Not just strength, but complexity

I didn't notice until after I'd written my Captain Marvel post yesterday that there was a reason the
movie was released (in the U.S. anyway) on Friday, March 8th -- it's International Women's Day. (Still is, I guess, though I'm writing this on Saturday morning in Australia.)

The movie features what we traditionally think of as a "strong female character." But then again, so does almost every other movie released nowadays.

But iTunes is doing something today that gets at what we really went from the representation of female characters in movies, and what my colleague at ReelGood, John Roebuck, is always saying we should be looking for: complexity, not strength.

Any boob (we're talking men here) can write a female character who can lift cars and roundhouse kick three minions at the same time, who shows unwavering resolve and never a hint of fear in any situation.

But that, in its way, is as simplistic a representation of female characters as the ones where they need a man to save them.

I like how iTunes has recognized the quest for true equality in on-screen representation by highlighting the complexity of the female characters in the recent releases it's trying to get you to rent or buy.

The banners running across the site today are not even touting these characters' status as female, which I think is pretty shrewd, especially since we will obviously get that from seeing who they've selected. The banner I'm interested in is just calling them "Complex Characters," and features the likes of:

Joan Castleman, played by Glenn Close in The Wife
Kayla Day, played by Elsie Fisher in Eighth Grade
Marlo, played by Charlize Theron in Tully
Lee Israel, played by Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Janet Armstrong, played by Claire Foy in First Man
Lisa, played by Regina Hall in Support the Girls
Ellie Wagner and Lizzy Viara, played by Rose Byrne and Isabela Moner in Instant Family

Now I haven't seen The Wife and Instant Family, but I have to assume these were all curated because they were good, well-written characters, not just traditionally strong ones.

I don't think even your most extreme feminists, the types you'd lampoon if you were being cruel, want every female character to be punching out men left and right. They just want what has never been a problem when writing male characters: characters who may be flawed, but have strengths that balance their flaws, and an underlying competency and self-sufficiency that speaks well of their gender.

Now, before getting carried away with praising how nuanced iTunes is being in its progressiveness, I should note that this is not the only banner that appears on the site. There's also one called "Fearless Figures," which is a bit closer to the way Hollywood has reacted to its gender-related criticisms by creating one-dimensional superheroes. Then again, I cannot argue with the way some of these people approach actual superhero status. This list includes:

Elastigirl, played by Holly Hunter in Incredibles 2
Marie Colvin, played by Rosamund Pike in A Private War
Starr Carter, played by Amandla Stenberg in The Hate U Give
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, played by herself in RBG
Colette, played by Kiera Knightley in Colette
Tish, played by Kiki Layne in If Beale Street Could Talk
Marina Vidal, played by Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman
Domino, played by Zazie Beetz in Deadpool 2

That's meant to underscore courage more than physical strength, though obviously there's plenty of physical strength to go around in these choices, considering that two of them come from actual superhero movies.

Then the final banner -- the one that's actually running along the very top -- is yet one step further toward typical reactionism. (Is that a word? You get what I mean.) It's called "Powerful Female Characters," and well, I guess the subtlety I gave them credit for is now kind of out the window. But this is an interesting list as well:

Atlanna & Mera, played by Nicole Kidman and Amber Heard in Aquaman
Queen Anne, Lady Sarah and Abigail, played by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone in The Favourite
Gwen Stacey, played by Hailee Steinfeld in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Ally, played by Lady Gaga in A Star is Born
Rachel Chu and Eleanor Young, played by Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh in Crazy Rich Asians
Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I, played by Saiorse Ronan and Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots
Vanellope, played by Sarah Silverman in Ralph Breaks the Internet
Hatsue Shibata, played by Kirin Kiki in Shoplifters
Holly Burns, played by Julia Roberts in Ben is Back

And finishing with a link to pre-order Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in Captain Marvel.

I might argue that some of these belong under other banners, but okay.

My takeaway from all this?

That there are 24 different movies hitting video at about the same time in which iTunes could isolate their female characters, with their various strengths and complexities, for praise, without serious concerns of someone scoffing at the way they've been hoodwinked into thinking a performance seems more progressive than it actually is.

It's heartening. Collectively, we are doing better at this.

And it should only keep getting better.