Strong female characters are pushing the boundaries of Hollywood cinema

Snow White and The Huntsman Winters WarHollywood is heading for a genderbalanced future Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn announced on International Day of the Girl October 14 that the films upcoming sequel will have prominent storylines for female charactersI am sick of stories where there are a bunch of fully realised male characters and one female character whose primary characteristic is simply being the girl or the personalityless object of some mans affectionsTilda Swinton in Doctor StrangeIm not sick of this because Im politically correct mdash those of you who know me know I am far from that mdash but because its boring the filmmaker wrote on social media Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 will see Zoe Saldana and Karen Gillan returning to reprise their roles along with Chris Pratt in May 2017 Allfemale castThe spate of new heroines in American movies can kick ass be intelligent look beautiful and tough breaking the onedimensional mould The recent remake of supernatural comedy Ghostbusters was a feminist revival starring an allgirl gangPride and Prejudice and ZombiesMelissa McCarthy Kristen Wiig Kate McKinnon Leslie Jones and Sigourney Weaver brought on the laughs while busting ghosts Another film with an allwomen cast is doing the rounds of international film festivals Spanish director Pedro Almodoacutevar mdash wellknown for his exploration and portrayal of the female pointofview mdash is out with the sliceoflife movie Julieta which has Emma Suaacuterez and Adriana Ugarte playing an older and younger version of the same womanRogue One A Star Wars StoryWesterns and war moviesFairytale film Snow White And The Huntsman Winters War was led by a cast of three gorgeous Alisters mdash Charlize Theron Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt Natalie Portman shattered the notion of westerns casting women as victims or sex workers In Jane In Jane Got A Gun she played a gunslinger out to defend her injured husband from a vengeful outlaw The recent Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was a satirical autobiography of war journalist Kim Baker It featured comedienne Tina Fey and Margot Robbie as rival war correspondents in Afghanistan at the height of the US attempt to modernise their country In fact Robbie was subversive as Harley Quinn in the action film Suicide Squad She was the girl that Batmans archenemy the Joker would go weak in the knees forSpanish language film JulietaRobbies sexy Harley Quinn was more ruthless than the Joker Women in Victorian times could be equally ruthless proved the film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies This reimagining of Jane Austens novel had the Bennett sisters taking their societal normslaying to a whole new levelPivotal rolesGenderbending Tilda Swinton will be playing the character of Doctor Stranges mystic mentor The Ancient One Felicity Jones is Rebel Alliance fighter Jyn Erso at the centre of the Star Wars spinoff Rogue One Earlier this year Reneacutee Zellweger played the title role in a different kind of femalecentric movie the lighthearted Bridget Joness Baby The single life and career of the endearing Bridget Jones is interrupted when she finds herself pregnantJane Got A GunWhat sums up this change towards multidimensional women in cinema is perhaps Dr Louise Banks in scifi parable Arrival Amy Adams leads the cast as a linguist who has the responsibility of translating an alien language in order to prevent a war If man made war only a woman could avert itMargot Robbie in Suicide SquadWhiskey Tango FoxtrotAmy Adams in Arrival