Strong Female Characters

[@Vesperitis]

One of my favorite main characters is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She's a young person with no powers (other than a protection spell) in a strange magical land, and yet she is also the leader of three beings who are smarter, stronger, and braver than her. The one thing she has that is at the core of her character is her kindness and compassion. She helps people, she stands up to injustice, and she never gives up hope in the face of despair, all without resorting to violence or cruelty. I kinda wish we had more characters like Dorothy, male or female in our media.

[@wekasuwi]

Wow, I never read it like this. Great take.And she’s such an iconic character too. Her story made a generation.. maybe I’ll use her as an example in the future!!

[@rickcleveland310]

Dorothy is a lot like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. He’s not a hero. He would rather stay home in the shire and eat turnips. But he goes on this journey and he BECOMES a hero because he is surrounded by self sacrificing characters. In the Rings of Power, the writers give us a Galadriel who is an all powerful heroine from the moment we meet her. Again, who identifies with her? Give us characters who have an arc, who are flawed and in need of redemption - and those are the characters we identify with. Too many writers are afraid to present women or minority characters as “flawed.” So instead we get “varnished” two dimensional characters. Look at a show like Beef! Two wonderfully flawed characters in a show that won awards and is beloved!

[@pastelpillbug]

as someone trying to write strong female characters in my ocs & story I might make, my idea is to put the character first, strong second, and female third. just write characters as characters.

[@wekasuwi]

That’s awesome, sounds like you’re on the right track. I love original works .. send link!!

[@pastelpillbug]

@@wekasuwi I have not written anything 😔

[@talscorner3696]

You are absolutely spot on, pastel ^^

[@vampdollbites9355]

died at the she hulk fart clapping

[@wekasuwi]

😂😂

[@officialrockstarstephen]

I'll definitely be putting Blue Eyed Samurai on my watchlist. Thank you lovely Weka 💙

[@wekasuwi]

I’m so happy you are thank you for watching!!

[@aronnemcsik]

@@wekasuwi The fact that you left out Ripley from Aliens or Uma Thurman character from Kill Bill as well written characters is rubbing me the wrong way...

[@SihemGuellil]

😊😊😊

[@AngelAmparo2]

Blue Eyed Samurai gives me hope of creative writing and strong female character lead. You rock Weka!

[@wekasuwi]

It’s a great spot of media, we need more like it!

[@JohnJacksonchannel]

This convo needed to be had

[@wekasuwi]

John you’re fantastic, thank you for saying this.

[@reid9462]

Your videos continue to get better and better, well done Weka!

[@wekasuwi]

Thank you so much, your kind words only help me to make more.

[@evilwizard205]

Wonderful video! I think that the tropes we use don’t always need to be broken (sometimes they’re used for a reason) but if you are gonna break them ask WHY, are you doing it because you feel like you should Or because that’s what the story actually needs. Also I’m a young artist and I appreciate this video :3 I understand more of the nuance about characters now, thank you!

[@wekasuwi]

Happy you enjoyed it, keep at your art.

[@KypForPresident]

Great Video, I absolutly agree. I like strong female characters, as long as they are written well. You picked a great example with Blue eyed Samurai, wich was just awesome.

[@wekasuwi]

Glad you enjoyed it! Blue Eye Samurai marked itself on my heart.

[@talscorner3696]

My biggest gripe with the current understanding of narrative (both in "passive" media such as movies and books, but also in active ones, such as tabletop roleplay) has been that everyone seems to value what a character IS (i.e. something static that they may or may not have control over) more than what a character DOES (i.e. something dynamic that is entirely dependent on their will)

[@DarkEclipse23]

Female characters as leads in action were actually great in the early 2000s in movies like Underworld and later in anime with Akatsuki no Yona. Even Arcane was a hit.

[@williamrodrick]

oh my stars weka, what a great video!! you've raised a very interesting and intelligent way of thinking of characters with this idea of nature, nurture and circumstance, i like that... #freedomforpablo

[@wekasuwi]

#tightenhisrestraints

[@Grizabeebles]

Heya! If you're looking to do a video about "studio intereference", may I suggest you check out MovieBob's videos about how billionaire Ike Perlmutter kept interfering in the early Marvel movies. Perlmutter is why Thor 2 is the worst movie of phase 1 and why Marvel's TV projects went into the toilet.

[@wekasuwi]

Ooooooh yes I’ll check it out! Thanks for the suggestion.

