EnterTeenment News Presents: Girl Power
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Five upcoming films. Five heroines. The odds are ever in our favor.
by Stacy Phay
We made it. “The Hunger Games” is finally opening this week. It was rough going for a little while there but Lionsgate has been kind enough to give us teases and hold events to keep our minds off the wait. The March 23 opening marks the beginning of a trend we hope continues in films for a long time to come – empowered young women. Just after “The Hunger Games” makes its debut, the highly anticipated Julia Roberts/Lily Collins showdown begins in “Mirror Mirror,” and the even more anticipated new look Kristen Stewart comes to “Snow White and the Huntsman,” Scarlett Johansson shows the world she can play with the big boys in “Marvel’s The Avengers” and a “Brave” Princess Merida marks the first time a female hero is the focus of a Disney animated feature film.
(Please note: If you are not familar with "The Hunger Games" or "Snow White" this article contains some spoilers…read at your own risk!)
Girl on Fire
Meet Katniss Everdeen. Her world is filled with death, disparity and poverty. In a post-apocalyptic North America Katniss lives in District 12 of the country known as Panem. Her district is responsible for providing coal for the Capitol. As with many coal mining cities, a tragic mine explosion took the life of her father, whom she had a close relationship. He taught her to hunt, to use a bow and arrow, to fend for herself. And then he was gone. Her mother took the loss hard, and for most of her life Katniss has been taking care of her younger sister Prim and their mother. Feeding them, keeping them safe.
Katniss and her best friend Gale, who also lost his father in the mine accident, illegally enter the woods of District 12 every day to hunt for food, their district is one of the more poverty stricken of Panem and the monthly rations the Capitol has set out for them don’t even begin to end the starvation everyone faces. A fact that helps the governing body within District 12 look the other way as Katniss and Gale sell and trade their meat to the people of the Hob, an illegal bartering area within the district. Gale is constantly suggesting the two of them run off and rebel against the Capitol. Katniss just wants to feed her family.
That is Katniss’s back story. In “The Hunger Games” (both the film and the book) we meet her on Reaping Day. Each year the Capitol, a government city ruled by fear and intimidation, holds The Hunger Games. Twenty-four kids enter an arena, one survives. It is the Capitol’s way of ensuring the citizens of Panem never again revolt against them. On Reaping Day each district must gather in their main square and watch as one girl and one boy, ages ranging from 12 – 18, are picked to compete in the Games. On this day it is the first time 12-year-old Prim is entered in the drawing. So when her name is pulled as the female tribute, instinct immediately kicks in and Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place in the arena, she’ll die before she lets anything happen to her family.
This act sets off a chain reaction of events Katniss never imagined, and we get to watch her grow into the Girl on Fire right before our eyes. Katniss and her fellow tribute Peeta Mellark travel to the Capitol after tearful goodbyes, her desperate plea to Gale to keep her family safe and a promise to Prim that she will win for her. Every action and every emotion in “The Hunger Games” is seen and felt through Katniss’s eyes. So it is through her that we learn about each district, meet new and interesting people, and find out a shocking revelation by Peeta that puts Katniss in even more dangerous positions as she enters the arena.
The odds are definitely stacked against our young host. Her team of handlers includes a drunk former tribute, Haymitch Abernathy, who’s wits afforded him an unlikely win in the games 20 years ago (no one from the district has won since) and a colorful PR rep, Effie Trinket, who’s hair color and outrageous outfits match well with her over-the-top personality, it is her constant need to stay on schedule that keeps Katniss and Peeta on their toes and reminds us that for the Capitol, sending kids to die is just another day at the office. And to really send that message home, so to speak, the Games are broadcast Panem wide and hosted by Caesar Flickerman on TV and Claudius Templesmith who's voice is heard announcing different crucial points in the Games.
Fellow district tributes include a handful of kids who’s sole purpose is to enter and win the games, they’ve been trained all their lives for this moment and have no qualms about killing each other and anyone else in order to win. Gamesmaker Seneca Crane has ensured the tributes have a lot to do in the arena, aside from hunting each other, and President Snow is evil personified as he continues to show his might by holding these games each year.
