# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/21 "2014-08-25T15:02:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > A lot of sea films, come to think of it. Women and seamen don’t mix. ---
**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, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/22 "2014-08-25T15:12:13Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Women and seamen don’t mix. _Somebody’s_ been watching the Simpsons marathon (which has a lot of female characters in it) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/23 "2014-08-25T15:22:56Z")
I can’t remember any women in _The Hunt for Red October_. That was a good movie. But, overall, I’m happy to see women in movies. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/24 "2014-08-25T15:42:24Z")
The play \*\*\*Glengarry Glen Ross \*\*\*had no women at all. The movie version gave us a brief shot of the lady who owned the Chinese restaurant where the salesmen hang out. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/25 "2014-08-25T15:52:19Z")
How about the original Star Wars trilogy? Aside from Leia, the only women with speaking lines are Aunt Beru, a dancer at Jabba’s palace screaming Nooooo, and Mon Mothma’s two lines about Bothans dying. I think Leia is the only woman with lines in Empire. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/26 "2014-08-25T15:56:09Z")
My Dinner with Andre Never Cry Wolf Ice Station Zebra? At least I don’t remember any women in it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/27 "2014-08-25T15:58:16Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > No. I tend to notice how few female characters a movie has, and then it upsets me a bit. Even if in a setting in which women would normally not be around? Like some of the above mentioned historical war movies. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/28 "2014-08-25T16:00:22Z")
Apocalypse Now had very small female roles in the original version and slightly more in the director’s cut. I don’t have anything against women in movies, but for this one a love backstory would have positively ruined it. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/29 "2014-08-25T16:00:45Z")
_Lawrence of Arabia_ has no female speaking roles at all, unless you count ululating. ETA: to respond to the question asked, I don’t really have a “soft spot” for movies that ignore half the world’s population, but a movie doesn’t have to pass the Bechdel test to be excellent, either. _Lawrence_ is a prime example. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/30 "2014-08-25T16:17:59Z")
Having female characters doesn’t guarantee that there will be a romance. Take _Captain America: The Winter Soldier_, for instance. The film acknowledges that Natasha and Steve are both very attractive people, then makes it clear that there’s not going to be any romance between them, and then moves on. And no, Natasha posing as Steve’s fiancee doesn’t count: That was purely an act, and both of them knew it. ---
**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, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/31 "2014-08-25T16:41:18Z")
**The Thing** was listed in the OP, meaning, I assume, the 1982 John Carpenter film. I agree with that case – it duplicates the original Campbell story, and the way Antarctic exploration was then. The earlier 1951 Christian Nyby/Howard Hawks film, introduces women (plural. There’s one lead who’s female, but if you pay attention there’s at least one more woman among the personnel). And the recent “prequel” goes so far as to make a woman the protagonist. The novel **The Andromeda Strain** was, IIRC, all male essentially. When Robert Wise filmed it, he changed one of the scientists to a woman, without any other significant changes in dialogue or other. For some reason they make a big deal about Sigourney Weaver’s part in **Alien** being written for a guy, but this earlier case is simply ignored. ---
**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, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/32 "2014-08-25T17:19:42Z")
Do you all think movies like “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Stand By Me” resonate more strongly with men than with women? I’d like to see a gender survey of movies like that and see if men score them more highly. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/33 "2014-08-25T17:43:39Z")
“The Man Who Would Be King” with Caine and Connery. There’s a female character who is fairly important but she has no lines spoken in English and appears for less than 5 minutes of the movie. (she was played by Michael Caine’s wife) ---
**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, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/34 "2014-08-25T17:44:32Z")
Except for stewardi, space station personnel, passing Russian scientists, and Heywood Floyd’s daughter, and Frank Poole’s mom (none of whom has a part of any significance, **2001: A Space Odyssey** is all male. **Moon** had no women The George Pal/Byron Haskin 1950s space epics **Destination Moon** and **Conquest of Space** were virtually all-male. **Robinson Crusoe on Mars** (ignoring, of course, Mona the Monkey) Actually, as I consider it, most science fiction films sem to feel compelled to give you at least one female lead, even if there are no other women in the story. An awful lot of them have only a single female lead. Think about it: \*\*The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms Forbidden Planet This Island Earth\*\* (ignore the female scientists who don’t get any lines, and the sole female Metalunan) **The Thing** (1951 – ignoring the female scientists with no lines) \*\*Kronos This Invisible Boy The Giant Claw Metropolis The Andromeda Strain Operation Moonbase\*\* (except for the appearance of “Madame President” \*\*It Came from Beneath the Sea Fifty Million Miles to Earth Five Million Years to Earth The Angry Red Planet\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/35 "2014-08-25T18:16:21Z")
It depends on context. If the setting of the movie is such that there would naturally be no women present–say a men’s prison, a World War II submarine, a quest to destroy a piece of tacky gold jewelry set in a pseudo-medieval, pre-Abrahamic world–I’m fine with their being few or no women in the cast. Otherwise it bugs me. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/36 "2014-08-25T19:01:59Z")
Except for the hysterical mother (and father) babbling in French as they tried to foist their daughter onto Hanks’s men, I don’t believe Saving Private Ryan had any female speaking parts - a number of women were shown (e.g. those who prepared notifications of death; Ryan’s mom; the old Ryan’s family members), but am I right in thinking that none said a word? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/37 "2014-08-25T19:28:29Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Except for the hysterical mother (and father) babbling in French as they tried to foist their daughter onto Hanks’s men, I don’t believe Saving Private Ryan had any female speaking parts - a number of women were shown (e.g. those who prepared notifications of death; Ryan’s mom; the old Ryan’s family members), but am I right in thinking that none said a word? There weren’t too many women on Omaha Beach. Now look at _The Longest Day_. Irina Demick played the only significant female role, a French Resistance fighter. IMHO the worst part of the movie. The scenes with the resistance seemed terribly forced. They were complete stereotypes. They might as well have been carrying around baguettes the entire time. Whenever she is on screen it takes me right out of the movie. ---
**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, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/38 "2014-08-25T19:29:53Z")
Only one woman in **Paths of Glory** , too. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/39 "2014-08-25T19:33:36Z")
I don’t understand why anyone would have a soft spot for this. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-have-a-soft-place-in-their-hearts-for-movies-that-practically-have-no-women-in-them/696429/40 "2014-08-25T19:38:16Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Except for the hysterical mother (and father) babbling in French as they tried to foist their daughter onto Hanks’s men, I don’t believe Saving Private Ryan had any female speaking parts - a number of women were shown (e.g. those who prepared notifications of death; Ryan’s mom; the old Ryan’s family members), but am I right in thinking that none said a word? Very little. As an old man visiting the cemetery he asks his wife “Tell me I have led a good life.” She: “What?” Him: “Tell me I am a good man.” She: “You are.” Then he steps back and salutes Miller’s grave marker. [Previous 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=1) [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=3)