“I want all my options available so
I can decide for myself.” “Ahh Ms. Independent.” From Rosie the Riveter to Beyonce,
the Independent Women in pop culture has long been an
icon of girl power, inspiring women to unlock their inner potential
and stand on their own two feet. “You must always have faith in yourself” Looking at examples of the Independent
Woman onscreen, we can see some common traits in this sister
doing-it-for-herself. She is self-reliant, rejecting the
need for other people’s validation and not afraid of being alone.
“Yes I’m alone but I’m alone and free” She views herself, above all, as an
individual not conforming to society’s expectations and forging
her own path in life. “I intend to make my
own way in the world."
"I found my way out of the woods.” She probably makes or has her
own money, which is a big reason she gets to be independent.
“Boooom! Dolla dollar bills y’all.” She doesn’t need a man her story
might not even have a love interest, “And I’ll be shooting for my own hand.” or if it does, it might relegate love
to a subplot in her narrative, show her resisting the need for romance, or at least feature her being
single for a lot of the story. “But the most exciting, challenging,
and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself.”
Her agency drives her plot. “Well, put some skates
on, be your own hero.” In contrast to films that feature
damsels in distress or women
only as supporting characters, the
independent woman narrative sees her taking action to solve her own problems. “The only way to get what you want
in this world is through hard work.” This confident lady who speaks her
mind and won’t let anyone stand in her way can sometimes be painted
as something close to a superwoman. “You wanna get through this? Do as I say.”
But as much as the independent
woman is an important symbol of female empowerment her story’s focus on self-sufficiency can also
pressure women to hold themselves to an impossible standard of doing
it all, without needing any support. “I’m afraid that if I let
someone else take care of me, then I’m not really me anymore.” Here ia our take on why the independent woman shouldn’t have to do
everything on her own, and where we hope to see her go from here.
“Go ahed underestimate me.” Your watching the Take. Thanks
for watching and be sure to share and subscribe. This video is brought to
you by mubi. A curated streaming service showing exceptional films
from around the globe. It’s like your own personal film festival
streaming anytime anywhere. “All I’ve ever done is bend my life
around what men decide they need. Well not now I’m sorry, I won’t do it.”
Independence is ultimately about
having the power to make choices for yourself that determine your future. As Kellie Herson of The Outline writes, agency in film describes our capacity
to take independent action and to assert control over our own circumstances. ‘To be a Holmes you must
find your own path.” There is no independent man
trope in cinema or pop culture because it isn’t needed. Men have
always implicitly had that power. “If you were a white male, would you wish to be an engineer. I wouldn’t
have to. I’d already be one.” For women, though, independence traditionally comes from rejecting
male authority and defying the roles and norms expected of them. “How come they let you go?
Because I didn’t ask him.”
The icon of the independent woman has
evolved alongside changing societal standards, “you can’t afford me”
but through the years we can see some consistent patterns in how women onscreen have
managed to assert their agency. “You don’t always have to be who
They want you to be, you know?
A key part of the “independent woman”
is that she has her own money. “Money is the biggest problem with
all of this cause if every woman in this room was independent. If she was
someone who had her own money marriage would take a very
different view today.” Whether she makes bank or happens to be
independently wealthy, the upshot is that she’s not reliant on a man or anyone to
financially support her. After all, when Destiny’s Child sang Independent
Woman,the point they drove home was that the song’s narrator bought
everything she has for herself. “The watch I'm wearin', I've bought it
The house I live in, I bought it”
The Independent Woman’s focus on
finance speaks to the fact that a big reason women’s agency
has long been so limited is due to monetary realities.
“And as a woman, there’s no
way for me to make my own money.” “So don’t sit there and tell me
that marriage isn’t an economic proposition because it is.”
So the rise of the career
woman in film and TV represents women not just proving themselves
and claiming their place in the workforce, but also gaining financial
independence, which is a key challenge to gender inequality. “And with that, Ms. Miranda Homes
Esquire, a.k.a just me bought herself her first apartment and promptly
took herself out for a drink.” Another motif we see in the
Independent Woman story is this character taking on the big city. “Anything is possible this is New York.“ In this narrative, the city represents
freedom, options, and possibility as well as intense challenge. So by conquering this
intensely competitive, hostile environment where so many others fail,
the Independent Woman proves her chops and more importantly finds herself.
