this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2024
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How many on-screen badass women can you name?

(I'll update the list periodically.)


Badass On-Screen Women


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[–] [email protected] 103 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (5 children)

Everybody remembers Ripley, but Aliens was a solid gender equality movie... filmed way back in 1986. Remember Vasquez and Ferro? Totally believable, flawed and likeable badasses. I find today's characters to be way too perfect to be believable. Wonder Woman is a good example. I find her annoying.

[–] [email protected] 105 points 8 months ago

"Hey Vasquez... Have you ever been mistaken for a man?"

"No. Have you?"

Top ten movie zinger for me. Delivered perfectly. Loved her character so much.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Interesting tidbit: Actress that played Vasquez also did Sarah Conner's mom..

[–] [email protected] 31 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Close but not quite. John Connor's foster mom.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I appreciate the correction. Looks like I need more electrolytes this morning!

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Vasquez actress in Titanic:

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago

Vasquez was the cause of some very confusing and interesting feelings to little kid me....

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 8 months ago (8 children)

Where is the love for Chrisjen Avasarala? The UN General Secretary ~~Queen of the Earth~~ from The Expanse lore? The Space Iron Lady!

I admire her more than other traditional depiction of bad ass action stars who are either a man or a woman. I realised I admire mental acuity more than raw strength. Avasarala is Machiavellian but a pragmatist, and ready to get her hands dirty if needs be in spite of her privileged upbringing. Her main drawbacks though is that she is too willing to get her hands dirty, especially at the first episode when she personally oversaw the torture of a Belter in a blacksite. She was also willing to use her family image to gain political sympathy. But one could argue it's for the greater good, not that I am excusing both of her egregious and questionable actions. As I said, she is a pragmatist after all and looks at the bigger picture and have long term scope. She was right about slowly colonising the New Worlds. Avasarala is an anti-hero but she's right in more ways than none.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)

"i know you love sticking your dick in everything, but try not to fuck this one"

top 20 one liners for me. she was one of my favorites in that series.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago

Avasarala and (TV) Drummer were absolute badasses.

“Let’s go hydrate… with some beers” is said too much in my household.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Avasarala is absolutely the top, Bobby is IMO a close second though. (Going by the books)

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Not a single person mentioned Lucy Lawless? Where my 90s kids at?

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 8 months ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 25 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Joss Whedon: Believe me, I did.

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, just 90 minutes of Summer Glau beating up annoying MAGA fascists. Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez could make it work!

[–] [email protected] 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 45 points 8 months ago

'Landlady' is the absolute correct choice.

From Wikipedia:

Cheung Cheun-Nam, known professionally as Yuen Qiu (Chinese: 元秋; born 19 April 1950), is a Hong Kong actress and martial artist. She is an expert of both Chinese martial arts and Beijing-opera skills, and was apprenticed at the Peking Opera School under the same master, Yu Jim-yuen, as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.

After being away from the Hong Kong film industry for nearly 20 years, she landed a role in Kung Fu Hustle only by chance. She was accompanying a junior woman fellow of the China Drama Academy at the audition but the director's eye was on her. It was reported that Stephen Chow convinced her to take on the role only after unremitting and persistent persuasion.[citation needed]

Yuen later appeared in the movie Kung Fu Mahjong, with Yuen Wah, and has been active in cinema since then. (20 more films)

[–] [email protected] 44 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Ellen Ripley, no contest.

No superpowers, no special training, no special technology. Simply the wisdom to see a job that needs done and the bravery and determination to do it.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Her first interactions with newt were so soft too. Really amazing character played by the perfect actress for the role.

Aliens is my favourite movie of all time.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Every female character in The Expanse. There simply were no non-badasses in that show🙃

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 8 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 30 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Might want to add River Tam from Serenity as well.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago
[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Joss Whedon does love writing strong women (no comment about anything off screen )

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 8 months ago

Beatrice Kiddo from Kill Bill

[–] [email protected] 26 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Don't mind me, I'm just here to mention princess Mononoke and lady Eboshi from the same movie, I would list a few but there's too many comments to parse so I just looked for those thinking they might not have been mentioned.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 8 months ago (5 children)
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[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago
  • Tank Girl
  • Wynonna Earp
  • Tokyo Gore Police
  • Buffy and Xena are classic
  • Ghost in the Shell if counting anime
[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If you've never seen kung fu hustle don't sleep on it any longer.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Camina Drummer from the Expanse, just one of many awesome female characters of that show

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (6 children)

Lt Kusanagi from Ghost In The Shell for me

Trinity from the Matrix

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Yes I see all these, but how many had a private, white slimline telephone?

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)
  • princess Leia, padme amidala (star wars)

  • Elisabeth Swann (potc)

  • eowyn of Rohan (lotr)

  • katara, toph (atla) + azula, mai, tai Lee of we're counting villains

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago

Nobody going to mention Battlestar Galactica (2004)? Starbuck, Laura Roslin, Athena, Kat.. so many good examples of not just strong, but flawed and human women. Well, mostly human.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

The Bride (Kill Bill), aka Beatrix Kiddo

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Michelle Rodriguez in basically anything.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (7 children)

This meme forgot that Katniss Everdeen was the first female lead in an action movie.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (2 children)

My biggest issue with most strong women characters in action movies is they seem to be swappable with a male and nothing changes.

They're strong characters who are portrayed as a woman.

Take Ellen Ripley for example: strong woman. Can't be played by a man as the character no longer makes sense. Has to be a woman. Someone else would get it wrong.

Also I'm getting tired of the "I had X amount of brothers" or "dad taught me Y" as justification. Why can't a woman be strong on her own? Why does it have to be a man making her strong?

[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago

Take Ellen Ripley for example: strong woman. Can’t be played by a man as the character no longer makes sense.

Ripley was originally not even written as a woman.
There is not a single scene in the original Alien where her being a woman is in any way relevant.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Eh, I don't see why being a woman has to be an important part of a character, it's cool to see when it is, but people can have many important qualities in their life besides their gender.

As a kid I didn't really think much of the gender when thinking about characters, heck, one of my biggest heroes was Chihiro from spirited away and I'm sure as heck she didn't have a penis like I do.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago

Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago

Lisbeth from girl with the dragon tattoo.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago

Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago

Samantha Carter Stargate series

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago

Okoye (Danai Guria) from the Black Panther movies. Went with my husband to see this movie and when we were walking back to the car he said "Damn, Okoye was hot, she reminds me of you." ❤️ He also has a thing for Grace Mallory from the show The Boys. I think I created a monster.

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