Women are badasses. Pure, unapologetic, and relentless badasses. Men may try to run the world, but it’s only to win the women that rule it. At least, that’s what women want us to think.
Ellen Ripley. Sarah Connor. Clarice Starling. Buffy Summers. Jackie Brown. River Tam. Billie Jean Davey. Catherine Tramell. Catwoman. Trinity. Leia Organa. The Bride. Barbarella. Nikita. Private Vasquez. Erin Brockovich. Senator Laine Hanson. Wilma McClatchie. Mrs. Robinson. Queen Elizabeth (as played by Cate Blanchett). Coffy. Norma Rae. Juno MacGuff. Carolina (as played by Salma “I create car accidents wherever I walk” Hayek). Selene (as played by Kate Beckinsale). Chris Parker (as played by Elisabeth “don’t f–k with the Babysitter” Shue). Satanico Pandemonium. Xenia Onatopp. Lt. Uhura. Mallory Knox. Effie Melody. Lily Dillon. Myra Langtry. Dian Fossey. Bonnie Parker. Charlie’s Angels (Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz). The witches living in Eastwick. G.I. Jane. Thelma. Louise. Annie Savoy. Alex Forrest. Miss Daisy. Suzanne Stone Maretto. Miranda Priestley. Annie Wilkes. Sidney Bristow. Veronica Mars. LeeLoo ‘Moolti-pass.’ Mrs. Smith (without the Mister). Michelle Yeoh (in anything). Debbie Allen. Wendy O. Williams. And Miss Piggy.
(Definitely not Laura Dern in JURASSIC PARK. She almost destroys the whole concept – as you can witness below. But I digress…..)
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These are badasses who live on their own terms, and make the rest of us work harder to meet their standards. Who cares if they’re women? In fact, who cares if they’re men? A badass doesn’t care what you think. A badass just lives the life of a badass – it’s a lifestyle choice and lifelong attitude that is nongender specific, nondiscriminatory, and nonsense if you feel otherwise.
So with that in mind–
–thinking in those badass terms–
–my question to all who read this……
….is Lady GaGa a badass?
Stop laughing.
Don’t shake your head.
Put your middle fingers away. And hear me out.
I’ve heard of her. Never can recall listening to her. She’s certainly stirring up the public’s imagination and keeping TMZ busy with her outrageous… everything.
But is she a badass?
Based on this newest video of hers… and keeping in mind my definition of a ‘badass’…
I’m leaning towards yes.
Some of you may lean towards no.
Watch the video (NSFW) and decide.
Leave comments of thrilled engagement or head-shaking ‘whatever’ down below…
Yes!! Lady Gaga is definitely a BADASS. I sat close to her at the American Music Awards and I had no idea who she was at the time. I had to ask the person next to me because this lady was a badass!! She sat in the front row, she came strolling in late during smoking a cigarette inside the theatre. She tossed the cig onto the carpet and put it out with her stylettos, as her bosom bearing gown that revealed she had no bra (nor bosoms for that matter) on captured everyone’s attention (and snickers). But she is badass, so didn’t care about the ruckus. It was only later that she showed us how truly badass she is, as she tore up the piano on stage and had us all in amazement. The woman is badass!!
Dude… Coffey should have been on the list BEFORE Ripley & Sarah Conner. As should have been Foxxy Brown followed by an entire paragraph about how female, cinematic badassery BEGINS and ENDS with Pam Grier. She is the gold standard, Bubba. She is also the only women to be on your list twice. (should have been three- see above) You rightly listed “Jackie Brown” as created by Elmore Leonard and QT which would make her numbers alone greater than any of those other women. You also failed to point out that ALL female filmic ass whipping begins in genre films. Not only were there the outright action heroines of the 1970’s but the real revolution began with horror films. If you look at films like “Night of the Living Dead”, “Texas Chainsaw”, “Halloween”, “I Spit on your Grave”, “Carrie”, and many other titles. Even to some extent in Italian Giallo films you will see the development of the physically capable female.