It isn’t all bad for our heroine though. Her stylist Cinna is soft-spoken, preferring his clothing designs speak for him. It is through his support, and sleek styles, that Katniss and Peeta become the most talked about tributes entering the arena (though other factors help this along as well) and in the arena a young tribute named Rue becomes a very useful ally.
As we journey through the 74th Annual Hunger Games with Katniss we watch her grow from a scared young woman who just wants to win to save her family, into a fighter who will stop at nothing for the things she loves. Finding out along the way that her strength and love for her family mixed with her unwillingness to play by the rules will help her win and incite a new rebellion.
It is Katniss’s vulnerability that makes her someone we can relate to. It is her willingness to fight for her family that makes us watch, and it is the choices she faces that makes her someone we root for. In the end, she’s strong and smart and willing to show herself as flawed and that gives us hope.
Having a strong female character requires a strong female onscreen presence. Stepping in to those shoes is Jennifer Lawrence, who is no stranger to strong females, having just starred in “X-Men: First Class” as the young Mystique. In searching for their Katniss, the filmmakers knew that the actor playing her had to connect with audiences and be believable. Jennifer was not the popular choice when fans first heard she had been given the role, but it took no time at all for them to fall in love with her as Katniss.
“The Hunger Games” movie facts: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth play Katniss, Peeta and Gale. Woody Harrelson plays Haymitch and Lenny Kravitz is Cinna. Elizabeth Banks dons the outrageous wigs and make-up as Effie as does Stanley Tucci as Caesar. Toby Jones is Claudius Templesmith. Wes Bentley plays Head Gamesmaker Seneca Crane and Donald Sutherland is President Snow. Fellow tributes include Alexander Ludwig as Cato, Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove, Amandla Stenberg as Rue, Dayo Okeniyi as Thresh, Levan Rambin as Glimmer, Jack Quaid as Marvel and Jacqueline Emerson as Fox Face. Gary Ross directed the film from a script co-written by himself and Hunger Games trilogy author Suzanne Collins, along with screenwriter Billy Ray. Lionsgate is releasing the film on Friday, March 23 (as if you weren’t already in line!) and it is Rated PG-13.
The Fairest of Them All
Snow White is about to get two new updates. And both tell her story in ways that we’ve never seen. In “Mirror Mirror” the theme is laughter and color despite the dark storyline the fairy tale has always carried beneath it. Surely you know it, or, at least have seen one telling of the tale. From Disney’s animated “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” classic to the recent TV series “Once Upon a Time” the things we know are as follows: there’s an evil queen, a talking mirror, seven dwarves, a poisonous apple and, of course, a handsome prince.
In Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” Snow is a young woman who is declared “the fairest of them all” by the all-knowing magic mirror, throwing her stepmother, the Queen, into a frenzy, it is she that should be considered fairest, after all. The Queen orders a huntsman to take Snow into the forest and kill her, demanding he bring back her heart in a box as proof the deed is completed. Taking pity on the young woman, the huntsman begs Snow’s forgiveness, lets her go without harm, and returns to the castle with a pig’s heart in the box. Snow is taken in by seven adult dwarves; Happy, Sneezy, Bashful, Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy and Doc, who live in a small cozy cottage in the woods and cheerfully whistle while they work.
Back in the castle, the mirror continues to proclaim Snow the fairest of them all, and the Queen figures out that the huntsman never killed her. Disguised as an old fragile woman wandering the forest, she gives Snow a poisonous apple and bam, she’s gone. But wait! The handsome Prince Charming finds Snow, kisses her, and she is saved. Meanwhile after finding Snow dead on the forest floor, the dwarves seek revenge on the Queen and watch as the cliff she is standing on gives way and she falls to her demise. All this with songs and cute furry animals and all that Disney can muster to make this story seem like a happy one.
