Best: heroines owned the summer
Going into 2015, no one could have predicted that this would be the year that action heroines ruled the roost.
Judging by its title alone, George Miller’s long-awaited return to the Mad Max franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road, promised a spectacle centered on the loner hero once played by Mel Gibson and now revived by Tom Hardy. Instead, the finished product devoted equal if not more screen time to the character of Imperator Furiosa, a renegade, head-shaved female soldier, played by Charlize Theron, in her best performance since Monster.
Furiosa drives the action in Fury Road (literally), leaving Max to play the bystander role for much of the picture – the character type usually relegated to women in action films. She’s arguably Hollywood’s most full-blooded action heroine since Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise. When she headbutts a foe without hesitation during a battle, you know she means business.
Released later in the summer, Tom Cruise fans probably went into Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation expecting more death-defying hijinks from Hollywood’s favorite Scientologist. Instead, Cruise, as super spy Ethan Hunt, wisely deflected much of the action in the fifth film in the franchise to Rebecca Ferguson, a largely unknown Swedish actor with a slight British tilt in her voice, and fierce athletic prowess. She plays Ilsa Faust, a spy with suspicious motives, and killer legs (she can break necks with her thighs), who is Hunt’s complete equal on the field. She’s also, refreshingly, not a love interest for Hunt. The Bond franchise should take note.
None, though, were upstaged by the unlikeliest action heroine of the summer: Melissa McCarthy. Her summer vehicle Spy is a comedy first and foremost, but as CIA analyst turned undercover agent Susan Cooper, McCarthy is also granted the opportunity to do what few plus-size actors are ever given the chance to do in Hollywood: kick some major ass. Her hand-to-hand battle in a restaurant kitchen with a female assassin, during which Cooper uses a frying pan to protect her breasts, is a perfect blend of gut-busting comedy and expertly executed action. It also made for one of the best scenes of the year.
Worst: transgender-themed movies failed their transgender characters
Shows like Orange Is the New Black and Transparent have been rightly celebrated over the years for honestly depicting transgender stories with great sensitivity, and intelligence. This year’s Sundance sensation Tangerine, which actually featured transgender actors in the roles of its two outspoken transgender heroines (a sad anomaly in film), started 2015 on a strong note. Unfortunately, it set a benchmark for the film industry that higher-profile movies about transgender people that followed in its wake failed to meet: namely The Danish Girl, and About Ray.
Both films, which debuted on the Fall festival circuit no doubt hoping to court awards buzz, fail their transgender protagonists by relegating the transgender characters to the sidelines of their own harrowing stories.
The Danish Girl, from The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper, tells the story of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe (played by Eddie Redmayne). Frustratingly, it burrows deeper into the mind of Elbe’s wife Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) to relay her struggle with her partner’s transition.
About Ray meanwhile betrays its title to largely ignore the transition of Ray (Elle Fanning), in favor of following the journey his family takes in coming to terms with his new identity. Ray takes a backseat for most of the film, which largely concerns his mother’s battle to get her ex-husband to sign off on medical forms so her son can begin full gender-reassignment treatment.
It’s arguable that for the public to better understand the transgender movement, it’s vital to show different perspectives. It’s also arguable (and highly likely) that Hollywood is simply playing it safe in doing so.
As Caitlyn Jenner’s unveiling and her ensuing E! Reality show proved, the world can handle stories about transgender people, told by members of its own community. In fact, the public has a ravenous appetite for them: the series premiere pulled in 3.9 mil total viewers, making it the most-watched reality-show launch across all of cable this year; it’s since been renewed for a second season. Hollywood could stand to learn a lesson.