Blackslpoitation films were already jumping face first over boundaries. A chick that could kick any ass presented her wasn’t even a stretch for those making films of that nature. Pam Grier is at the top of the list of female ball-stompers and every single chick firing a gun in a movie since as sprung from her. None of the current crop you have listed even come close to the true ferociousness, raw sexuality, and feeling that Pam has. None of them you listed, outside of Ripley & Sarah Conner (not the TV one) could even come close to matching the physical prowess of Pam Grier. You could even say that because Grier’s characters are more savvy and, in the end, sane than Ripley or Sarah she still holds the top spot. Ripley is a fractured mass of PTSD that, in the end, is merely lashing out at her tormentors in a reactionary way… and Sarah Conner is Ahab in a handbasket, bugfuck nuts. So Grier wins hands fucking down and shame on you for not pointing that out. Also shame on you for a list that includes “Miss Daisy” (seriously?) but doesn’t list Jamie Lee Curtis or Marylin burns? You mention Kate Blanchette (Fuck no. She’s not a badass.)and you fail to mention Camile Keaton, Sybil Danning, or Tamara Dobson? There are no real ass-kicking women in mainstream films- only very pale imitations. I mean a list of modern female film badasses that didn’t include Zoe Bell? you have that annoying little bitch Juno, but you miss the woman who IS “the Bride” and you don’t even mention Uma in the “Kill Bill” films? You need to rewrite this thing, hoss.
Brings us back to “Lady Gaga”. She and the producer/director of this video simply dipped back into the past badaasery to that very B-Movie world that you neglected to point out. It is just recycled imagery from “Chained Heat” (great film) to “Rock n’ Roll High School”. Nothing new and certainly nothing “bad ass”.
So it goes… I can’t think of a clever close. Re-write this fucker and let me know when it’s done.
Hey Chad. Thanks for your comments.
I think you sort of missed the point I was trying to make. Your definition of a badass is no less valid than mine, although it is a bit more limited in its’ range. It seems to focus purely on the effects that Pam Grier had on the blaxploitation era. This is not to dilute any impact that Pam Grier had on the genre or the ‘female badass’ category. Merely stating that – based on my definition – that she is not the ‘only’ female badass around.
This was not a diatribe on the women-in-prison genre or the blaxploitation genre… and nowhere did I claim that Lady GaGa invented the women-in-prison form. Just that she lives life on her own terms. That fact that she paid homage to this in a 10 minute extended video instead of just ‘phoning it in’ is why I think she’s badass.
I was defining a ‘badass woman’ as a woman who lives life on their own terms… and by that definition, I stand by most if not all of my choices (Miss Daisy and Juno included – even if it is a bit of a stretch – they still lived life on their own terms). In fact, ANY badass is a man or woman who live life on their own terms. It is not a question of physical prowess or sexuality – it is a question of attitude.
Does a man have to exude raw sexuality to be considered a badass? And does a person have to be sane to be considered a badass? I’d say that Hannibal Lecter could be considered a badass… just like Michael Myers could… although their insane and crazy… they still live life under their own terms.
Also – for the record – she is not the only woman to be on my list twice. Sigourney Weaver was mentioned twice, and Susan Sarandon happened to make it three times. I think Cate Blanchett in the role of Queen Elizabeth IS a badass. Sarah Connor may be ‘bug-fuck nuts’ – but she is still a badass. And I DID mention “The Bride.” But Sybil Danning, Marilyn Burns, Tamara Dobson, and perhaps Kathleen Turner (Body Heat) could be added as well… never claimed to have gotten them all.
Oh, and I did mention Miss Piggy. Which means I’m just that cool.
Actually Nick you missed my point completely. The “live life by your own terms” thing means anyone from Hitler to Idi Amin was “bad-ass” by your definition. What you seemed to be doing was writing a piece regarding female empowerment in films. What I correctly pointed out was that you did not put your list into ANY historical, cultural, or sociological context at all. You want to do something like that you go back to the film “Johnny Guitar” then work forward. What you did amounts to nothing more weighty or insightful into women, culture, art, or film making than the kind of list little girls write of which boys in class they think are cute.
