5 Strong Fictional Female Characters in Film

Denis Makarenko/Shutterstock.com

They are bold, strong, ambitious, and unrelenting depending on the role they play. A strong female presence on screen is something to be reckoned with. Coupled with excellent writing, these following ladies breathe life into the scripts they take on no matter what it is. However, the following movies make them even more captivating. We will look at characters played by Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton (Jane Fonda as well), Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, and Angela Bassett. We will also look at quotes movies like: “Changeling,” “Waiting to Exhale,” “Erin Brockovich,” and “The Devil Wear Prada.” Allow these characters to take you back into awe, inspiration, or wonder. Love or hate them, they are certainly memorable.

Doralee Rhodes

Feature Flash Photo Agency/Shutterstockcom

Doralee Rhodes was smart and sexy in “9-5”. Dolly Parton played the Southern secretary in the 1980 American comedy also starring Jane Fonda, Dabney Coleman, and Lily Tomlin. She was suspected by the girls in the office of sleeping with her boss, Mr. Hart. The truth she was not, and found friends in a very hostile environment in Violet and Judy Bernly (Judy Fonda and Lily Tomlin) when they found out the truth. They all banded together to oust their boss for his harassment. I just love Doralee Rhodes, what spunk! She told Mr. Hart (Dabney Coleman): "So, you've been tellin' everybody I've been sleepin' with ya, huh? Well that explains it! That's why these people treat me like some dime-store floozy. They think I'm screwin' the boss! Oooh, and you just love it, don't you?" You tell him.

Christine Collins

PAN Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com

Angelina Jolie played Christine Collins in the gripping 2008 drama “Changeling,” about a mother who comes home and her son Walter is missing. Collins looks to the LAPD to help her find her son, but they pass the wrong son to her to quiet the bad press. Refusing to give up, this mother never gave of hope for Walter to return, and would not accept the department lies. Christine Collins: “He's not my son!” Capt. J.J. Jones: “Why are you doing this, Mrs. Collins? Why are you doing this? You seem perfectly capable of taking care of the boy. Your job pays you enough to attend to his personal needs, so I don't understand why you're running away from your responsibilities as a mother.” Christine Collins: “I am not running away from anything! Least of all my responsibilities! I am even taking care of that boy right now, because I am all he has! What worries me is that you have stopped looking for my son!" This moment in the film was really moving to see the power of not giving up hope.

Erin Brockovich

Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com

The biographical film Erin Brockovich was released in 2000 starring Julia Roberts, who was unemployed and decided to hire a lawyer Ed Masry after being in a car accident. This led to a job at the attorney’s office as a legal assistant where Brockovich took down PG&E, a power company that was killing a California community water system with its pollution. During a meeting with PG&E regarding a settlement Brockovich said: "First of all, since the demur we have more than 400 plaintiffs and let's be honest, we all know there are more out there. They may not be the most sophisticated people but they do know how to divide and $20 million isn't [anything] when you split it between them. Second of all, these people don't dream about being rich. They dream about being able to watch their kids swim in a pool without worrying that they'll have to have a hysterectomy at the age of 20.”

Meryl Streep

Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) became pretty popular as many of us have dealt with a bad boss along the way somewhere. The film hit a nerve, and Meryl Streep, who starred as Miranda Priestly was simply amazing as a cold-hearted editor-in-chief at a fashion magazine. Her new personal assistant Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) struggles to survive under the tyranny. Priestly, in one of her conversations with an assistant is cunning: “Details of your incompetence do not interest me. Tell Simone I'm not going to approve that girl that she sent me for the Brazilian layout. I asked for clean, athletic, smiling. She sent me dirty, tired and paunchy. Call Natalie at Glorious Foods and tell her no for the 40th time. I want tortes filled with warm rhubarb compote. Then call my ex-husband and remind him that the parent-teacher conference is at Dalton tonight. Then call my husband, ask him to meet me for dinner at that place I went to with Massimo. Tell Richard I saw the pictures that he sent for that feature on the female paratroopers and they're all so deeply unattractive.” We all pray we never have an encounter with a Priestly.

Angela Bassett

Joe Seer/Shutterstock.com

Bernadine "Bernie" Harris (Angela Bassett) in “Waiting to Exhale” in 1995 made all women stand up in the theater applauding the scene where she took her cheating husband’s clothes--lit them on fire in the front yard. She sold the rest of his clothes for one buck, and burned his car! Here is the exchange with the firefighter after a neighbor complained of the fire and commotion. Fireman: “Ma'am, were you aware that your car was on fire?” [Bernadine nods her head while smoking a cigarette]. Fireman: “Ma'am, did you start this fire [she puffs smoke looks at him]?” Fireman: “You know, it's against the law to burn anything except trash in your yard.” Bernadine Harris: “It is trash [Flicks off the ashes from her cigarette].” Fireman: “Look, this is a nice area. Luckily, a neighbor cared enough. Listen, the next time you want to burn something.” Bernadine Harris replies: “It won't happen again.” Wow, talk about not forgiving!

Love the Drama

These are fictional people, but they are so intriguing. They make us feel empowered, angry, or give us a reason to overcome life challenges. We see this with Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman,” who plays Vivian. Vivian always wanted her prince to come and hoped to overcome a rough childhood. She did find her man in Richard Gere, but there was a deeper sadness and conflict for Vivian. “When I was a little girl, my mama used to lock me in the attic when I was bad, which was pretty often? I would pretend I was a princes trapped in a tower by a wicked queen. And then suddenly this knight, on a white horse with these colors flying would come charging up and draw his sword. And I would wave. And he would climb up the tower and rescue me," she said. Movies allow us to take or discard what we want or don't want. The powerful presence of many female fictional characters will always influence and make us see our humanity.

Finding Christian Theology in Film

Christian themes are prevalent in many popular movies. Read next feature >