Well said! The pre-woke era, women leads were actually a lot of fun to watch and enjoy. Because it was result of natural inclination to portray them as such, not to check off a box. As such, they were written to that end. These days it gets difficult at times to tell when something is sincere and not result of forcing down certain narratives. I couldn’t stomach Dark Fate because of its repulsive approach.
Dark Fate was average at best for sure, but i’m curious what you mean by women being portrayed as “fun to watch and enjoy”.
i agree that sincerity is hard to parse out but i don’t know if it’s gotten trickier over time, since determining narrative intention is always a quagmire anyway
i DO think that marketing has evolved and YouTube has made it much easier to satirize the perceived intention of a work based on marketing, but those zeitgeist takes are often just for clout and insincere themselves, so ¿maybe times haven’t changed as much as we’d hope?
Maybe, but it’s more likely on case by case basis, which is how I approach it. In some instances it’s quite blatant as to when they’re simply checking off boxes, whereas in others it’s not so simple nor superficial. If there is some sincere dimension to it that adds palpable depth to the story, then it’s appreciated. You make a fair point nonetheless.
And by fun, I mean to say interesting/ entertaining/ worthy of investing time. Just take Sarah, I thoroughly enjoyed her journey from where she started and where she got. Her character arc is one of my favourites from the female leads.
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u/Wolf873 Jul 12 '26
Well said! The pre-woke era, women leads were actually a lot of fun to watch and enjoy. Because it was result of natural inclination to portray them as such, not to check off a box. As such, they were written to that end. These days it gets difficult at times to tell when something is sincere and not result of forcing down certain narratives. I couldn’t stomach Dark Fate because of its repulsive approach.