# Most degrading performance by a woman in a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2007, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286 "2007-04-23T09:01:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/1 "2007-04-23T09:01:28Z")
Isabella Rossellini in [Blue Velvet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090756/) and Amy Smart in [Crank](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479884/) come to mind. But whoa, have you seen Priscilla Barnes in the obscure 1970s sex comedy [The Seniors?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479884/) In this movie, she’s a chick who fucks all four main characters in the quad AND she does the cooking and cleaning, no questions asked. Why? She’s a nympho who likes to fuck everyone AND cooks and cleans. Soon, the dudes in the quad pass her off to a nerdy boy that did them a favor. Nerd Boy really really really wants to fuck her. So she fucks him. She also has zero lines. I feel dirty. Your examples? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/2 "2007-04-23T09:18:48Z")
Nicole Kidman, in _Dogville_. Or Emily Watson, in _Breaking the Waves_. Or Bjork, in _Dancer in the Dark_. Or pretty much any woman in any Lars von Trier film, actually. I can only imagine what his \*Medea \*was like (haven’t seen that one.) And he doesn’t do his men much better. Guy’s got some serious issues, and I wish I would stop watching his therapy on film. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/3 "2007-04-23T09:20:24Z")
Jennifer Connelly in _Requiem for a Dream._ Ass to ass, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/4 "2007-04-23T09:35:51Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Nicole Kidman, in _Dogville_. Or Emily Watson, in _Breaking the Waves_. Or Bjork, in _Dancer in the Dark_. Or pretty much any woman in any Lars von Trier film, actually. I can only imagine what his \*Medea \*was like (haven’t seen that one.) And he doesn’t do his men much better. Guy’s got some serious issues, and I wish I would stop watching his therapy on film. [/QUOTE] I tried, but didn’t see any misogyny in _Dogville_. Now, _Manderlay_, that was nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/5 "2007-04-23T13:03:34Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Jennifer Connelly in _Requiem for a Dream._ Ass to ass, baby. [/QUOTE] Was that really her, or a double? My vote, Monica Bellucci, Irreversible, just for the one scene ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/6 "2007-04-23T14:55:40Z")
Then there’s the other kind of degrading, as with Darryl Hannah playing an astrophysicist in Roxanne. Single-handedly reversed 100 years of accepting women as intellectual equals. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2007, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/7 "2007-04-23T15:10:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Then there’s the other kind of degrading, as with Darryl Hannah playing an astrophysicist in Roxanne. Single-handedly reversed 100 years of accepting women as intellectual equals. oh, come on – she had plenty of help. Racquel Welch in **Fantastic Voyage** , Denise Richards in **The World is Not Enough**. Plenty of Lookers-who-are-supposed-to-be-brilliant-scientists-but-who-don’t-convince out there. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/8 "2007-04-23T15:11:54Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Then there’s the other kind of degrading, as with Darryl Hannah playing an astrophysicist in Roxanne. Single-handedly reversed 100 years of accepting women as intellectual equals. [/QUOTE] Oh, if those count, Tara Reid as an archaeologist (!) in the otherwise believable Alone in the Dark, where she pronounces Newfoundland the way an 8-year old non-Canadian would- that no one else in the cast or crew caught this is not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/9 "2007-04-23T15:53:12Z")
I was going to say Elizabeth Berkley in **Showgirls** , but you are right, she is practically an example of respectability compared to the ones you’ve mentioned. Maybe Julie Andrews in **S.O.B**. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/10 "2007-04-23T16:13:16Z")
I’m assuming pornos don’t count… ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/11 "2007-04-23T16:15:21Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Jennifer Connelly in _Requiem for a Dream._ Ass to ass, baby. [/QUOTE] This has my vote. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/12 "2007-04-23T16:35:37Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Jennifer Connelly in _Requiem for a Dream._ Ass to ass, baby. [/QUOTE] Of course, the entire \*point \*of that performance is the degradation… how low she is willing to go to score the drugs. She’s a fully-developed character at least. I mean, are we talking about performances in which the character is degraded, or performances which are degrading for women in general? Because we could talk about women’s roles in a lot of movies in the 70s and 80s, particularly of the violent Death Wish/Dirty Harry genre, where basically they were bloodied victims, whores, innocent wife/girlfriends, or some combination thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/13 "2007-04-23T16:39:18Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Nicole Kidman, in _Dogville_. Or Emily Watson, in _Breaking the Waves_. Or Bjork, in _Dancer in the Dark_. Or pretty much any woman in any Lars von Trier film, actually. I can only imagine what his \*Medea \*was like (haven’t seen that one.) And he doesn’t do his men much better. Guy’s got some serious issues, and I wish I would stop watching his therapy on film. [/QUOTE] OMG OMG OMG I **HATED** _Breaking the Waves_ with a passion. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/14 "2007-04-23T16:46:43Z")
Ever seen the Mystery Science Theatre-d movie _Hobgoblins_? The slut character and the fantasy woman/bestality-lover character are both degrading to women in general, the actresses in particular, and movie viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/15 "2007-04-23T16:48:58Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] oh, come on – she had plenty of help. Racquel Welch in **Fantastic Voyage** , Denise Richards in **The World is Not Enough**. Plenty of Lookers-who-are-supposed-to-be-brilliant-scientists-but-who-don’t-convince out there. [/QUOTE] I have to raise an exception on Denise Richards. I went to grad school (in physics) with a woman who looks a lot like her. I am, therefore, probably the only male who found Denise Richards’ performance as Dr. Christmas Jones - Nuclear Physicist - credible. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/16 "2007-04-23T16:55:45Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] But whoa, have you seen Priscilla Barnes in the obscure 1970s sex comedy [The Seniors?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479884/) In this movie, she’s a chick who fucks all four main characters in the quad AND she does the cooking and cleaning, no questions asked. Why? She’s a nympho who likes to fuck everyone AND cooks and cleans. Soon, the dudes in the quad pass her off to a nerdy boy that did them a favor. Nerd Boy really really really wants to fuck her. So she fucks him. She also has zero lines. [/QUOTE] But it works for her, right? So is it really degrading? Are we talking women who are degraded against their will/no other choice or because they like it? I don’t consider Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary degraded, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/17 "2007-04-23T17:11:20Z")
Gina Gershon in _Showgirls_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/18 "2007-04-23T17:21:54Z")
Any one of a thousand performances where an attractive young actress played a character who is desperately attracted to the main character who was being played by an unattractive actor twenty or thirty years older than her. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/19 "2007-04-23T17:38:14Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Ever seen the Mystery Science Theatre-d movie _Hobgoblins_? The slut character and the fantasy woman/bestality-lover character are both degrading to women in general, the actresses in particular, and movie viewers. [/QUOTE] Also to humans, mammals, carbon based lifeforms, and the sidereal universe in general. Holy _fuck_ that was a bad movie. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286/20 "2007-04-23T17:40:28Z")
I vote for Edith Massey as Edie the Egg Lady in John Waters’ _Pink Flamingos_ (though I would vote for Divine, in the same movie, if the definition of ‘woman’ was a generous one). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-degrading-performance-by-a-woman-in-a-movie/401286.md?page=2)