“We’re different. We’re the strong ones, and you can’t break us.”
Meanwhile, starting in 1970,
Mary Richards of The Mary Tyler Moore Show showed how the
unmarried, motivated woman could find purpose in her work. “Marie, I have never fought him
on a story before, but I am going to fight Him on this one.
And what’s more, I’m going to whip him.” The same decade gave us the original
Charlie’s Angels, a mainstream example of female leads taking over
the male-dominated field of crime-fighting action-adventure. “Once upon a time, there were three little
girls who went to the police academy” In the 90s and 2000s, the rejection
of male power structures became a popular focus on girl power, defined
as a self-reliant attitude among girls and young women manifested in
ambition, assertiveness, and individualism. “Hey Buff. Need a hand?”
“No Thanks. I’m good.” The 2000 remake of Charlie’s Angels
with its soundtrack featuring Destiny Child’s Independent Woman gave us Angels who owned their
sexuality openly and fully, using it to achieve their goals
“And that’s kicking your ass” while interacting with male characters who seemed essentially useless.
A central tenet of the girl power message is: Don’t underestimate us. “I’ve been fighting with one arm
tied behind my back. But what happens when I’m finally set free?” This theme plays a big role in stories
about the Independent Woman who finds her agency in her later years,
often after she’s thrown a curveball that disrupts her more conventional
settled life. And the don’t underestimate us message is driven home even
more strongly in the Independent Woman narrative about the single
mom doing the impossible alone. “I just wanna be a good mom,
a nice person and a decent citizen.” Julia Roberts’ character in 2000’s Erin
Brockovich fights her way into a law firm and almost single-handedly
brings down a damaging corporation. For the first time in my life, I got people
Respecting me.”Jennifer Lawrence’s character in Joy similarly starts from
nothing, but she builds a business empire while supporting her children and an ex-husband living in her basement.
In other stories, a single woman or girl is even responsible for remaking an entire system or society. “And if the knowledge
is given to everyone, then we can have lots of leaders
and soon everyone will be strong.”
Most centrally, the Independent Woman
has agency over her own narrative. “Get away from her, you BITCH!” She isn’t waiting around for other
characters to rescue her, and she determines her story’s ending.
Another key feature of the onscreen
independent woman is that she’s not defined by romance.
“I don’t want a husband.” Increasingly over the years, we’ve seen
Independent Women narratives that don’t include a love interest at all.
Young adult role models like prominent Disney Princesses and other Disney leads
simply don’t have love on their minds a pattern that’s especially striking
considering that the happy romantic ending was once seen as an
inevitable part of the Disney formula. “Do people assume all your problems
got solved because a big strong man showed up? “Yes, what is
up with that?” “She is a princess.” Other contemporary variations on the
Independent Woman story might involve her trying out love interests but
not finding the right fit relegating love to a subplot that proves peripheral “Excuse me, I climbed the North Mountain,
survived a frozen heart and saved you from my ex boyfriend and I
did it all without powers.” or falling in love but choosing not to
put this above her self-development. “I love you too Richard
but I love me more.” The pressure to reject the
Independent Woman’s love interest or not give her one can create
a conundrum for many stories. “Maybe some woman aren’t meant
to be tamed, maybe they need to run free until they find someone
just as wild to run with.” Many viewers want a partner or
family as part of their own lives, and wish to see their beloved characters obtain this
kind of closure as well. There’s nothing intrinsically
wrong or disempowering about showing a woman finding
love as part of her story. Making it a hard rule that the
Independent Woman must remain forever single risks making
the character into an artificial, one-dimensional symbol of Girl Power,
instead of being true to real emotions and the logic
of character’s internal drives.
