“Wonder Woman” doesn’t hit theaters until next summer, but if you’re on the hunt for films that feature complex, inspiring female characters, look no further: the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) has got you covered. The AWFJ has debuted the first installment of its “Wonder Women” project, which will highlight 55 exceptional fictional female characters from movies as selected by the AWFJ membership.
Eleven entries were announced today, including “Boyhood’s” single mom extraordinaire Olivia Evans, “The Hunger Games’” teen revolutionary Katniss Everdeen, and “Gone with the Wind’s” moral compass Mammy.
AWFJ members nominated more than 500 characters from 1915 to today. Characters based on real women, such as Erin Brockovich and Queen Elizabeth II, were excluded from consideration because the org wanted to celebrate writers who created realistic fictional characters with depth rather than portrayals of pre-existing women.
“Wonder Women” commemorates the 10th anniversary of the the AWFJ’s founding. The project’s title, of course, pays tribute to comic book heroine and future big-screen sensation Wonder Woman, who first debuted in print more than 70 years ago. “Like Wonder Woman, the characters on the AWFJ list are headstrong, loving, fierce, willful, confident, good-hearted champions of justice, equality and peace, and they are not afraid to mix it up,” a press release reads. The AWFJ is comprised of female movie critics, reporters, and feature writers committed to supporting work by and about women.
“The AWFJ ‘Wonder Women’ list is a timely reminder to Hollywood studio executives and independent film producers — as well as to movie audiences — that strong, complex, fully realized women characters with their own stories to tell have lasting impact, in our culture and at the box office,” said Jennifer Merin, AWFJ co-founder and president, and co-organizer of the “Wonder Women” project. “AWFJ members delighted in focusing on women characters whose stories that have impacted our own lives. We recommend them as essential viewing for women and girls and anyone who is interested in film.”
“The staying power of Wonder Woman is proof that audiences need and welcome robust female characters in popular culture,” observed AWFJ member and project co-organizer Marilyn Ferdinand. “Since our beat is cinema, we decided it was time we remind the public and the movie industry about other ‘wonder women’ that audiences have embraced over the years.”
Eleven names will be added to the AWFJ’s list every Monday through August 29. Check out the first batch of beloved female characters over at AWFJ’s website. Patty Jenkin’s “Wonder Woman” hits theaters June 2, 2017.