Gonna help you out here. If you want your blog or what you write about film to have any intellectual resonance at all (and we are both at the age where it should) then you should go buy the following book and start your real education on women in film:
“The Dread of Difference: Gender & the Horror Film” edited by Barry Keith Grant.
http://www.amazon.com/Dread-Difference-Gender-Horror-Studies/dp/0292727941/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269103811&sr=1-1
Personally, I love that we went from Lady GaGa to Hitler.
So here in the now… I officially claim that Hitler was a badass. An evil sonofabitch – but a badass by that broad definition. Just like I claimed that Hannibal Lecter and Michael Myers was a badass. Not all badasses have to be heroic and true. But for the record – Teletubbies are NOT badasses.
You see a missed opportunity here… perhaps you’re right. We spoke about you writing something that I could post to the Chopper. What about writing the piece that you wish I’d done? A stand-alone piece about female empowerment in films by Chad Nance. What do you think? Honest invitation here…
With that in mind, a few things to address:
You correctly pointed out that I did not put this list in any historical, cultural, or sociological context. Well observed. I’m glad that came across, because I was attempting to do nothing of the sort. I’m also glad that it did not come across weighty or insightful – I would’ve hated for anyone to think that my Laura Dern clip was a remarkably apt display of insightful weightiness.
The true miscommunication at hand is not that we agree or disagree. It’s that – as a normal human reader or viewer or watcher – we project what WE would’ve done with the subject matter. We watch a movie and say ‘wow it would’ve been better had they done this’ or ‘they really should’ve gone in that direction.’ It’s like when someone asks you to read their script for comments, and instead of providing notes that address what the writer’s trying to accomplish, they give them notes based on the script as THEY want to be.
Instead of saying ‘you missed my point’… it’s more useful to try to understand what point was trying to be made in the first place (admittedly, mine was a very fluffy point to make – but I don’t mind a little fluffing now and then).
I was not writing a piece that was intended to have any intellectual resonance at all – it was just a list of lady badasses and expressing my appreciation for a music video that I thought was pretty great. Trust me – when and if I want to write something that resonates – it will not include a clip of Laura Dern saying ‘Run!’ over and over.
There is a time for serious. There is a time for fun. The Lady GaGa piece was a time for fun.
I can only write how I write. I cannot write how you write. I can only write how I write. My writing is my writing is my writing. I do not need or want to write anything with expectations of intellectual resonance. I much prefer something that may have emotional resonance… and if my inner tangent directs me towards something ‘intellectual’ then so be it.
For the record, I hate applying the phrase ‘intellectual resonance’ to anything in writing. Just because something is well-written, well-researched, and well-thought out doesn’t mean squat if it doesn’t hit you in the gut and heart. Nothing intellectual about that. And it certainly isn’t up to the writer to determine what resonates… it’s the reader or the viewer who determines that.
It’s absurd to say that just because of my age that I should be expected to write something different… in fact, I argue that BECAUSE of my age, I shouldn’t write to anyone’s expectations but my own. I write to appease my inner tangent. I do not have to satisfy yours or anyone’s expectations on this blog… only my own. I know there’s something for everyone here, and I know that as many fans that Stephen King has (and I’m one of them), there are twice as many King haters.
Hopefully, what i have to say will appeal to a few folks, and hopefully it’s more folks than the folks who ain’t digging it.
You’re welcome to have wanted something different… again, open invitation for you to write your own standalone piece to post here… but my post was exactly what i intended it to be.
So if you or anyone or any wonderful person who’s been reading or will read in the future… if you wish to really take a gander at what this site’s ‘mission statement’ is or what kind of writing you’ll see… then all you have to do is click on the very first post I wrote called ‘Origin Of The Name.’ I think I’ve followed that ‘mission’ pretty reliably.
Thanks for your comments, Chad, and for keeping me on my toes. Excelsior!
Well, I like what you said, but not with all of it. Still, it’s all good reading. Thanks!
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