“Once Upon a Time” keeps with that general storyline while tweaking it slightly to fit in with their fairy tale characters living in the real world premise. There is no singing, and furry creatures do not guide Snow’s way to the Dwarves cottage.
In an all-new telling, “Mirror Mirror” mixes the Disneyfied version of the tale with its own twist on the classic. Visually the film keeps in the realm of the colorfulness Disney brought to its animation, if not bringing it over the top and there is much laughter to be had as the Queen sets forward her plan to keep Snow out of the way and her evil plans constantly go awry. Where previous tellings show Snow as a lost young woman or damsel in distress, “Mirror Mirror” turns her into a heroine who ultimately decides it is her duty to save her kingdom and take her rightful place as leader.
After her father goes mysteriously missing, Snow’s evil stepmother, the Queen, takes over the throne and banishes Snow to the palace, keeping her hidden from the outside world. Despite her predicament, Snow attracts the favor of a young, rich prince. Hoping to get to the said riches the Queen banishes Snow to the forest in the hopes that he prince will forget about the young woman and marry her instead.
Snow is, of course, taken in by a band of kindhearted dwarves. None of which bears the name Happy, Dopey, Sneezy or anything else resembling the lightheartedness the other story invoked. They are Napoleon, Half Pint, Grub, Grimm, Wolf, Butcher and Chuckles. Incidentally none of them whistle while they work either. Where the Disney story portrays the dwarves as happy to be working in a mine near their forest cottage, “Mirror Mirror” shows them as thieves, who steal from passersby just to get by. Having been banished by the Queen for their lack of height, they have every reason to want to help Snow fight back.
When searching for their Snow, the filmmakers wanted to be sure she had the perfect mixture of beauty and fight. They wanted audiences to believe this young woman was capable of fighting back when the need arose. They found that in Lily Collins, who was just recently seen in “Abduction” alongside Taylor Lautner.
“Mirror Mirror” movie facts: Julia Roberts stars as the evil queen, Nathan Lane stars as her bumbling sidekick Brighton, Armie Hammer is the handsome prince and Lily Collins is Snow White. The dwarves are played by Jordan Prentice, Mark Povinelli, Joe Gnoffo, Danny Woodburn, Sebastian Saraceno, Marin Klebba and Ronald Lee Clark. Sean Bean plays the King and Mare Winningham plays a helpful baker. The film is being released by Relativity Media on March 30 and is Rated PG.
The theme of “Snow White and the Huntsman” continues what we know about the general story, but puts Snow in a more science fiction, fantasy, running for her life scenario. When the evil queen attempts to kill Snow and cut out her heart (eating it would restore her status as the fairest) Snow makes a daring escape and runs for the woods where she again encounters seven dwarves. In this telling the dark hearted queen calls on a Huntsman who “is not afraid of the forest” to hunt down Snow and bring back her heart – a fearless huntsman is needed due to the fact that there is a monster lurking in the forest. Instead of killing her, the huntsman helps train her to fight back against the Queen. This is a much darker take on the fairy tale, using state of the art technology to make trees and mirrors and monsters come to life and bringing vibrant color to the otherwise grey world of the forest any time Snow is in its presence. As in “Mirror Mirror,” Snow is the savior of the kingdom. Her taking back her birthright means the end of the evil reign the heartless Queen has been ruling under.
Audiences have been watching Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan for nearly five years now. This version of Snow White is in stark contrast to that role. Audiences and fans and everyone in between have been anxious to see what Kristen will do next. Battling Charlize Theron for who can eat the most screen time seemed to be the best idea in the world. Kristen has already shown that she can portray a strong woman who gets what she wants, now we get to see how well she wields a sword.
“Snow White and the Huntsman” movie facts: Kristen Stewart dons a set of armor and picks up a sword as Snow, Charlize Theron puts on her creepiest villain voice at the Evil Queen and Chris Hemsworth steps up to the plate as the Huntsman. Playing the Prince destined to be betrothed to Snow is “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” newcomer Sam Claflin. Showing that they are not afraid of a challenge, the filmmakers cast Ray Winstone, Nick Frost and Bob Hoskins as dwarves. None of whom are diminutive in size. The film will be released on June 1 by Universal Pictures and is not yet rated.
