Libby Holden (Kathy Bates) was a lesbian in “Primary Colors”. I think her character was largely positive, as a moral compass for the candidate, although she was rather manic and did comit suicide at the end.
She identified as a lesbian, despite her past with Oz and Xander both. Of course she also identified as a Wiccan, so her own self-labels were not that accurate at least half the time.
Joanne in Rent is a lesbian, and one of the saner characters to boot.
She identified as a lesbian - lines like ‘gay now!’ and so on, and moving on to Kennedy after Tara. I wouldn’t say someone wasn’t a lesbian just because they had relationships with men before coming out - otherwise there aren’t many lesbians around in real life, let alone in the movies or on TV. The squeaky-voiced one in Bound I’d call bisexual because she was in a relationship with a man at the same time as starting to shag a woman.
One of the few Buffy episodes I’ve seen was one where there was a magical lettermen’s jacket that caused everyone to fall in love with whoever wore it…one of the things I liked was that when Willow came under its spell, she faced a condundrum because it was a guy who was wearing it, and she was a lesbian… she immediately got the idea to use her magic to try to make him into a woman!
It was silly. But I liked that it didn’t even cross her mind to try to make herself straight instead.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t say that someone was a lesbian just because they slept with girls in college. There’s a pretty high recidivism rate in that particular demographic. And there’s a lot of evidence that Willow fell more on the middle of the Kinsey scale. Vampire Willow, who is always touted as foreshadowing for Lesbian Willow, was still pretty interested in Vampire Xander. And the episode where Willow, Tara and Xander find Giles playing guitar in a care - Willow is pretty clearly turned on by her old teacher crush, but Tara plainly Does Not Get the attraction.
Also, as much as I’m a big fan of the Ho Yay, I’m also an old school Oz/Willow 'shipper.
Aeon Flux
Is it consensual that Pussy Galore was simply confused?
Both good and bad, in my opinion. Great flick. GREAT. You should rent it.
It’s been in the old Netflix queue for forever, really. Now that I’m out of TV shows to watch (well…except for Star Trek, there’s always more Star Trek), I think I’m going to have to bump up the movies I haven’t gotten around to watching. Bound is up there!
No, you’re not stupid. There really are very few lesbian characters at all in mainstream Hollywood films, and of those that do exist most are not positive. That’s why so many of the examples in this thread have been characters who either weren’t lesbians or weren’t in movies.
The OP’s friend was overstating things when she said they were always villains, though. I’d bet that there are far more crazy, reckless, or tragic lesbians in film than outright evil ones. The one actual lesbian in The Children’s Hour isn’t a villain by any stretch, but since she kills herself as soon as she admits to herself and her friend that she is a lesbian then she isn’t a positive character either.
Also, people rarely came right out and said, “X is a lesbian.” Often it was implied–lke I’m thinking of the villainous Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca.
It’s only implied, but I believe Meryl Streep’s character in Angels in America to be a lesbian.
Definitely not a villain - unlike her son.
Well, she was a villain and lesbian when James Bond meets her and then is converted to hetro and heroic by James’ seduction. This is pretty much making my friend’s point.
I’d agree about someone not necessarily being a lesbian just through temporary college experiences, but Kennedy was post-college.
Willow had a crush on Giles? I never noticed that. I also never noticed her being attracted to him when they saw him playing guitar, but a moment’s attraction to someone doesn’t change their overall sexuality. You don’t have to be at the top of the Kinsey scale to be a lesbian. VampWillow was pretty much polysexual, though - she even wanted to shag herself. 
It was only “post college” in the sense that, sometime after season four, she stopped attending classes. If her studies hadn’t been interrupted by regularly occuring apocalypses, she’d have been in her senior year, and almost certainly preparing for grad school.
Plus, let’s face it: at that point, the show had fifteen thousand hot, interesting women, and Xander Harris. It’s not like she had a whole lot to choose from among the Y chromosone set.
I think they kinda ret-conned it in. When they see her, she says something like, “Now I remember why I had such a crush on him in high school.” Xander gets grossed out, and Tara says something like, “Well, I guess he’s pretty good at the guitar?” Before that moment, I don’t recall any hints about Willow crushing on Giles.
I’m aware. I’m just saying, I think that Willow was written to be bisexual, and I think that scene was deliberately written to re-enforce that.
Can you really blame her, though?
I think you have to make a distinction between movies that are by lesbians/about lesbians/ for lesbians, like Better than Chocolate, or Go Fish, and movies that just have lesbians in them like Under the Tuscan Sun
But the stuff like ‘gay now,’ ‘I don’t truck with the stubbly crowd’ (can’t remember which episode that’s from), and wanting to turn the letter-wearing bloke into a woman and so on indicate that she’s not written to be bisexual. Not a Gold Star Lesbian, but a lesbian.
Regardless of why her relationship with Kennedy was post-college, it definitely was post-college (and, according to the comics, is ongoing). And there were plenty of hot men in her wider circle - though she didn’t necessarily only go for stereotypically hot men, anyway.
How weird to retcon in a crush on Giles. 
Not weird because he’s male, but because she definitely didn’t seem to have a crush on him, and young Willow wasn’t exactly good at hiding her feelings. It sounds like the kinda thing a fanfic writer would do. Still, saying you had a crush on someone when you were a teenager doesn’t tell anyone much about your sexuality now.
I liked Willow with Oz, too (I was disappointed that he didn’t turn up at the end of season 7), but that doesn’t mean I can pretend she didn’t mature into a sexuality that was way more about the chicks than the, ahem, cocks.
FWIW, I wouldn’t go for Willow myself. Not my physical type in the slightest.
I think that’s it. They’re troubled by their lesbianism, hate men, or aren’t really gay at all.
Also, there are just too damn few of them. Gay guys may complain about the whole ‘fairy godmother’ token gay male BFF character in TV and movies, but there is really no lesbian equivalent, shiny happy or otherwise.