Jennifer Lawrence faces Backlash after she comment about female action heroes
4 min read
ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
In a recent interview, Jennifer Lawrence discussed female-led action films, but the “Hunger Games” star took some heat for not quite hitting the mark. According to an interview with fellow actress Viola Davis published on Wednesday by Variety, the Oscar winner reflected on the history of female-led action films. A woman had never been starred in an action movie when I was doing ‘Hunger Games’ – it was said that girls and boys could both identify with a male lead, but boys could not relate to a female lead, Jennifer Lawrence told Davis, who starred in her own action-packed film, “The Woman King” this year.
"We were told girls and boys could both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead," Jennifer Lawrence says of taking on the role of Katniss in #TheHungerGames. https://t.co/TqYPwDLCC4 pic.twitter.com/1qyqqkh8aX
— Variety (@Variety) December 7, 2022
According to the “Silver Linings Playbook” actress, she is always delighted to see a movie that proves women can indeed play these roles. Several tweeters pointed out that Jennifer Lawrence wasn’t the first female action hero, as Sigourney Weaver played a role in the alien movie franchise, Linda Hamilton played a role in the Terminator movies, and Pam Grier played a role in “Foxy Brown” – all of which predated The Hunger Games. According to Franklin Leonard, founder of The Black List, a platform that assists film and TV writers in getting their screenplays read by influential Hollywood figures, it is not true that no woman had ever been in an action movie before Jennifer Lawrence in Hunger Games. Due to this ridiculous belief about who identifies with who, Hollywood has and still does have a real bias against women-driven action movies.
A Comment Made By Jennifer Lawrence About Female Action Heroes Has Drawn Criticism
As the athletic protagonist in The Hunger Games (2012), Jennifer Lawrence wowed moviegoers worldwide. While some have criticized her recent comments, others have reminded her that she is by no means the first woman to lead an action movie. This response follows Variety’s publication of its “Actors on Actors” series, which features Lawrence and Davis. This past year, both actresses appeared in films: Lawrence commanded attention in Causeway, and Davis impressed in The Woman King. A snippet from their conversation was tweeted by Variety on Wednesday afternoon. In the short video, Jennifer Lawrence said, “Nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie since it wouldn’t work — because we were told girls and boys can identify with male leads, but boys cannot identify with female leads,” when I was making Hunger Games. Every single time a movie comes out that blows through those beliefs and proves they are nothing but a lie designed to keep certain people out of movies, I am so happy. Maintaining the status quo for certain people. As a result of Lawrence’s comments, social media backlash quickly erupted.
As critics listed other female A-listers who have starred in action films, her name trended on Twitter. In a tweet, multimedia journalist David Leavitt attacked the actress’s remarks. Clearly, Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t seen Sigourney Weaver’s Alien franchise, he concluded, when she called herself the first woman to star in an action film. A Twitter user at StreamtheVote joked that the Hunger Games actress had indeed been the first female action star. There were also Linda Hamilton, Pam Grier, Michelle Yeoh, Sigourney Weaver, Milla Jovovich, Uma Thurman, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Rodriguez, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Halle Berry listed on the account. Even so, some social media users defended Lawrence, such as Olivia Truffaut-Wong of The Cut. Jennifer Lawrence’s main thesis is correct, but she is wrong about the female-led action movies, she wrote on Wednesday. I am sure that you will learn something if you engage with that.
See: Fans Slam Jennifer Lawrence on Twitter over comment about female action heroes
So Jennifer Lawrence is erasing women's accomplishments so she can take credit for them?
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) December 7, 2022
Lord lol Japanese manga anime & film been producing dope female leads men LOVE for decades , the diff is America doesn’t understand how to do this ORGANICALLY w/o agenda setting, so it’s often rejected https://t.co/oq8Y7f1OqD
— Alt Timeline Hank (@hanx3sports) December 7, 2022
"Nobody had ever"? Hello?
— Angela Rynan Durrell, PRSA/ATAS/CSA (@Rowaenthe) December 7, 2022
V for Vendetta, 2005.
Kill Bill, 2003.
Underworld, 2003.
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, 2001.
The Long Kiss Goodnight, 1996.
ALIENS. 1986.
TERMINATOR 2. 1981.
Michelle Yeoh in damn EVERYTHING.
Those women broke the ground, not Ms. Lawrence.
WTF.
This is a weird take and lies.
— detboi (@iamdetboi) December 7, 2022
This controversy is stupid. Yes, Jennifer Lawrence is wrong about female led action movies, but her main thesis is correct. Engage with that, maybe you'll learn something. https://t.co/34bnr4vAb7
— Olivia Truffaut-Wong (@iWatchiAm) December 7, 2022
Jennifer Lawrence has never seen a movie before the Hunger Games, confirmed.
— Ori (@Ori_Eltanin) December 7, 2022
Angelina Jolie was literally a female action star before hunger games.
— Kthor69BLM (@kthor69) December 7, 2022
She was wrong but the fact that people can list out all of the previous female-led action films in the replies does reinforce the point
— kellie (@KellieVeltri) December 8, 2022
Stop this. Female action stars existed before Jennifer Lawrence.
— SmokinAces (@SmokinAcesMusic) December 7, 2022
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