[@Grizabeebles]

@@wekasuwi -- When I went back to watch Moviebob's videos myself, it took me a couple hours to find the right one. The best single video to get the broad sketch is the hour-long "Mutantvision Trilogy: Complete" compilation video. Checking around some other sources about Perlmutter, his public story is one of rags-to-riches built on liquidating bankrupt companies and a pathological obsession with cutting costs to maximize profits. This is a billionaire who picks paper clips out of the trash and rips up old memos to use the backs for writing paper. Definite "picking up pennies in front of a steamroller" vibes. My guess is that this guy does not place any value whatsoever in actually trying to turn out a high-quality product. Ike's become a billionaire by abusing and exploiting workers and selling disposable crap for the cheapest price he can still make a profit. You can see it at every company he's ever touched. He's also apparently *incredibly* racist and sexist. Check his wikipedia page for one or two examples. You can find tons more really, really easily.

[@thereforeiyam]

Mizu is one of few female protagonists that has me rooting for her the entire time in the current era of media where, I feel, are painting women in a mocking, hyper-feminist approach, therefore annoying. Flaws and all, especially when I want to see them grow from their stations/trauma. Which is what I was worried about with Akemi, especially with the time period they're in, it's hard to watch modern approaches in not so modern times and that can muddle the writing of the show. However, like you stated, Akemi works in her role and intends to make do with what she's got, but maintain the freedom she has by all means necessary which makes her a very strong and compelling character. Can't wait to see more videos from you in the future and keep watching you grow! Love seeing fellow creators overanalyzing media, motivates me that there are people whole loves this kind of stuff too lol.

[@wekasuwi]

Thank you! I’ll definitely check out your stuff as well!

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

I personally don't like her at all her whole woe is me, thing Because of her race & gender Is beyond cringy to me.

[@brandonm1708]

I’d love to see a Star Wars Sequel Trilogy where Rey was secretly a Jedi trained by Luke. You’d need to change a lot to make certain lines act as clues in retrospect, and change a lot more to keep the worldbuilding and characters consistent, but that’s a great idea for where the sequels could’ve gone. PS: this is the quality of video I’d expect to see from a 100k+ subscriber channel, so keep up the great work! I’m sure your channel will blow up shortly!

[@wekasuwi]

That PS is so kind, thank you for believing in me.

[@danielchapman6032]

Ever watched The Hunt? What a great lead character. They imply her history and she uses her brains to win out. The Long Kiss Goodnight is one of my favorite '90's action movies. Strong female lead who still loves her husband and kids. Especially when she tells her husband to leave because he is going to slow her down.

[@aldoguzman7364]

Can we have a cool "Durge" BG3 analysis? Day 1 asking WekaSuwi to analyze Durge😢

[@wekasuwi]

The DARK URGE?!! WHAT IS THERE TO ANALYZE!!

[@jorgealtamirano9340]

10K views in just a week is astounding, keep shining!

[@kurowkarasu]

12:20 I would say the reason why badly written male characters weren't criticized as "poorly written strong men" isn't because it's socially accepted/expected for men to be strong (and conversely unexpected for women to fit these roles). More likely it's because almost all classic movie heroes are men, so that's not a distinguishing factor. You wouldn't say a character was badly written *because* he's a man, if all characters of his type are men. Nowadays there are more female protagonists, which serves as a basis of comparison for both sides, but like you said in the video, some female heroes are *too* perfect, to the point where making them flawless seems more important than making them interesting, usually with the intent of proving just how progressive movie studios are (now that women are a lucrative audience).

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

They are criticized though just Not because of their gender But their actions, when people Criticize female characters it's always about the portrayal of all women.

[@coreyloucks4865]

I actually liked Korra's overall arc. She starts off as super overconfident. However, she does get humbled and has to rebuild after having her life shattered. That's a great story in and of itself. However, the problem with Avatar: the Legend of Korra was the plot being so jolted and cut up with no overarching story like the first Avatar. It has such great elements within it, like the individual antagonists, Zaheer, Amon, and even Kuvira. In fact, I loved how they went from one extreme of complete Anarchy with Zaheer to the opposite of absolute order with Kuvira, however, they had to screw things up with these absurd mcguffins like the the Mecha/Death star weapon thing, and these power scaling/power creep. The whole spirit arch with Unalaq/Raava/Vaatu thing was so fumbled and misplaced. They had to pull a power rangers and make them oversized giants and go super large with epic giant battles. Then the whole destroying spirit connection. It all just made the rest of the plot so meaningless. And to go from barely able to have trains with their magic to having a mecha with a super weapon in the course of a generation is absurd. We don't even have mechas and it's been over three generations since the train was invented.

