sadfilmophile — 9 years ago(August 18, 2016 10:01 AM)

Whether through her own portrayals, or through movies she's directed, Jodie Foster has made her mark with the women she's brought to life onscreen.
I just finished watching MONEY MONSTER and it was such a great movie. Julia isnt playing second fiddle to Clooney, even though he's the one in the eye of the storm. Both Julia Roberts's character and the CCO of IBIS felt like proper characters in their own right and werent there to help characterise the male lead. As strange as this sounds, I am delighted that I cant remember what Julia Roberts was wearing. Not that wearing memorable clothing is what makes a character feel 'real' - the CCO, with her baby pink coat and getting kissed, is still more than some quota-filling female. It's just that not a lot of directors would put Julia onscreen and then not use her desirability in the film. They would've made Clooney and Julia have some sort of a sexual history or at least have a flirtatious banter. And the girlfriend losing her temper was a breath of fresh air. She didnt break down and cry and ask him not to do 'this' for her , etc; no, she let him have it. I'm not saying that was the right thing to do for that situation - I'm just saying it was so refreshing to see a woman not beg and plead for her boyfriend to do the right thing , etc.
Anyway I'm going off on a tangent. I meant to say that JF has always portrayed intelligent, independent women, but have to say, I absolutely love the ones who arent in relationships: the steely, high-heeled negotiator; the vunerable, frumpy FBI trainee; the demanding ambassador, etc. I love that these are people who arent on the screen because they are someone's love interest. These roles are about what that character brought to the table as a person. And, you gotta love a woman who was/is doing these roles in her prime, before hitting the age/face when she wont be cast as someone's love interest (when the roles dry up in Hollywood and you can only play the mother of the guy who used to be your love interest only five years ago).
In short, yes, please, make more movies with fully-fleshed out female characters. And women with power? Why, yes, of course!