Rachel is forgettable. Her fate was disappointing, but still forgettable.
It’s kind of the opposite of that actually about the “give them a love interest” part.
I’ll be honest with everyone… I’m not a fan of this feminist movement when it comes to Hollywood films. If you take a look at the live-action Mulan, 2019 Charlie’s Angels, Captain Marvel, Terminator: Dark Fate, SHE-HULK, etc., they all came out like garbage. Is it the writing and direction? YES, but it’s also the fact that those studios became far too focused on the female empowerment aspect, rather than building up those characters to match the theme of female empowerment, to make that theme actually worth it. To show I’m not being sexist towards anyone, let me use the Mulan example…
You can consider the og Mulan film to be a feminist film, right? Many will say yes, but you don’t hear anybody complaining about the movie as much as it’s live-action remake. They both show strong female lead, who takes her fathers place in fighting in the war, she makes the men look kind of weak at some point, and she takes the lead and saves everybody. The difference between the two versions is that the original Mulan had drive, purpose and SHE MADE MISTAKES. The latest Mulan had none of that. Only factor that pushed her was she’s taking dad’s position. That’s it! Throughout that entire remake, she rarely makes mistakes, she immediately makes men look like fools, and she somehow magically had this power inside her the whole time. No real development, realization or anything. That’s the fatal flaw that many female-led or feminist-labeled projects make. There’s no growth. You can consider 2017’s Wonder Woman film and WandaVision feminist projects. But those did a great job with characters, storytelling, and everything. Wonder Woman (The first one) was a success for women because it captured WW’s femininity, power, etc. But she had emotion and made mistakes. So did Wanda in WandaVision; lots of emotion in that storyline. The mistake that these feminist films make is that their this badass from beginning to end, with no real substance in the story. Wonder Woman (2017), WandaVison, Alien (1979), PREY (2022, which I highly recommend. It’s the story of the Predator species first coming to Earth), and these very few films that actually make women grow in power throughout the story.
Many feminist films today, just add a female lead, make a man look useless, and say some “cool” female power catchphrase. That’s not what makes a feminist film. I’m not against powerful females, I’m not a girl, I’m not gay in any way, but I’ve lived through my childhood, and teen years with all females. I’ve never had a man participate in raising me. What I know is that female empowerment films are NOTHING without showing a woman’s weakness and growth in order to become this powerful woman by the end of the story. If you want to inspire some women out there in the world, make some truly effective stories, shake them up a little bit and make people actually feel something with your movies.
I got a little carried away there lol, but some things just make sense.
