Rebecca Hall On Strong Female Characters: “We Need To Be Villains Too”

“There’s been a sort of trend for awhile of people writing strong women as women who are morally right, which is so uninteresting. It’s no fun and frankly it’s a massive disservice to womankind. It boxes us in to making these sort of slightly dull, virtuous choices… We need to be villains too. We need to be messy and sloppy and three-dimensional and complicated, and that’s writing a strong woman.”—Rebecca Hall tells it like it is about female characters while discussing her new movie Closed Circuit.

Preach it, Ms. Hall. People all too often throw around the phrase “strong female character” like there’s only one way for a female character to be strong. You know what I’m talking about: Your butt kicking, heroic, “don’t need anybody but myself” badass. And she’s great! But she’s not enough. Give us female characters who are physically strong and physically weak. Morally bad and morally good. Mentally secure and struggling to keep it together. Give us female characters who are strong by virtue of being actual, complex human beings.

And yes, while you’re at it, give us more female villains. Those are my jam.

(via: The Wrap)

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