Hillary Clinton and Martha Stewart-

[Jennifer]

Hillary Clinton and Martha Stewart
Whether you love or dislike them, they are strong, powerful, women in the media today...
1. Do you think they are breaking the "Glass Ceiling" for women or hurting our image?
2. Can you think of any postitive women role models in our midst that don't get enough attention?
3. List one or two inspiring movies that hail women?

[Jess]

I definitely think that these women are breaking the class ceiling. Unfortunately, some of their mistakes have been highlighted and blown out of proportion by the media. Not that I think they are angels by any means, but I think that their negative actions have drawn more attention then their male counterparts. I have respect for both of them.

One positive role model that I like to mention is Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Ms. Hutchinson has done some extensive research on American history and wrote a book about some of the little known women that made a huge impact on American history. I very much enjoyed the book and appreciate the work she did to write it.

I have mentioned "A League of Their Own" on this page before. I think that movie is so inspiring and really pays tribute to the women of that time.

[Jennifer]

Excellent! I will have to add "A league of their own" to my queue- I loved Elizabeth, but the sequal was not near as good- Elizabeth, The Golden Age.
As far as strong women- once again, back to England and with Margaret Thatcher. Talk about women breaking "GLASS CEILINGS!"
I completely agree with you Jess, as far as Hillary and Martha being singled out, more pointedly because they are successful. It does seem skewed, like if the tables were turned and these women were men, they wouldn't nearly recieve the over-abundance of negative press!
Some movies that I thought were great with strong female leads- North Country, Monster, Sherrybaby, Kamikaze Girls, Waitress, Harold and Maude, and Raise the Red Lantern...
With all that being said- I think that the most outstanding female lead actresses are Jodie Foster and Anjelica Huston

[Jess]

You are so right about Jodie Foster! She is my favorite actress. Thanks for the great list of movies I will have some of them. Monster was such a great movie. I felt so bad for her in the end and it was a hard movie to watch.

[Jennifer]

Yes- Charlize Theron has done an excellent job! I love how versatile she is- She's the whole package- gorgeous, smart, and a fabulous actress!

[Joe Jones]

Addressing the topic: I am not a fan of Martha Stewart but I do like Hilary, in spite of her "standing by her man". Rather than being judged as a force in their respective fields, they are judged differently than men which, in my mind, is not fair. But, I think they "play the game" like men, which should not be necessary, but it is to their credit that they do so. As for the movies you mentioned, Cate Blanchett has overtaken Meryl Streep as the best female actor (IMO) and you can add Veronica Guerin (the real person as well as the actress, The Missing and The Gift. I just watched Raise The Red Lantern again today (outstanding) and you may want to check out To Live which I watched again yesterday. If you are an NF member you can see the review I posted yesterday. As for Outstanding female actors, to your select company I would add Helen Mirren, who along with Cate B. owns the Elizabeth franchise, Juliette Binoche (particularly Blue & The Widow Of St. Pierre, among others) and Naomi Watts (21 Grams, The Painted Veil and Ellie Parker, among others). I hope I have not overstayed my welcome.

[beeswax]

Just providing links to some of Joe Jones's picks, which are all very interesting.

Veronica Guerin - Joe is right; it is another standout performance from CB. I do wish the film could've had a stronger director than Joel Schumacher. But if his only strength seems to lie in casting his pictures, he does it again here. Okay, I'll shut up now.
The Missing
The Gift
Raise the Red Lantern
To Live
Elizabeth I - with Helen Mirren
Elizabeth - with Cate Blanchett
Blue
The Widow of St. Pierre
21 Grams
The Painted Veil
Ellie Parker

Cheers, Joe! Pardon my short editorial.

[beeswax]

I like films that show a more complicated view of women's relationships than is typical in a Hollywood movie. Well, let's face it. In a typical Hollywood movie, all of a woman's relationships are with men.

I enjoyed the look at female friendship in the films Me Without You and Walking and Talking.

There's a great movie, based on a memoir by one of the daughters, about a family that must deal with the upheavals caused by the parents' -- and especially the mother's -- involvement in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. I cannot think of a movie that operates on so many relationship levels at once, and has such good acting, as A World Apart.

And to give another example of a movie about a real woman engaged with the real world, and shown with complexity onscreen, I highly recommend the movie Silkwood.

Nice idea for a forum. I hope I was "on topic."

[Jennifer]

Hey Beesy:)
I just added your movies to my list- thanks for coming over to the WOMAN group:)
Jennifer

[MovieGirl]

I thought I'd add my two cents - although my view may not be popular. I don't care for either Martha or Hillary. I think there's a difference between strong and power/money-hungry. I prefer women who are strong, but less egotistical and not spotlight-chasers.

I think there's probably thousands, if not millions, of women who are role models, but who don't get much attention either because they want it that way, or because they are truly good people who don't require the public accolades.

I loved Iron Jawed Angels, an HBO movie with Hilary Swank about a group of suffragettes between 1912-1920. Strong performances about strong women and a good story.

[beeswax]

Apropos of Jennifer's original post, and of Movie Girl's remarks about the unsung women in our midst, I can recommend the period piece Housewife, 49, based on the WWII diaries of a "typical" British woman on the homefront.

Her diaries were solicited as part of a government project studying the effects of the war on a cross-section of the public, and were published posthumously as a book in the 1980s. Victoria Wood adapted the diaries to a tv screenplay and plays the lead role beautifully. The whole movie is a quiet portrait, painted in subtle tones.

I can compare it favorably to the perceptive reality of Imelda Staunton and Mike Leigh's work on Vera Drake.

[MovieGirl]

Thanks, Bees. I added it.

[Joe Jones]

Thank you for the recommendation, beeswax. I loved Vera Drake so a favorable comparison to it is high praise indeed.