# Anyone else have a soft place in their hearts for movies that (practically) have no women in them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429 "2014-08-25T04:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/1 "2014-08-25T04:05:21Z")
The Edge Twilight’s Last Gleaming Stalag 17 Shawshank Redemption The Thing to name a few… ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/2 "2014-08-25T04:12:00Z")
I liked \* The Caine Mutiny, \* in which there were only two women–Ensign Keith ’ s mother and his girlfriend. - 12 Angry Men \* had no women at all. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/3 "2014-08-25T04:14:45Z")
The Frisco Kid, Harrison Ford and Gene Wilder, a strange “buddy movie” with a cowboy assisting an orthodox Jew bring the scripture to the new synagogue in San Francisco. A bit weak in spots, but kind of charming. 2001: A Space Odyssey. (Only the best movie ever made…) ---
**Author:** ![XanderCrews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ee59a6/32.png) [@XanderCrews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XanderCrews)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/4 "2014-08-25T04:16:26Z")
Yes, Master and Commander. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/5 "2014-08-25T04:22:10Z")
Snatch ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/6 "2014-08-25T04:24:39Z")
The reason I like these kind of movies is they have no shoehorned in love story subplot(assuming they aren’t oozing with homoeroticism lol) because I HATE forced love plots. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/7 "2014-08-25T04:25:10Z")
I rather enjoyed _Sleuth_. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/8 "2014-08-25T04:48:19Z")
_Ocean’s 11_ is pretty much a sausage fest, except for Julia Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/9 "2014-08-25T06:05:53Z")
> [@grude](#): > > The reason I like these kind of movies is they have no shoehorned in love story subplot(assuming they aren’t oozing with homoeroticism lol) because I HATE forced love plots. I hate ANY love plot! Get on with the **action** , f’rchrissakes! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/10 "2014-08-25T06:34:43Z")
[Withnail & I](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withnail_and_I) has only a few lines from women in very minor roles, and it’s widely regarded as a modern classic. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/11 "2014-08-25T06:43:20Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > The Edge > **Twilight’s Last Gleaming** > Stalag 17 > Shawshank Redemption > The Thing > > to name a few… I don’t think of myself as a misogynist, but find a virtually female-less film a nice change, just occasionally. As well as the bolded one above, there’s _Dr. Strangelove_. Nuclear-World-War III films do seem, rather, to be an all-male business… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/12 "2014-08-25T06:46:20Z")
_Treasure of the Sierra Madre_. I don’t got to show you no stinkin’ female actors with any lines! and about three seconds of a woman near a hammock. This is the original no chicks movie. Despite that flaw, its a pretty good movie. \* All Is Lost\*, starring Robert Redford has no women in it. Or even another actor for that matter. I understand there is little to no speaking either. I heard it was really moving. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/13 "2014-08-25T07:00:36Z")
No. I tend to notice how few female characters a movie has, and then it upsets me a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/14 "2014-08-25T07:11:11Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I don’t think of myself as a misogynist, but find a virtually female-less film a nice change, just occasionally. As well as the bolded one above, there’s _Dr. Strangelove_. Nuclear-World-War III films do seem, rather, to be an all-male business… Hell, if I recall…the TV remake of _Failsafe_ took away the wife’s lines and gave them to Clooney’s (Well, his character’s) son. Each poignant in their own way. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/15 "2014-08-25T07:56:37Z")
There is about ten seconds of women in The Boondock Saints if you don’t count Willem Dafoe in drag… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/16 "2014-08-25T11:25:41Z")
I have, certainly, enjoyed _some_ films without significant women characters in them, but I definitely don’t have a soft spot for the whole idea. Like **GuanoLad** , it tends to upset me, more than it excites me. I prefer films that express the diversity of human experience where possible, so, outside gay porn, I think excluding half the human race is not cool. Of course, lots of exceptions abound, especially in the area of small-cast character pieces and the like. But it’s [not exactly secret knowledge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test) that women-as-real-people are _way_ under-represented in movies. And I think it’s bogus to automatically equate “includes women” with “romantic plot”. Yeah, that may be the way women are shoehorned into dumb action movies. But those are dumb action movies, they’re not supposed to be a good standard. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/17 "2014-08-25T11:55:40Z")
I like it when they don’t feel compelled to “write in” a female part where the original didn’t have one, or there’s no obvious reason to bring one in. The original **Flight of the Phoenix** had no woman, except for a double-exposure “fantasy sequence”. As noted above, **Sleuth** did not, in either version, although Marguerite’s presence was felt throughout (and other women, in the original). \*\*The Bedford Incident Moby Dick 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea\*\* (the Disney version, except the floozies accompanying Kirk Douglas at the start). A lot of sea films, come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/18 "2014-08-25T12:51:22Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I like it when they don’t feel compelled to “write in” a female part where the original didn’t have one, or there’s no obvious reason to bring one in. That’s more or less how I feel. A lot of historical settings just didn’t have many woman in them, and the ones that were there were unfortunately fairly limited in how they could participate. Generally speaking, I don’t think film-makers do themselves any favours trying to shoe-horn the protagonists girlfriend (or worse, the ubiquitous prostitute character) in a few random scenes to try and rectify that. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/19 "2014-08-25T14:09:24Z")
_The Great Escape_. Don’t recall any ladies in that. Maybe one or two on a train or the platform where Ashley-Pitt gets shot. I would certainly have a “soft spot” if I had to watch a porno with no women. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/20 "2014-08-25T14:23:37Z")
Carl Denham: Do you think I want to haul along a woman? Agent: Then why do it? Carl Denham: Because the public – bless them – must have a pretty face. **King Kong** articulates the need for female leads, even though it started out with one. Here are some movies where the originals had no female characters, but they wrote them in. A lot of Verne and the like: \*\*First Men in the Moon Three Weeks in a Balloon A Journey to the Center of the Earth \*\* (1959) – actually did a reasonable job of fitting her in. **Journey to the Center of the Earth** (2008) **The Lost World** (every single movie version!) \*\*From the Earth to the Moon 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea\*\* (1916 version **20,000 Leagues Under the Sea** (every TV version) **The Mysterious Island** (every version, I think) **King Solomon’s Mines** (I think all versions have a non-native woman) **She** – (1935 and 1965 add non-Ayesha female characters) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429.md?page=2)