[@wekasuwi]

👏👏

[@MarvinPowell1]

I love how you can have audiences near universally love a character like Mizu and a show like Blue Eye Samurai, yet Disney will still try to call audiences "sexist and racist" for not liking their utter garbage like She Hulk, Captain Marvel, or everything Star Wars since 2015. Their excuses for failure are as uncreative and pathetic as their writing.

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

I personally don't like mizu or Akemi But mizu has potential.

[@pieofchart]

I don't think Disney or anyone is saying that

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

@@pieofchart They do, she hulk & Captain marvel specifically.

[@pieofchart]

@@elongatedmanforever1252 I mean tbf didnt watch She-Hulk, but I don't think Captain Marvel was bitter about its critics, from what I remember it just played everything straight as usual. Not really a memorable movie either way, but the cat was nice.

[@citysmall3427]

If i could pretend to be two different people for this comment i would. Just looking through the comments i can tell you check them pretty regularly so idk. Like i wanna be sassy but i also wanna be encouraging. Ok so heres sassy: teeny nitpick but its odd hearing "people who identify as men" when talking about how men have had the expectation of rising to the occasion and an obligation to lay down their lives. When that's very much a cis men experience. Ok heres encouraging: Great essay! I think this was communicated really well and you conducted your language in a way where nobody can really get mad which is an extremely important thing to pay attention to when you're trying to help people and change minds. You did good. Don't let the misinterpreters have an inch.

[@wekasuwi]

Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate the criticism. Helps me make future videos clearer about what I’m trying to say 👏

[@Nimade69]

Great video! Got me seeing the 'strong female character' architype in a different light. Have to shout out my queen Debbie from Invincible though. Holy shit she is my role model. She isn't strong in the physical sense, but in mental/moral strength instead.

[@vampdollbites9355]

Also loving these little edits like the mario kart start for spoilers!! *chef's kiss*

[@wekasuwi]

Go watch it girl

[@JohnJacksonchannel]

Definitely checking out blue eyed samurai wow

[@wekasuwi]

Do sooo

[@Redrum__GamingInVR]

Fantastic job on this. I loved!!!! I loved Blue Eye Samurai!!!!

[@wekasuwi]

Red!! Thank youuuu!!

[@rayhernandez3428]

you made some valid point weka

[@wekasuwi]

Thank you a ton Ray

[@rayhernandez3428]

What is wrong with movie director writing a female story line awful 🤔@@wekasuwi

[@arthurfortune9143]

Another well-made video!

[@wekasuwi]

Butter man 💜

[@roisecurran4200]

this is so real 😔

[@wekasuwi]

😭 thank you

[@rickcleveland310]

They’re presented as FLAWLESS & FULLY ACTUALIZED and NO ONE on Earth identifies with characters like this.

[@wekasuwi]

Character flaws are 50% of a character, you take that away and you get a half baked character.

[@SopieMunky]

I'd like to cash in my massage, please.

[@wekasuwi]

Turn around I got some oil for those knots in your back

[@TheAvprobeauty]

Blue Eyed Samurai gave me life when I watched it months ago. Cant wait for Season 2!

[@wekasuwi]

I’m excited to see where they go with it

[@reachthroughreality]

it's interesting that media literacy is at an all time low and movies seem to have more political themes. Maybe we're dumb now and filmmakers have to make the messaging clear to the point of parody so we don't miss it. Or maybe it was always political, but issues 50 years ago were a little different, so we don't get it. Probably a bit of both. Memories aren't usually made from mediocrity and no one sees subtly, so we only really look at the extreme examples, and get it wrong more often than not. Also, women aren't real. Don't write them. Solved.

[@wekasuwi]

It’s all about the damn paycheck.. they want to market to everyone! Kids and adults alike. Soo we get watered down plots, watered down characters and watered down entertainment. What’s a woman?

[@phangkuanhoong7967]

watch better film critics than the very much uncritical all rage bait drinker. thanks.

[@w1ll0w62]

New here and I am lovin it

[@ShokyyyXD]

hello

[@wekasuwi]

Hi

[@rafapd7797]

Engagement 🤘

[@adamhendrick.]

