Page 5 - CEEM Shopping Mag April 2019

Strong and Empowered. Women on Screen

by Charleco Scipio, Jr

On International Women’s Day, I sat and watched jealousy or hatred. One of my biggest takeaways

Marvel’s “Captain Marvel” for the rst time. Only a few was when Captain Marvel said to one of the male

days prior did I realize that the release date of the lm characters “ I don’t have anything to prove to you.” I

with a main female lead was International Women's felt that message alone was a great reason to take

Day. I thought “how amazing is it that this lm, which any young girl or young woman to see this lm, just

is an introduction to the strongest being in the fran- as it was critical that young black boys and girls

chise, released on the day that we honor women went to see Black Panther. The power of seeing

around the world. Sure, we have had lms like “The someone who looks like you on screen in a positive

Hunger Games” and “Wonder Woman” which also light is empowering.

featured strong female leads, yet this one was di er-

ent. I felt great seeing the lm because I think it is about

time we have better representations of women and

It dawned on me in the middle of the lm why this is a minorities in entertainment and media. Movies and

great stride in terms of the portrayal of women in TV in particular. Then I turned on Net ix. I came

entertainment and media. Usually, when it’s a strong across the Net ix Original “Working Moms.” There it

female lead, there is always a love story, involving a was again. 4 Working mothers who are the head of

man. With “Captain Marvel” there was none of that. their households essentially. Each episode starts

What we see is a strong woman on the path to nding with their ‘Mommy and Me’ Group where they talk

herself and realizing just how strong and powerful about their issues and challenges of motherhood,

she is. No love interest here, but what do we have in parenting and the challenges posed by getting back

its place? Her best friend who is equally strong, emo- into work after childbirth. It’s a beautiful spectrum

tionally and mentally. We see just how powerful it can of di erent realities and personalities of these

be when two women support each other without any women. It is very refreshing to see not only women

Strong and Empowered. Women on Screen Page 1

be the main characters and roles but also that they

aren’t dependent on the men in the production.

In both “Captain Marvel” and “Working Moms” I found

myself able to relate in some way to the characters even

though they are women. This shows me that it is possi-

ble for there to be female leads who dominate on

screen without anyone feeling some way about it

whether it be pride or jealousy. In addition to that,

people want to see this kind of entertainment. For so

long we have had the same cadence of movies and

television. The white male lead character and every-

body else on the sidelines and not adequately

portrayed. No more, for this Women’s History month

has shown us on the screen that women can be and

should be represented in their proper light. Strong and

Empowered.