Playing With the Boys
Female superheroes are not a rare thing. Thankfully comic book creators have, for centuries, been ensuring that women get equal footing in the hero world and even as the villains in many instances, and for that we’re grateful. So it is not with any surprise that the upcoming Avengers film includes a strong female amongst their ranks. Joining Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk and Hawkeye is Black Widow, first seen on screen in “Iron Man 2,” Black Widow is an integral part of the Avengers team as they battle evil forces and save Earth from obliteration.
Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, is a skilled assassin, spy, martial artist armed with specialized weapons. Her unique talents are what Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. rely on as he counts her as one of his top agents. When Loki returns to Earth to seek revenge, it is Black Widow who helps Fury assemble The Avengers to battle the pending destruction of the planet.
One of the most anticipated movies of the summer, “Marvel’s The Avengers” has been shrouded in secrecy since everyone involved signed on the dotted line. What we know is this: after his defeat against Thor (in the movie of the same name) Loki, whom we find is Thor’s brother, retreats to an unknown location to plan his revenge. Instead of taking his beef up with his brother, who is now protecting us humans here on Earth, Loki wages war on the entire planet. Finding out about this pending attack, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury assembles a team of superheroes and The Avengers is born. As mentioned, joining forces are Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow. Each has their own unique set of skills, and each has their own baggage. The question is, will they be able to get along well enough to save the world?
Scarlett Johansson has been proving she’s a force in Hollywood for many years. She has shown that she can play both soft, sultry roles and fierce sexy ones. She is one of the few beautiful actresses who can step into a scene with some of Hollywood’s hottest hunks and not be overshadowed by them.
“Marvel’s The Avengers” movie facts: Most of the cast are people we’ve already seen in character. Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man, Chris Evans is Captain America, Chris Hemsworth is Thor, Scarlett Johansson is Black Widow and Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury. We’ve also seen Gwenyth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson. And of course Loki is once again played by Tom Hiddleston. Joining them are Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. “How I Met Your Mother” alum Cobie Smulders plays Maria Hill. The film is written and directed by TV, film and comic book mastermind Joss Whedon. The film will be released on May 5 by Marvel Entertainment, Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures.
Breaking the Mold
Go through any of the Disney animated catalog of films and you will find one major theme. The hero is always the handsome prince. While many of the female characters in those movies are not damsels in distress by any means, the through line is there. Princess in peril, handsome man to the rescue, love, happily ever after. Well. The folks at Disney are breaking their own mold with the upcoming animated feature “Brave.”
Princess Merida is no ordinary girl. She’s an expert archer and has her own plans for her destiny, despite what the Scottish folklore has in store for her. Merida’s decision to buck tradition sets in motion a chain reaction of chaos and fury in her kingdom and she must use her wits, skills and resources to fight back against peril. This marks the first time a fairy tale character is not built around seeking the perfect partner, finding more than one suitor in most cases, and sitting back while they fight for her hand in marriage. In “Brave” Merida goes against everything set forth for her and builds her own destiny. Bringing a new tradition to the Disney/Pixar fold and ensuring this will soon be up there as one of the classics.
Kelly Macdonald voices Princess Merida. Kelly is a Scottish actor who has starred in many independent features. Fans might recognize her name, she played Helena Ravenclaw in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.”
“Brave” movie facts: The list of actors voicing characters reads like a who’s who of award winners and recognizable names. Playing Merida’s parents King Fergus and Queen Elinor are Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson. The unruly and uproarious lords of the land are played by Craig Ferguson, Kevin McKidd and Robbie Coltrane (he is also of “Harry Potter” fame, playing Hagrid in all 8 films). Julie Walters voices an eccentric Witch. The film will be released in June by Pixar Animation and Walt Disney Pictures and is not yet rated.