8:30 any day now

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

i dont like mizu or akemi and This is why, because none of Them really get challenged mizu's quest for revenge and desire to kill someone because Of their race because her society Taught her that not being Completely japanese is bad But even that isnt really portrayed in a negative light, in the show they tried to make her the victim Of racism but that was never discussed or even brought up Its kind if strange seeing her Forgive taigen so easily and her beleifs are bizarre How she tries to defend the people in japan who Disowned her and saw Her as evil, it makes no Sense. Also with akemi she just Comes off as extremely Unlikeable, bratty & annoying Shes always complaining That she has no freedom which i dont understand Why she thinks this way Being in her time period Youd think shed understand That back then, things were Difficult and gender roles Were strict for not just Women but nen too akemi is by far the Worst character in This show.

[@emperorluffy6001]

Logically I know female heroes can be written well in fiction. Emotionally? I've become exhausted by all the failed attempts and all the frustration and arguments it causes. To the point that I will deliberately avoid any movie/show involving them now when previously I wouldn't have cared and just watched anything. Hell I've become a writer and I've just decided to opt out of writing female characters all together because I'm just so tired of this discussion. I'm just so done with this concept. Thats the damage these so called "empowered females" have caused. Even just typing that makes me cringe. I hope women find the heroes they're looking for one day. Maybe they just gotta be the ones to write this stuff. They're the ones who know what needs to be done.

[@wekasuwi]

I’m satisfied with a lot of female heroes, just not the ones that completely insult our intelligence. All these arguments just make the difference, because discourse there would be no change. We need change, we need heroes like Akemi, like Chihiro.

[@emperorluffy6001]

@@wekasuwiProblem is this argument doesn't actually make a difference. There are a million videos just like this with the same exact title and the same exact points. People have been saying "we don't hate strong female characters we hate bad writing' for well over a decade now. Nothing has changed. Me personally? I've just stopped caring.

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

​​@@emperorluffy6001 That's why I've decided To put upon myself to Write female characters Tbh, I think the issue is This obsession with Gender & everything Being about sexism it's that part that always annoys me & the thing I see so much in media which is a way to portray all women as victims therefore Keeping them from growing or having any flaws or faults.

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

​@@wekasuwi Akemi is not a good character I feel her to be rather selfish & Unlikeable & has contempt For men around her, she's Even shown to be kind of Abusive by slapping her Could be husband & Manipulating him that's Toxic behavior.

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

@emperorluffy6001 My dude I disagree & giving Up is the issue, it's really not that hard to make good Female characters, I honestly don't blame you for giving up seeing how bad these characters Have gotten, but I think it's really easy to fix this issue just make a good character & stop obsessing over Social, political, gender issues also no women aren't going to automatically make it better especially not the ones who are f-menists the hilarious part is men mostly made a lot of these characters & the feminists ruined them & Made them bad so no Women aren't going to Magically fix this issue good writers regardless Of gender will.

[@TheBerkerker]

Feminists 🙄

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

Both mizu & akemi are feminist Characters it's why they are Not that good.

[@TheBerkerker]

@@elongatedmanforever1252 I know

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

@@TheBerkerker They just are selfish & unlikeable I mean how long has it been when we had a new Female character that was new that was likeable & Didn't cry victim 24-7??

[@TheBerkerker]

@@elongatedmanforever1252 Never. 😭 They always are victims

[@elongatedmanforever1252]

@@TheBerkerker that's why I intend to change that.

[@GenericMerchant]

So the only strong woman you can think of is one where they dress up as a man, and act like a man, or go against everything you recommend. Seems like this is more of a you problem, and the reason why every attempt at writing your strong female character ends up as she-hulk is a strong female character problem.

[@wekasuwi]

No, I’m not a writer. I tried to make a point in the video about how Mizu isn’t a common strong female character because she’s had to live in disguise, but that she’s had to break her own expectations of being a woman. Mizu never really has to live as a woman in BES, so therefore Akemi is the example I used as the typical strong female character. Contained stories of women, like Akemi’s, Emily’s (Corpse Bride) and San (Princess Mononoke), round out what the archetype should look like, where some femininity is retained while remaining strong and capable. Maybe I didn’t communicate this well enough..! Still an amateur.

[@GenericMerchant]

I don't know about the anime, but I know the corpse bride is far from a strong independent woman archetype, it's literally in the name. It's not bad writing, it's inherent to the "Strong independent woman" trope. Nobody in the thousands of years of storytelling has done a good one because you can't. You can only get out of the trap by removing one of these three aspects. They're either not strong, not independent, or are just written as a man. @@wekasuwi