On the other hand, making romance
too much of a focus in the Independent Woman narrative can end up betraying
what the story was supposed to be about. Numerous stories that begin with
a woman who’s not defined by wanting a man end up undermining
this message through a conventional rom-com ending. Sex and the City, a
show about four single women carving out their own unconventional paths. “ I wanted to let you know I’m
getting married. To myself. Oh and I’m registered at Manolo Blahnik.” concludes with a fairytale ending
for protagonist Carrie and the man who’s long resisted her
pleas to settle down. “Carrie, you’re the one” Andy in The Devil Wears Prada realizes
she’s been wrong to work so hard and neglect her boyfriend, and comes to
view fashion icon Miranda Priestly as a cautionary tale demonstrating the
price of too much ambition. “I couldn't do what you
did to Nigel, Miranda. I couldn't do something like that.” Unfortunately, by concluding on this
romantic note, some of these single-career-women-in-the-big-city
narratives end up sending the message that independence is just a phase that
many women go through in early adulthood, before they eventually
turn out like everyone else. Narratives even punish women who get
carried away with being too independent. Melanie Daniels in 1963’s The Birds
does want a man, but the single modern woman lifestyle she’s been leading
gets her pegged as promiscuous in the small town of Bodega Bay, “Actually, the newspaper said she was naked.” and the extreme attacks she endures from the birds feel symbolic of a greater punishment. “They said when you got here the whole
thing started. I think your the cause of all this. I think your EVIL. She ends up nearly comatose,
having to be rescued by Mitch, with all her agency removed.
One way to satisfy the Independent
Woman’s love dilemma is through correcting a character who’s
looking for love in the wrong places, or expecting it to fill
too total a role in her life. Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods
eventually realizes she shouldn’t have been chasing a wedding ring
from an undeserving guy. Instead, she starts building a career as
a lawyer in her own right. “But if I’m going To be partner in a
law firm by the time I’m 30, I need a boyfriend who’s
not such a complete bonehead.” And this happens to also lead to the
perk of developing an authentic, loving relationship with a better guy who
sees her as an intelligent equal. “You hold more cards than you think
you do. And I, personally would like to see you take that
power and channel it toward the greater good, you know?” Things may only work out this
perfectly in the movies, but the deeper lesson in Elle’s story is that
when you make the choice to take care of yourself and go in the right direction as an individual, “I’ll show
you how valuable Elle Woods can be.” the other details will more or less
fall into place.Throughout the history of film and TV, we can find many examples of female characters with spouses or
children who still come across as in control of their own opinions, actions,
and destinies. And ultimately, the modern independent woman can settle
down or remain single, as long as she retains her own identity and agency. “You want to be sultan? I was born to do
more than marry some useless prince.” In today’s holistic version of this character, independence really means
claiming the freedom to be who you truly are, and live how you choose. “Is that your given name? Yeah. Why is
it in quotes? Well I gave it to myself. It’s given to me by me.”
Still, some stories reflect that
in reality true independence can come at a great cost. In one of cinema’s
most iconic and perhaps most honest portrayals of what Independence for
women really means, the title characters of Thelma and Louise choose freedom
and agency over their old, respectable but-trapped lives.“Well darlin look out
Cause my hair is coming down!” but they pay for it with their lives. “No matter who broke your heart or how
long it takes to heal you’ll never get through it without your friends.” For all its empowerment rhetoric,
the Independent Woman myth can make a real woman feel like
she has to do everything herself, without any external support or to die
trying. Viewers are left with a sense that, to be truly independent, you must be all alone. But what we really see in
the most compelling independent woman narratives is an emphasis
on building a support network. In the single career woman’s case,
this might be an alternative support system to replace the primacy
of a lover or family in her life. “Thank you for being my family” Stories like Sex and the City and
Broad City focus on female friendship and its ability to sustain and support.
“Maybe we can be each other’s soul mates.” Narratives about women in
the same profession can also show them forming unconventional families.
In A League of Their Own, a female baseball team during World War II
forms strong bonds off the field coming to accept themselves
and gain confidence in their unconventional identities. “There’s alot of us.
I think we’re all alright” In Glow, a rag-tag group of
women from different backgrounds with unique strengths and flaws come
together to create a wrestling TV show. “I’m getting to do something,
and it feels different. I feel different. Strong.” And ultimately, it’s togetherness and
teamwork that truly allow the women to become independent individuals.
