danes’ award-winning performance and provacative character is not to be missed. For a longer (and better) review, read Bitch Flicks contributor, Leigh Kolb’s, review here.