Good movies & TV shows for girls?

[dalekboy]

Been meaning to ask this question for a few weeks. Can anyone recommend any movies or TV shows with solid and clever female characters? Preferably in the lead role, but solid supporting characters are okay as well if it helps expand the range.

I know it's going to be a couple of years before MaybeZoe sees any of it, and even longer before she comprehends what she's seeing, but getting a list now will give me time to hunt down and buy them.

Prefer genre stuff, but anything that has good characters and storytelling will do. She's already going to have some great female role models in her life, but wouldn't mind having some cool stuff to show her. Plus it can't be bad for Lex, either.

Comments

[magnapops.livejournal.com]

Sanctuary? Wow there aren't too many are there?

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

I know! I can come up with a few, but rather than mentioning them thought best to see if anyone else actually thought they were any good.

[dcrisp.livejournal.com]

I thought Buffy was meant to be a show with a strong intelligent female role? Isn't that what Joss Wheadon is always being praised for?

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

Gee, advising you about TV or Movies seems very much like a "here granny, hold the egg like this and then suck" scenario.

Off the top of my head (well actually, looking at the DVD shelf closest to me), Buffy, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Xena, Middleman, Daria, Ab-Fab, Cold Comfort Farm, Miss Marple. Honourable mentions to Blakes 7, Farscape and Futurama too I guess.

[cheshirenoir.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna echo what threemonkeys said about grannys.

Global Frequency (If you can get hold of it) has a mostly female cast and Miranda Zero in particular is a GREAT female lead. Aleph is cool too. Pity they only ever made the pilot.

Legend of the Seeker isn't too bad. It's not perfect either, but I think some of that is the source material.

As for movies:
Amelie - It's french, with a wonderfully twisted plot and a lovely and strong lead character. What's NOT to love?
Hoodwinked - it's not only got two kickass female leads, but it also explores identity in culture for female characters in an amusing (And challenging) way.
Ghost in the Shell - Now THERE is a strong female lead.
MirrorMask - What else would you expect from Gaiman?

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Ponyo and My neighbour Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. In fact, anything by Miyazaki tends to have strong female characters (if not leads, they are very strong supporting character ie Porco Russo. Kiki's delivery service is a wonderful film about finding your independence and place in the world.

This is making me sad. I really wanted a daughter.

[rachelholkner.livejournal.com]

For small girls you cannot go past Ghibli.
Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbour Totoro were perfect for A__ as they have very little conflict - she was easily upset by films/tv for a while around age 3-4.
The Cat Returns, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are current gooduns (Age 6)
It'll be quite a while though before she's ready for Princess Mononoke!

A__ is telling me to add Justice League. She is obsessed with it! She says she can't think of any others.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

Hooray, replies from a lady-person!

Haven't got Ponyo or Porco Rosso yet, but they're on the list :)

I used to joke with Sharon that we were going to keep having children until we reached an even dozen, or she gave me a daughter, whichever happened first.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I already have most of those. And I'd wondered about Justice League because Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl are very well handled. I still remember being impressed with the pilot movie and the way that the women kicked as much arse as the guys, and didn't need any more saving than any of the male characters.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

Yep, have Buffy. And Angel. And Firefly. On the other hand, I will never own a copy of Dollhouse, which I found to be rather ickily misogynistic.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

I see where you're coming from, but there will always be stuff I've missed or forgotten. Like Wonderfalls! How the hell had I forgotten that one?!

Shows there I need to check out include Dead Like Me, Xena, Daria, Cold Comfort Farm. I've always loved the old Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple films, so should check out the later versions too.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

Got Global Frequency somewhere, will check out LotS.

Own Amelie, MirrorMask and Ghost in the Shell I've meant to pick up for ages. Will have to check out Hoodwinked.

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Obviously she decided that two was enough. My brother and my sister in law have one and one due in November (15 months apart), and are talking about more. So I will have to practice on them.

To kill a mockingbird is a good one. His girl friday with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Anything with Kate Hepburn, especially The African Queen and Bringing up baby. Oh, and The Lady Eve although Barbara Stanwyk may not be the right sort of role model.

[callistra.livejournal.com]

Hoodwinked is awesome
:D

[arcadiagt5.livejournal.com]

Anime gender roles can be...problematic sometimes.

In terms of what is locally available (ie Region 4 DVD) I would look at:
Twelve Kingdoms - Definitely
Vision of Escaflowne - Definitely
Noir - Possibly
Fruits Basket - Maybe but probably not, a great show but the gender roles suck sometimes
Kino's Journey is a good choice but subtle
Witch Hunter Robin maybe
.Hack//Sign is a possibility
Le Chevalier D'Eon - haven't seen it all but definitely messes with gender roles
Vampire Princess Miyu TV and (if available) OAV

[arcadiagt5.livejournal.com]

Oh my yes!

[jack-ryder.livejournal.com]

The Wonder Woman animated movie is pretty awesome

And I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Mulan.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

I love African Queen. Great film. Have to check out the others, most of which I've been meaning to watch for ages. And hey, Lady Eve may be fine for when she's older.

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, the animated Wonder Woman flick is great :)

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

I'm giving you a wide age range. Some good westerns won't go astray either eg Rooster Cockburn with John Wayne and Kate Heburn giving him hell....

[tikiwanderer.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you've asked this question, because I'm happily scooping through the replies myself :-)

We bought the Wonder Woman TV series and have done a little bit of pre-watching through it before Sparrow gets to the point where she can watch it with us. It's hysterical at times, but it definitely takes the whole 70's "women are doing it for themselves" thing as a basis. I've only rewatched bits of series 1 so far which is more likely to hit my "oh god stupid self-centred Americans" button than the "I can't believe the stupid attitude to women" button. Looking forward to series 2 and 3 which have more fights against aliens and bad corporations and the more current kinds of bad guys.

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

I was trying to avoid Disney films.

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Definately NOT Charlie's Angels. Any version. Early Avengers though, would be good. Diana Rigg is nobody's fool

[arcadiagt5.livejournal.com]

I'd actually substitute the Appleseed manga for the GitS anime if I was going to recommend a Shirow...

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

How could I forget one of my favourites? John Sayles The Secret of Roan Inish.