Filmmaker James Cameron
has created some of the most empowering roles for women. His devotion to the art of film and his
creativity has been expressed in the form of aliens, robots and underwater
adventures. It is worth dissecting and
delving deeper into the roles that his actresses have championed and
accomplished in the 1980s.
For his first full
feature film “The Terminator”, James Cameron casted the role of Sarah Connor
with Linda Hamilton, whose towering performance is not to be forgotten. The film is set in 1980s Los Angeles with
Sarah Connor, a local waitress, being hunted and protected by two figures from
the future. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays
the role of the killer robot out to kill Connor, while Michael Biehn plays the
soldier from the future out to protect her and her unborn son. In this film we see Linda Hamilton transform
from an everyday woman who does her part to survive modern life into the hero
that the future needs. This is one of
the most empowering roles for women in modern film history because it shows an
actress who is at once vulnerable, scared and yet willing to risk it all for a
soldier she doesn’t know. As an audience
we can feel every nervous emotion she displays on screen yet we are not surprised
when she overcomes her own fears to save herself and the future that she is
being warned of. In fact we cheer for
her bravery as it is not only necessary for the film’s plot but also because it
is believable, exciting and inspiring all at once. Few films had shown this type of character
arc in an actress and both James Cameron and Linda Hamilton deserve top credit
for starting a trend in having women be taken seriously as action movie
stars. This film is not only one of the
best of the 1980s but also of the 20th century for its tale of
hidden strength and towering determination to save the world from the monsters
that lurk in the dark. And what better
actress to save the world from such monsters than the loving and motherly
personality of Sarah Connor, whom Linda Hamilton embodied perfectly in the
first of The Terminator series.
James Cameron’s next
film “Aliens” was another landmark in the progression of strong female lead
characters for action movies. Though
Sigourney Weaver picked up this role from the previous “Alien” film, her
performance in the sequel was expanded on, giving her more screen time and
action scenes. This gave audiences one
of the most surprising and empowering roles for women that had rarely been seen
up to this point in time. Weaver plays
Ellen Ripley, a space crew member who has been lost in sleep for 57 years and
is called back in to help the US Marines rescue colonists on a distant
planet. The film is packed with
suspenseful action scenes and gore between the muscular Marines and the
terrifying aliens; brought to life by the original mind of Swiss artist H.R.
Giger. Weaver’s portrayal of Ellen
Ripley never lets down. Throughout the
movie she is bold, fierce and yet vigorously protective over the young girl
Newt. This is made especially evident in
the film’s finale when Ripley risks her life to save Newt from the clutches of
the Queen Alien, who towers over the others in size and resilience. The sheer size of the Queen makes Ripley’s triumph
over her all the more rewarding because it is in that moment that this female
character defeats another one of James Cameron’s monsters. Ripley’s triumph over the Queen and
resilience throughout the film makes Sigourney Weaver stand out as one of the
most respected action heroes of the 1980s.
Her performance and Cameron’s imagination make this another landmark
film for action movie fans and strong women alike.
