Films with a feminist angle

I was surprised to read that Dredd scores well on the Bechdel test. Then again I suppose it makes sense as Judges are forbidden to have sexual relationships so it's more about the characters of Dredd and Cassandra Anderson (plus you have Lena Headey playing the baddie, Ma-Ma).

(The one to avoid is 'Gangster Story' - terribly written, worst film I've seen in years. The Highwaymen was excellent, while mot particularly feminist).

Another one saying Thelma and Louise. Prob dated now but one of my all time favourite films. Groundbreaking at the time - took the trope of the male road movie and completely subverted it. Heart-stopping end!

Suffragette
An Education

Are you into horror Rosie? The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is IMO a hugely feminist film and again touches on the 'women' suit, when Leatherface dons female skin to act as the submissive housewife in the dinner scene.

The men are either deranged (would love to know what TRAs think of Leatherface) or, for the men in the group of friends, they refuse to listen to the women and make terrible decisions that affect the whole group. It is consistently the women who try to take the best option and talk the men away from walking into hell, but are not listened to and the results are catastrophic.

And of course, we have one of the original Final Girls.

Happy go lucky, Mike Leigh, stars Sally Hawkins.

The Accused, Jodie Foster. Not easy to watch at all as it's about a woman's fight to get her rapists prosecuted, but it's very well done and thought-provoking.

@WTFSeriously - Forgot Wadjda, that’s a lovely film!

There’s a great Ruth Bader-Ginsburg doc called The Notorious RBG - so good!

Waitress is excellent. I second Made in Dagenham as well.

Spy is a silly comedy but has really good messages about people’s capabilities, and a female baddy.

Definitely Frozen!

His Girl Friday is v good - probably because the main part was originally written as a man

A few films I've enjoyed recently:

Ladybird - probably not a "feminist film" as such but it's a brilliant film and one of the only times I've seen a teenage girl portrayed as strong, assertive, smart and interesting.

The Post - not the best film I've ever seen but does a great job of portraying how women are socialised into self-doubt and how that, plus the sexism they experience at work, holds them back in their careers. Plus Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks are always great.

The People Vs OJ Simpson - a Netflix dramatisation of the OJ Simpson trial. Feminist in the sense of showing how the prosecutor had to deal with endless attacks on her appearance/demeanor/ability just because she was female. Also does a great job of portraying domestic violence, especially how women's fears/experiences are dismissed or ignored.

Another good film is Wadjda. Set in Saudi Arabia, the story of a young girl pushing against the oppressive restrictions on her for being female as she grows up. Great wee film.

Mad Max Fury Road, not for the squeamish or faint of heart but a really surprisingly feminist film. I remember seeing it’s creator talking about how at the heart of it it was about the toxicity of male warlords, it certainly has parallels with ISIS. It’s another one starring Charlize Theron too.

should have read that article 1st. They actually see Buffalo Bill as 'trans' 🤦🏻‍♀️

Demme even said this "Jonathan Demme responded that the character was not supposed to be gay or trans, but rather someone so profoundly damaged that he was seeking transformation in any way possible."

Sheesh 🙄

I love The Descent. The English teacher...can't remember her name - was my favourite character. Such a good, loyal, strong woman to the end.

"The Descent" is on one level a pick-them-off-one-by-one haunted house in a cave job, but it's also a study of female character and group dynamics, where loyalty and betrayal determine your fate.

Avoid the silly sequel.

It's brilliant Rosie. So many powerful scenes...the courtroom scene where the bravery of the women is in sharp contrast to the cowardice of the men is another standout. And I like it as well because even the good guys in it who stand up for women, like the lawyer and Glory's husband, are shown in subtle ways to disrespect women and not entirely see them as equal. It really demonstrates what women are up against.

Yes...Monster! Another one I love. I really felt for Aileen in the movie. Exploited and abused from Day One. Even though she was a killer, I have sympathy and it is probably a lot to do with Charlize's performance.

Frozen. Got to be Frozen! Moana and Brave as well, come to think of it.

(I probably have similar thoughts to you about Buffalo Bill, OP)

I watched Self Made last week & really enjoyed it too. It's only a short mini series, worth a look.

Re the Buffalo Bill stuff - watched Silence of the Lambs recently with my teen & picked up more 'nuance' from Hannibal's description of who he was (in comparison to me not really noticing the details back when I saw it originally) & noted the fact he didn't consider him to be 'transsexual' because of his fucked up reasons/background/justification on his metamorphosis experiment. That & the fact he'd murdered his transsexual friend. The point being he was a mentally ill psychopath killing women to make a skin suit & not someone expressing his 'true authentic self'. Strange times when the film says he wasn't actually trans & its still transphobic. It's all fiction anyway so 🤷🏻‍♀️

The Colour Purple

Does anyone know where I can stream the film about Ruth Bader-Ginsberg? I think it's called "A Question of Sex" or something similar. Saw a trailer at the cinema but didn't get round to seeing it before it finished.

Alias Grace, it's on Netflix. (Margaret Atwood novel)

quote taken from google

Two servants of the Kinnear household, Grace Marks and James McDermott, were convicted of the crime. McDermott was hanged and Marks was sentenced to life imprisonment. Although the novel is based on factual events, Atwood constructs a narrative with a fictional doctor, Simon Jordan, who researches the case

I’d really recommend Miss Sloane, a Jessica Chastain film about a political operative. I was really struck that a couple of times it felt like they were going to use sexual violence as a way of moving the plot on (you know the way lazy shitty screenwriters do) and then they just... didn’t. It felt like a really explicit choice. I think Chastain is super-smart - I always feel comfortable when I see she’s acting in something because I think as an actor she takes really intelligent decisions about scripts. Miss Sloane is also just a really good film especially if you find politics process stuff interesting.

Made in Dagenham, Wild with Reese Witherspoon, On the Basis of Sex with Felicity Jones, Little Women (I prefer the 90s and 50s versions but recent one was ok).