Ten movies with feminist themes

   Female empowerment and feminism have been prominent subjects of discourse since the 19th century or maybe older. More voices and more techniques are been used to address the issue. One of them is a movie. 

   Movies produced to shed the spotlight on women and to show the world that women are resilient beautiful creatures, no matter what type of personality they are.  Here is a list if ten movies in ascending order ,carefully selected by me.

10. Set it off :    The first movie on my ascending list is , Set it Off.  Set It Off is a 1996 American crime action heist film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Kate Lanier and Takashi Bufford. The film stars Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise. The movie itself was Kimberley's movie debut. 

  It follows four close friends in Los Angeles, California, who decide to plan and execute a bank robbery. They decide to do so for different reasons, although all four want better for themselves and their families. The film became a critical and box office success, grossing over $41 million against a budget of $9 million. 

Dominant theme: black feminism.

9. Frida :  Frida is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Julie Taymor which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Frida Khalo is an important figure in the history of art and painting. A biographical movie about her would have definitely inspired watchers especially if the female gender that they could leave their names in history books too with their passion. 

   The movie starred  Salma Hayek in an Academy Award–nominated portrayal as Kahlo and Alfred Molina as her husband, Diego Rivera, the film was adapted by Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas and unofficially by Edward Norton from the 1983 book Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. Frida received generally positive reviews from critics, and won two Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Best Original Score among six nominations.

 Frida begins just before the traumatic accident Frida Kahlo suffered at the age of 18 when the wooden-bodied bus she was riding in collided with a streetcar. She is impaled by a metal pole and the injuries she sustains plague her for the rest of her life. To help her through convalescence, her father brings her a canvas upon which to start painting. 

8. The color purple :  The Color Purple is a 1985 American coming-of-age period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. The film stars  include Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Desreta Jackson, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Rae Dawn Chong, Willard Pugh, and Adolph Caesar. 

     

   The movie is set in  1909, Celie is an African-American girl in rural Georgia who has had two children by her abusive father, both of whom have been taken from her. Her father then gives her away as a wife to widower Albert "Mister" Johnson, who already has three children and who also abuses Celie and the children treat her badly. Celie's younger sister, Nettie, the only person who loves her, runs away from home when their father starts abusing her and seeks shelter at Celie and Mister's home.

Dominant theme: Domestic abuse

7. Moana:   Moana is a movie about a strong willed  daughter of a chief in a Polynesian village in search of a demigod who will restore the heart he stole from a goddess so as to restore her land. There is a happy ever after ending  but then happily ever after here has nothing to do with a prince and everything to do with self-discovery ,which is a pretty good thing. I'm glad Moana and Maui didn't have to fall in love and Maui didn't have to save Moana every single time. Moana even refused to  be called a princess. 

     

   Moana was released in cinemas in the United States on November 23, 2016 to positive reviews from critics, with particular praise going towards its animation, music, and vocal performances. The film went on to gross over $690 million worldwide.

    It received two Academy Award nominations at the 89th Academy Awards: one for Best Animated Feature and another for Best Original Song ,"How Far I'll Go" .

6. Queen of Katwe : another Disney movie on my list.  

   Queen of Katwe is a 2016 American biographical drama feature film  directed by Mira Nair and written by William Wheeler. The movie had wonderful actors , David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga, the film depicts the life of Phiona Mutesi, a girl living in Katwe, a slum of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. She learns to play chess and becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her victories at World Chess Olympiads. The movie is one that is bound to inspire young women and older girls. 

5. Charlie's angels:   number five on my list is Charlie's angels. 

    Charlie's Angels is an American media franchise created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which began with the original 1976 television series of the same name.

   Charlie's Angels is a derivation from the dominant style of the day then, where every movie was about male athletic spies , strong male protagonists in action movies. Only the men went on deadly missions and busted villains. Charlie's angels were a game changer. And it inspired me especially, I have a feeling it inspired most female watchers too. 

    

   The franchise depicts the adventures of the Angels, a team of women working for the Townsend Agency, a private detective agency, under the leadership of Charlie Townsend, their unseen boss. The original television series enjoyed huge popularity with audiences and was a top ten hit in the Nielsen ratings for its first two seasons. It continues to have a 1970s American cult and pop culture following through syndication and DVD releases. A numerous variety of merchandise were produced, including dolls, a toy line, board games, beauty products, several sets of trading cards and a comic book series by Dynamite Entertainment.

    Another movie was recently instead inti the franchise, in the year 2019. It was quite a thrilling movie to watch. And at the end of the movie we find out that the mystery Charlie Townsend has been a woman all this while ,how shocking.  Oops I think I just became a spoiler.

4. Iron jawed angels:  Iron Jawed Angels is a 2004 American historical drama film directed by Katja von Garnier. The film stars Hilary Swank as suffragist leader Alice Paul, Frances O'Connor as activist Lucy Burns, Julia Ormond as Inez Milholland, and Anjelica Huston as Carrie Chapman Catt. It premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. 

