Renewing My “Go Girl” Mojo
July 27, 2010
by Optixmom
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
There are some times in my life where my energy to work for parity has run dry. Maybe I’ve had the same argument with a male co-worker about why women make excellent CEO’s too many times and I need a re-charge. I need to refuel. Since I cannot go down to my local grocery store and buy a “Go Girl” energy bar I have to find some other avenue to regenerate. So I turn to my favorite Girl Power scenes of movies. I have four specific movies that have very specific scenes that charge me up and boost my estrogen energy so I can face the misogynistic world another day.
The first movie that helps me recharge is Legally Blonde. My favorite scene is when Elle Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon) has decided to leave Harvard Law School because she found out that the only reason why she got an internship job was because the lead attorney wanted to sleep with her. She is all weepy and being consoled by her friend Paulette (played by Jennifer Coolidge) when one of her Law Professors (the only woman on the faculty) overhears Elle’s complaints and tells her, “If you are going to let one stupid prick ruin your life, you’re not the girl I thought you were.” Thus, Elle stays, wins a law suit for a high profile client, and goes on to graduate top in her law class.
The second movie that I will reach for is Aliens (the second Alien movie). I will fast forward to the part where Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) is fighting off the queen alien monster and protecting a little girl, Rebecca ‘Newt’ Jorden (played by Carrie Henn). Rigby protects herself with a robotic armor and goes on the offensive beating the snot out of the alien monster. I have included video clip of this pretty awesome monster smackdown (which btw, is rated the number one monster smackdown in sci-fi history at AMC). Of course, the strongest monster for a smackdown is a female one. So I not only get my girl power mojo from Ripley’s stunning performance I also get some from the really wicked queen. Both rock!
The third movie that gives me a jumpstart is Mulan. Now there are two specific scenes that stand out in this movie that recharge me; the first is when Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) and the other troops in her outfit are fighting the Huns on a mountain and Mulan’s simple idea of shooting a cannon at a snowpeak saves the lives of her co-patriots and defeats the Huns, the second is after Mulan has gotten rid of the Hun leader, Shan Yu (voiced by Miguel Ferrer), and the Emperor (voiced by Pat Morita) recognizes her for saving him and saving her country. I still get goosebumps when everyone bows. The entire rescue scene is shown below.
Lastly, is the most recent movie that gets my Girl Power Mojo back. It is the third in the Lord of the Rings trilogy; The Return of the King. My absolute favorite scene of all time is when Eowyn (played by Miranda Otto) is disguised as a male soldier and is engaged in a fight with the Witch-King of Angmar or Lord of the Nazgul (played by Lawrence Makoare). Now if you are not a Lord of the Rings fan you might not know that the Lord of the Nazgul cannot be killed by any man, and he states this point to Eowyn trying to intimidate her. So he’s got a little attitude and Eowyn is just about to adjust it for him. Eowyn’s hobbit friend, Merry (played by Dominic Monaghan), sneaks up on the Witch-King and stabs him in the calf of his leg. While ole King baby is yelling from his mere flesh wound, Eowyn removes her helmet and yells, “I am no man,” and stabs the undead dude in the face ending his reign of terror! I could watch her say these four words over and over. Eowyn rocks and leads the pack for Girl Power character of the past thirty years.
So if you need a little rejuvination for your Girl Power Mojo I will leave you with Eowyn in the video clip below. YOU GO GIRL!
Except for Mulan, I’ve seen all these movies and love them! It’s amazing how a good song or movie with powerful women doing powerful things can be so uplifting. One of my favorites is Kill Bill. I know, some people can’t stand the blood and gore but I look at that part of it as a metaphor
Beatrix was definitely a Mama Grizzly.
Legally Blond is also a favorite of mine. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is early on when she confronts a snobby shop girl who expects Elle to be be a ditz. Elle stuns snobby shop girl with her photographic memory which is a precursor for good things to come!
Last, I love Lady Gaga’s Telephone video with it’s message of empowerment through androgyny, gender balance and changing our culture. I know… more mass murder imagery but I swear it’s a metaphor!
I love Legally Blond, as well.
How many women find out they are all of a sudden getting perks because some degenerate wants to get in their pants? And, of course, we don’t need these sexist and appalling incentives. We are 100% capable of doing any job a man can do, purely on our own merits, our own intelligence, our own credentials, and our own drive. Sexual harassment should be neither tolerated nor internalized. It is HIS fault; not his victims.
MULAN! I LOVE THAT MOVIE! I adore every single character. I think my fave part of that is when she leads her friends into the palace and gives them her idea for getting in, and Shang joins in. I love the fact that he likes her, and he also trusts her idea and believes in her.
And I LURVE her grandmother.
How many women find out they are all of a sudden getting perks because some degenerate wants to get in their pants?
And we’re supposed to be stupid enough to not notice. And the perqs are never any good, either — the minute you show him up, his physical interest morphs into resentment pretty fast. This is why that scene I mentioned above is my favorite.
I could never sit through Legally Blond for some reason. Love Mulan and Lord of the Rings. I also love 9 to 5 and Moonstruck. With Moonstruck it just reminds me that since the director was a man then that means there are actual men who can understand various love relationships. Other than that I tend to like any old movie from the decades before all female characters, dead alive or merely plot devices were sexualized. Oh I also love Harry Potter movies and Alice in Wonderland was fun especially when she killed the Jabberwocky in the cool girl armor. Another malecentric movie cliche that I can’t tolerate is how men get dressed and weapon up for battle but women strip down to fight. So Alice’s suit of armor was extra cool.
Janis,
My kids know that Mulan is one of my favorite movies and will watch it in the car on the DVD player just for me when we are driving long distance somewhere. This is one of the only Disney movies that doesn’t follow their Princess theme (dead mother, idiotic father, she needs saving from a prince because she can’t do it herself) and they did everything right on it. The men appreciate Mulan for her ideas and when they realize that he is a she you can see the pain in their faces that they have to succumb to the sexist rules of their country. When everyone bows at the end I will cry (everytime). My kids say, “Mom is glad that Mulan saved China again.”
Young mothers who want more choices for videos for their baby girls (and boys) to watch should definitely purchase Mulan for their DVD baby portfolio.
–Optix
“Mom is glad that Mulan saved China again.”
That is completely adorable and cool
Okay, I’m ordering Mulan!!!
What is interesting is that Mulan was based after an actual Chinese story. No one knows whether or not the story is historical or not, but it might be when you consider how deeply patriarchal China has been. I doubt anyone in that society could imagine a female victor.
“Chocolat” is another movie that helps me recover a positive mood. It is about a woman who lives a female centric life and moves to a town that is structured and male centric and the conflict of the two attitudes. Then Johnny Depp and his tribe come to town representing a world with balance. I just like the way Vianne knows who she is and keeps on going in the face of a negative reality.
Hey here is another liberal male “empowering females” movie coming out. And here is his completely new idea, female super heroes who kick butt while wearing dancer/lingerie inspired costumes! Don’t knock each other over and cause a riot while trying to get your early tickets!
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/u.....big-screen
Crap! now we are going to have to have trailers for Sucker Punch crammed up our a$$e$ every time we go to the theater for the next 6 months. Well I’m glad for the warning, I will definitely avoid the experience. Really why is it you can never figure out what is more offensive, the content or the advertising that is aimed at women. Also my estimation of the “starlets” involved just dropped an order of magnitude.
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