An Evolution of Women in War Films
Gone With the Wind (1939)
It's very easy to trace the history of women at war within war films, for the simple reason that women barely exist within these films. Which is not to say that there are no women characters, simply that they are relegated to the role of suffering wife on the home front, that of a nurse taking care of wounded soldiers, or maybe a prostitute to be visited by GIs. Still, there are a precious few war films that have placed women front in center, in the midst of the action, and as the focus of the film.
Here are the top 6 war movies, which offer strong, heroic female characters.
Scarlett O'Hara, the lead character in the classic Gone With the Wind, may not immediately seem to be a female figure of war being that she spends the first half of the film living as a pampered southern belle on a plantation. However, in the film's second half, the Civil War breaks out and her life is brought crashing down. It's here though that O'Hara shines as her inner-strength is revealed to be that of a survivor and a fighter, as she refuses to be felled by something as petty as war. She's also the first female character to feature prominently in a war film.
Private Benjamin (1980)
The first war movie - or military movie - to star a woman was Goldie Hawn in 1980's Private Benjamin. (Click here for the Best and Worst War Movie Comedies of All Time.) Of course, the film was a comedy, playing on the absurdity of the idea of women in the Armed Forces. That Private Benjamin is so maladaptive to military life is the whole butt of the joke that the film is framed around. Still, it is good for a laugh.
We Were Soldiers (2002)
While most of We Were Soldiers focuses on Mel Gibson's combat in Vietnam, the film does spend a considerable amount of time flashing back to the home front where his wife realizes that the Army was alerting spouses of their dead husbands by taxi drivers delivering telegrams (the U.S. Army did actually do this). Appalled at this behavior, Stowe's character has the taxi driver bring the telegrams to her, so that she can personally approach each wife.
As the battle drags on and real-time reporting gets to the Army, the wives are notified one after another, about their dead husbands. Stowe does a fantastic job with this role, both stoic and vulnerable simultaneously.
This is also one of the first films to focus some attention onto the sacrifice and difficult role of Army wives who are asked to raise children alone, never knowing if their husband would make it through another day. We Were Soldiers has its flaws, but Stowe's character is not one of them; she elevates what is traditionally an obligatory throw away role, to one that's detailed, important, and meaningful. In other words, the traditional throwaway role was finally given some substance.
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Courage Under Fire is the first film to deal with the issue of women in combat as Meg Ryan plays a helicopter pilot who is shot down during the first Gulf War in Iraq. In the film, Ryan's character is shown to be acting bravely, engaging the enemy and sacrificing herself to save her fellow soldiers. But some of these soldiers who lived can't stand having had a woman act more courageously than they did and lie to an investigator (Denzel Washington) in an attempt to sully the record of Ryan's character.
And, of course, Hollywood being Hollywood - there are also political implications to the outcome of Denzel's investigation, such that he receives pressure to deliver a particular outcome from the existing political power structure. While the film unnecessarily complicates its story with a cover-up and conspiracy, the issue discussed within the film remains an important one.
G.I. Jane (1997)
A year after Courage Under Fire, Ridley Scott released G.I. Jane starring Demi Moore as the first female recruit to join the elite U.S. Navy SEALs. As with Courage Under Fire, Moore's character fights resistant male recruits, politicians manipulating events behind the scenes, and sadistic instructors. (Let us not forget the obligatory action scene after she successfully completes training where we see her in action and realize she can hold her own!) As a Ridley Scott film it's got a hyper-kinetic intensity to it, where everyday reality is stylized with a bleached out look, a loud soundtrack, and a lot of quick-fire edits.
It's a fun, entertaining ride, and Moore is quite capable in the role, looking as if she really could join the SEALs.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
In Zero Dark Thirty, a film directed by female action director Kathryn Bigelow, Jessica Chastain plays a CIA agent on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Chastain's CIA operative lives the sort of hollowed empty life of someone possessed, singularly focused on her goal of finding Bin Laden, to the detriment of all other aspects of her life. While not shooting weapons on the battlefield, Chastain is nonetheless, a strong women character in the center of the action, as she scours the globe for clues that could lead to the hiding place of Osama Bin Laden.
The Invisible War (2012)
The Invisible War is a powerful, stirring, and disturbing 2012 documentary, which reports on the epidemic of sexual assault within our armed forces, and the government that's resistant to react or do much about it. Women comprise a large portion of the armed services, performing many valuable roles, so to find out that significant proportions of them have experienced sexual assault - and often not had anything done about it - is infuriating.
Finally, in 2014, we get two back-to-back films about females in the Armed Forces. Movies where the woman soldier is not an exception, or a punchline, but good at her job, and having to fight against a system, which is too slow to accommodate the new reality of an integrated Armed Forces. In Fort Bliss, the protagonist struggles to manage her job, constant deployments, as well as sexist politics, a macho military culture, a sex assault, and being a mother.