      

      The film focuses on the American women's suffrage movement during the 1910s and follows women's suffrage leaders Alice Paul and Lucy Burns as they use peaceful and effective nonviolent strategies, tactics, and dialogues to revolutionize the American feminist movement to grant women the right to vote. The film was released in the United States on February 15, 2004.

3. On the Basis  of Sex :  On the Basis of Sex is a 2018 American biographical legal drama film based on the life and early cases of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Directed by Mimi Leder and written by Daniel Stiepleman, it stars Felicity Jones as Ginsburg, with Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Jack Reynor, Cailee Spaeny, Sam Waterston, and Kathy Bates in supporting roles.

    Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a first-year student at Harvard Law School. When her husband Martin, a second-year student, is diagnosed with testicular cancer, she attends both her classes and his, taking notes and transcribing lectures while caring for Martin and their infant daughter Jane. Two years later, Martin, his cancer in remission, is hired by a firm in New York. Ruth petitions Harvard Law School Dean Griswold to allow her to complete her Harvard law degree with classes at Columbia Law School in New York, but he insists on following Harvard University policies at the time and denies her request, so she transfers to Columbia. In spite of graduating at the top of her class, she is unable to find a position with a law firm because none of the firms she applies to want to hire a woman. She takes a job as a professor at Rutgers Law School, teaching "Sex Discrimination and the Law". The movie doesn't end there. 

2. Suffragette:       The  Second movie on my list is Suffragette, although I really wanted to make this number one ,it was a tough decision since the Suffragette movement is so significant to me and all. And I loved watching this movie. 

    Suffragette is a 2015 British historical drama film about women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan. The film stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep. 

   In 1912, Maud Watts was a 24-year-old laundry worker. While delivering a package, she is caught up in a suffragette protest which includes her workmate, Violet Miller.

Alice Haughton, the wife of an MP, encourages women from the laundry to testify to a Parliamentary committee. Violet offers but is beaten by her abusive husband and Maud testifies. The women later learn, at a public announcement, that the vote is not to be extended. Maud is caught up in the protest, arrested, and jailed for a week. While in jail, she meets Emily Davison, a confidante of Emmeline Pankhurst.

Maud faces stigma from neighbours and workmates. She tells her husband Sonny that she will stay away from the suffragettes but attends a secret rally to hear Pankhurst speak. She has a brief exchange with Pankhurst. Again detained, she is taken home by police. This time, her husband throws her out. Maud struggles to see her son, continuing to work until her picture is published as a known suffragette. Maud is then sacked and, past breaking point, she burns the hand of her male supervisor, who has been sexually abusing girls in the laundry for years, including Maud when she was younger, and Maggie, Violet's daughter. The police are called, and Inspector Steed allows Maud to leave, offering her an opportunity to act as an informer. Maud refuses.

Sonny continues to prevent Maud from seeing their son, George. This prompts Maud into more radicalism in favour of women's rights. She learns that Sonny has offered George for adoption. Maud becomes more radical and is involved in bombing pillar boxes and cutting telegraph wires. She and her comrades are imprisoned after they blow up an empty Parliamentary residence. In prison, Maud goes on hunger strike and is subjected to brutal force-feeding.

The suffragettes feel that they must do still more to gain attention. They decide to attend the Derby when King George V will be in attendance, planning to step in front of the cameras and unfurl their banners. Before they go, Emily Davison hands Maud a copy of Dreams (1890), a book by Olive Schreiner that has been passed from one suffragette to another. On the day of the Derby, only Maud and Emily attend. They are barred from the area near the King, but Emily decides that they must carry on anyway. While the race is underway, Emily runs onto the track, stepping in front of Anmer, the King's horse, and Maud witnesses her being trampled to death. After returning to London, Maud retrieves Violet's daughter, Maggie, from the laundry, and takes her to the home of Alice Haughton, who agrees that Maggie can work there instead. Maud later joins in Emily's funeral procession. The film ends by stating that Emily's funeral was reported around the world; and that certain women over 30 in the UK were given the right to vote in 1918, rights over their own children in 1925, and the same voting rights as men in 1928. Scrolling text lists countries that preceded Britain in giving women the vote and others that did so later.

1.  Hidden Figures: Watching this movie was so exciting. Prior to watching the movie , I have never heard of the main characters. It was fascinating to hear that three black women were behind such a great feat. The movie was necessary to shed light on these heroes and to give them the public accolades they deserve. 

 Hidden Figures is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly about black female mathematicians who worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Space Race. The film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who calculated flight trajectories for Project Mercury and other missions. The film also features Octavia Spencer as NASA supervisor and mathematician Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as NASA engineer Mary Jackson, with Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell, and Mahershala Ali in supporting roles. 

    The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed $236 million worldwide. It was chosen by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2016  and was nominated for numerous awards, including three Oscar nominations (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Spencer), and two Golden Globes (Best Supporting Actress for Spencer and Best Original Score). It also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.