"It shouldn't be that way."
"No, it shouldn't, and women should get to direct and not be washed up
by the time they're 30.”
Today’s nuanced, complex, and
varied independent women are also shaped by the other women in their
families. Moana takes inspiration from her grandmother,
Tala, to follow her heart, “Is there something you want To tell me?
Is there something you want to hear? which leads her on a quest that requires her to be truly independent, and
ultimately reconnects her people with their historical culture. Tala
remains a guide for Moana even in death. “ I will carry you here in my heart.” In Wonder Woman, young Diana
is deeply inspired to become like he strong Amazon women around her. “You are stronger than you believe.
You have greater powers than you know. In Frozen, the true love that can save
the kingdom is that between sisters. “You sacrificed yourself
for me?” “I love you.”
Ultimately, these representations of
support help move beyond the myth of the independent-woman-as-superwoman
and the falsehood that needing help is a weakness. Instead, they showcase
that growth and success most often happen when we’re together. “You’re the one. Who said I
could do anything I wanted” “The people you love will change you” The nuance and depth of
the independent woman’s character also depends on who’s creating her. “Hot tubs aren’t really
my thing. So what is your thing then? Complex female characters” In House of Cards, which is created
and primarily written by men, independent woman Claire Underwood gets
to become president of the United States something no actual woman has ever been
able to do. Yet instead of developing an interesting plotline driven by her
choices in office, the show instead sees her spending her whole term focused
on who killed her husband.“A man like Francis doesn’t just die. That would
be what’s the word? Convenient.” Often, a woman’s perspective behind
the scenes helps lead to more interesting and authentic representations
of female agency onscreen. Take two recent spy stories from
male versus female creators. In 2018’s Red Sparrow, written by Justin Haythe
and directed by Francis Lawrence, we’re not given much of a window into
the inner world of ballerina-turned-spy Dominika. “Take off your clothes.
Your body belongs to the state” The camera lingers over her
naked body. And despite the illusion of victory when she defeats her uncle,
she remains a tool in the hands of men. “You belong to them pretty much
your whole life.Dominika work with me. Be your spy? Is that any
different than being his?” In contrast, in Killing Eve, created
by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and primarily written by women, “Is it hard to be bad?”
“Not if you practice” central female characters
Villanelle and Eve consistently challenge one another, illuminate
each other’s individual drives. “You should never tell a psychopath
their a Psychopath. It upsets them. “ and shape the plot themselves.
“I think about you all the time I think
about your eyes and your mouth and what you feel when you kill someone.”
So, where will the independent
women of film and TV go from here? Increasingly, rather than just being a
superwoman symbol or a step on the way to other things, this character
can help real women work through the messiness of unlocking agency
in our lives. The independent woman doesn’t have to be the perfect image
of girl power she can be lost she can need help; she can be in the
process of figuring out what she wants her life to be.
“My life is my own. And the future is up to us.” Most importantly, she makes us
understand that even if it doesn’t always feel like it we are in
control of what the future holds. “Our fate lives within us.
You only have to be brave enough to see it.” If your new here be sure to
subscribe and hit the bell to be notified about all of our new videos. This video is brought to you by mubi.
A streaming service we love. Every day mubi premiers a new film. Whether its a
movie youv’e been dying to see or one you’ve never heard of before there is
always something new to discover, so in this world where its
very easy to spend hours debating what you should watch mubi is like having a really cool friend
with amazing taste in movies making it so much easier for you. They
feature hard to come by masterpieces. Indie festival darlings influential art
house and foreign films. Lesser known films by your favorite famous directors And more. Plus you can even download
the Films to watch offline and there are no adds ever. This month on mubi embrace the
halloween spirit through the work of director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. This hand
picked Selection includes his epic four hour ghost series Penance dramatic
short Beautiful New Bay Area Project. And celebrated thrillers Creepy and Doppelgänger. We cant recommend mubi
highly enough. You can try it out for free for a Whole month just click
the link in the description below.