The second film from 2014 is Camp X-Ray, where another young woman, this time played by Kristen Stewart, has to again cope with sexist politics, sexual harassment, all while doing a job - this time guarding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
It's very easy to trace the history of women at war within war films, for the simple reason that women barely exist within these films. Which is not to say that there are no women characters, simply that they are relegated to the role of suffering wife on the home front, that of a nurse taking care of wounded soldiers, or maybe a prostitute to be visited by GIs. Still, there are a precious few war films that have placed women front in center, in the midst of the action, and as the focus of the film.
Here are the top 6 war movies, which offer strong, heroic female characters.
Scarlett O'Hara, the lead character in the classic Gone With the Wind, may not immediately seem to be a female figure of war being that she spends the first half of the film living as a pampered southern belle on a plantation. However, in the film's second half, the Civil War breaks out and her life is brought crashing down. It's here though that O'Hara shines as her inner-strength is revealed to be that of a survivor and a fighter, as she refuses to be felled by something as petty as war. She's also the first female character to feature prominently in a war film.
Private Benjamin (1980)
The first war movie - or military movie - to star a woman was Goldie Hawn in 1980's Private Benjamin. (Click here for the Best and Worst War Movie Comedies of All Time.) Of course, the film was a comedy, playing on the absurdity of the idea of women in the Armed Forces. That Private Benjamin is so maladaptive to military life is the whole butt of the joke that the film is framed around. Still, it is good for a laugh.
We Were Soldiers (2002)
While most of We Were Soldiers focuses on Mel Gibson's combat in Vietnam, the film does spend a considerable amount of time flashing back to the home front where his wife realizes that the Army was alerting spouses of their dead husbands by taxi drivers delivering telegrams (the U.S. Army did actually do this). Appalled at this behavior, Stowe's character has the taxi driver bring the telegrams to her, so that she can personally approach each wife.
As the battle drags on and real-time reporting gets to the Army, the wives are notified one after another, about their dead husbands. Stowe does a fantastic job with this role, both stoic and vulnerable simultaneously.
This is also one of the first films to focus some attention onto the sacrifice and difficult role of Army wives who are asked to raise children alone, never knowing if their husband would make it through another day. We Were Soldiers has its flaws, but Stowe's character is not one of them; she elevates what is traditionally an obligatory throw away role, to one that's detailed, important, and meaningful. In other words, the traditional throwaway role was finally given some substance.
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Courage Under Fire is the first film to deal with the issue of women in combat as Meg Ryan plays a helicopter pilot who is shot down during the first Gulf War in Iraq. In the film, Ryan's character is shown to be acting bravely, engaging the enemy and sacrificing herself to save her fellow soldiers. But some of these soldiers who lived can't stand having had a woman act more courageously than they did and lie to an investigator (Denzel Washington) in an attempt to sully the record of Ryan's character.
And, of course, Hollywood being Hollywood - there are also political implications to the outcome of Denzel's investigation, such that he receives pressure to deliver a particular outcome from the existing political power structure. While the film unnecessarily complicates its story with a cover-up and conspiracy, the issue discussed within the film remains an important one.
G.I. Jane (1997)
A year after Courage Under Fire, Ridley Scott released G.I. Jane starring Demi Moore as the first female recruit to join the elite U.S. Navy SEALs. As with Courage Under Fire, Moore's character fights resistant male recruits, politicians manipulating events behind the scenes, and sadistic instructors. (Let us not forget the obligatory action scene after she successfully completes training where we see her in action and realize she can hold her own!) As a Ridley Scott film it's got a hyper-kinetic intensity to it, where everyday reality is stylized with a bleached out look, a loud soundtrack, and a lot of quick-fire edits.
It's a fun, entertaining ride, and Moore is quite capable in the role, looking as if she really could join the SEALs.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
In Zero Dark Thirty, a film directed by female action director Kathryn Bigelow, Jessica Chastain plays a CIA agent on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Chastain's CIA operative lives the sort of hollowed empty life of someone possessed, singularly focused on her goal of finding Bin Laden, to the detriment of all other aspects of her life. While not shooting weapons on the battlefield, Chastain is nonetheless, a strong women character in the center of the action, as she scours the globe for clues that could lead to the hiding place of Osama Bin Laden.
The Invisible War (2012)
The Invisible War is a powerful, stirring, and disturbing 2012 documentary, which reports on the epidemic of sexual assault within our armed forces, and the government that's resistant to react or do much about it. Women comprise a large portion of the armed services, performing many valuable roles, so to find out that significant proportions of them have experienced sexual assault - and often not had anything done about it - is infuriating.
Finally, in 2014, we get two back-to-back films about females in the Armed Forces. Movies where the woman soldier is not an exception, or a punchline, but good at her job, and having to fight against a system, which is too slow to accommodate the new reality of an integrated Armed Forces. In Fort Bliss, the protagonist struggles to manage her job, constant deployments, as well as sexist politics, a macho military culture, a sex assault, and being a mother.
The second film from 2014 is Camp X-Ray, where another young woman, this time played by Kristen Stewart, has to again cope with sexist politics, sexual harassment, all while doing a job - this time guarding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
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