2022 gave us many things to be grateful for, and among them is how writers have captured the ability to convey aggressive women in TV and film. Past portrayals of violence in films like “American Psycho,” “The Shining,” and “Joker” have fostered the idea that aggression is exclusively a male trait. However, as women challenge male violence both on screen and in real life, new films and TV series have begun to reflect this unabashedly.

Though films have formerly oversexualized female protagonists for the benefit of male viewers, films like “Jennifer’s Body” (2009) are being reclaimed by women today as they seem to relate to the female ferocity of characters like Jennifer, who seeks revenge by consuming men. The horror genre is known for punishing its female characters, though after centuries of bimbo deaths and oversexualized heroines, 2022 was the year that contemporary cinema seemed to have finally understood how to portray violent women. 

Ti West’s “Pearl” made waves last year as it starred the titular character (Mia Goth), a young farm girl who is driven to insanity in pursuing her dreams of becoming a star and escaping from her mundane life on the farm. Though Pearl is depicted to be a psychotic woman in the 1900s, viewers still found a way to relate to her.

A clip from the A24 film was popularized as an audio on TikTok in which Pearl shrieks at her suitor, “Why are you leaving me if I didn’t do anything wrong? I don’t understand, I thought you liked me!” Users were able to poke fun as they related to Pearl’s manic episode. “Pearl” is the prequel to “X” (2022), following a cast and crew of a 1970’s adult film as they discover the secret horrors of the rural property, Goth donning both the role of a haggard old woman as well as a rising adult film star.

Florence Pugh’s performance in Ari Aster’s “Midsommar” (2019) explored female grief in a way that can be translated to the lives of many women. The protagonist Dani (Pugh) searches for a sense of belonging in a Swedish cult as she suffers unimaginable grief, which she finds during a riveting scene where a session of hysterical crying is shared between Dani and the women of the cult. 

This depiction of raw fury and pain shared by a group of women is what sets it apart from your average breakdown scene. This scene is not focused on how the women’s makeup looks when they cry, nor making them seem weak or fragile for the sake of preserving the audience’s comfort. The act of crying has been established as an erratic feminine act, though “Midsommar” defines this as an inscrutable pain synergized among women rather than repressed.

As female characters with such complexities are created, female brutality on screen now explores the depths that women are capable of. The start of 2022 was graced with Zendaya’s performance as the bipolar Rue Bennett on HBO’s “Euphoria.” This season, we watched as Rue’s battle with addiction destroyed relationships with her loved ones. Zendaya and Nika King delivered an Emmy-winning performance as the mother-daughter duo duked it out in the Bennett home as substances drive Rue to insanity. She exhibits pure rage as she storms through the house, destroying everything in her path. “You wish I was different?” She shrieks. “So do I!” This resonates with audiences so deeply because this dialogue conveys how women are often made to resent their imperfections, and Zendaya’s portrayal of such an unhinged character is what brings this ferocity to life.

As this element of womanhood is unearthed in Hollywood, viewers are able to watch their own pain, grief or terror represented through such characters. It is crucial for the duality of women to be depicted in such a way that is real rather than picturesque, allowing the story being told to be more true-to-life. This reinforces the notion that women showing emotion should be just that, and should not aim to be repressed nor attractive. Meanwhile, psychotic characters like Pearl are just as thrilling to witness, offering the fantasy that a woman could become so deranged and act without reason. 

To quote activist Elana Dykewomon: “Almost every woman I have ever met has a secret belief that she is just on the edge of madness, that there is some deep, crazy part within her, that she must be on guard constantly against ‘losing control’ — of her temper, of her appetite, of her sexuality, of her feelings, of her ambition, of her secret fantasies, of her mind.”

Share