The five most pathetic female film characters of all time

Grayson

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/08/pathetic-female-film-characters

Despite it being my favorite film, I do have to agree..

5. Buttercup in The Princess Bride

Yes, I get that she has attitude or whatever ("You mock my pain!"), but could Buttercup maybe DO something once in a while besides brush her hair and contemplate suicide because she and her boyfriend broke up? The woman is a blue silk sausage casing stuffed with whines. The most irritating movie scene on Earth (just go with me on the superlatives here) has to be in the Fire Swamp when – in the span of 10 minutes – Buttercup manages to catch fire, fall in a hole and get bit on the foot by the world's most-outrunnable and asthmatic mega-rodent. And when Westley steps in to rescue her and gets ROUS fangs embedded in his shoulder (Hantavirus of Unusual Size!), she just stands there and looks concerned. The best she can muster is to pick up a stick and sort of gently prod the rat thingy's haunch. A monster is eating your true love, Buttercup! And you prod its haunch? Poke, poke? That's it? Are you sure!? Hit it in the brains, for God's sake! God, I hate Buttercup. I even hate buttercups the flowers now. I hate butter, I hate cups, I hate cups full of butter. See what you've done to me, Hollywood? I give up.

Still, she's better than any katherine heigl or any sex in the city character.

KamiKazeKitten

Bella Swan is the worst imo.



Absolute torture to watch...

Mickey Dazzler

I felt sorry for that bird in Schindler's Fist.

Logical Fallacy

For films that completely white-washed a character and a pathetic user from real life into a hero i would have to say Erin Brockevich.

44leto

All the women before the Scream franchise who just hollywood screamed while getting slashed by the psycho.

dark crystal

I always found Shelley Duvall's character really annoying and pathetic in The Shining.

She just sort of simpered and whined most of the way through the film and it's always puzzled me what Nicholson's character ever saw in her in the first place.

I haven't read the book, though - perhaps she was meant to be a snivelling, weedy little creature.

3DataModem

Thelma and Louise.

That movie basically said "Hate your husband? Trouble with the law? The only option for a woman like you is to kill yourself".

kitakyushu

dark crystal wrote: »

I always found Shelley Duvall's character really annoying and pathetic in The Shining.

She just sort of simpered and whined most of the way through the film and it's always puzzled me what Nicholson's character ever saw in her in the first place.

I haven't read the book, though - perhaps she was meant to be a snivelling, weedy little creature.

I recently watched the 1997 mini-series and whilst it isn't as good as Kubrick's movie it does paint the characters in a different light (I assume in line with the book - which is still on my 'to read' list). In the mini the relationship of the Jack and Winifred is certainly a more even one. They're partners, whereas Duvall sort plays it like a simpering hanger-on. Also in the mini the Jack character is portrayed as someone who values his wife and wants to hold onto her, whereas in the movie he gives the impression throughout that he's resentful of her and doesn't need her from the get go.

dark crystal

3DataModem wrote: »

Thelma and Louise.

That movie basically said "Hate your husband? Trouble with the law? The only option for a woman like you is to kill yourself".

At the end of the movie, they only had two options - get caught and go to prison for a long time or go out with a bang and they chose the latter. As Thelma says towards the end of the film, they had crossed a line and couldn't go back.

It's a wonderful movie.

johnny_ultimate

Bryce Dallas Howard's character in 50/50 was one that stuck out recently as abysmally underwritten. We're invited to cheer as the main characters verbally abuse her, but it felt... wrong to jeer someone who was so very confused. It's particularly strange as Anna Hendrick's character in the same was surprisingly convincing where it could have been utterly shallow.

quarryman

dark crystal wrote: »

I always found Shelley Duvall's character really annoying and pathetic in The Shining.

She just sort of simpered and whined most of the way through the film and it's always puzzled me what Nicholson's character ever saw in her in the first place.

I haven't read the book, though - perhaps she was meant to be a snivelling, weedy little creature.

It just shows the strength of the film that Duvalls pathetic character and poor acting still doesn't manage to ruin it.

fruvai

dark crystal wrote: »

I always found Shelley Duvall's character really annoying and pathetic in The Shining.

She just sort of simpered and whined most of the way through the film and it's always puzzled me what Nicholson's character ever saw in her in the first place.

I haven't read the book, though - perhaps she was meant to be a snivelling, weedy little creature.

According to Jack Nicholson, Kubrick apparently said that he cast her because "you gotta have somebody in that part that maybe the audience would also like to kill a little bit"

dark crystal

fruvai wrote: »

According to Jack Nicholson, Kubrick apparently said that he cast her because "you gotta have somebody in that part that maybe the audience would also like to kill a little bit"

Well it worked on that score!

It's probably wrong to blame the actress, seeing as Kubrick was a meticulous director and would have had a singular vision as to how he wanted her to play that character.

Like I said, I'd love to know how she was written in the book. I know Stephen King really disliked Kubrick's version.

JaMarcus Hustle

No film character has ever annoyed me as much as Summer (Zooey Deschanel) in 500 Days of Summer, although that could well have been the intention. I still feel I hated her more than I was meant to though. The whole being quirky for the sake of it thing is infuriating.

I also hated Michelle Monaghan in Gone Baby Gone. Plenty of movies have had characters who moan and complain a lot, but Jesus Christ did she take it to a whole new level of please shut the fúck you moany cnut.

kryogen

Adrianne from the Rocky films, Christ I cant stand her, then again I have never liked a character that Talia Shire has played, terrible actress

Bodhidharma

The most pathetic female character is Screamin' Willie Scott from Temple of Doom. My God, she is basically a flower that has the ability to emit a high pitched screetch at the drop of a hat.

Also while a number of people have mentioned annoying characters (Summer, the cheater from 50/50) they are not particularly pathetic; those two in particular were quite proactive in being strong (pain in the ass) women.

Jezek

If you read up about the Shining, apparently Kubrick had the actress terrified in real life - he reduced her to a sniveling weakling on the set so he could shoot her this way. But yeah, she immediately sprang to mind as I read the OP and was gonna post her but someone got there before me.

gordon_gekko

Bodhidharma wrote: »

The most pathetic female character is Screamin' Willie Scott from Temple of Doom. My God, she is basically a flower that has the ability to emit a high pitched screetch at the drop of a hat.

Also while a number of people have mentioned annoying characters (Summer, the cheater from 50/50) they are not particularly pathetic; those two in particular were quite proactive in being strong (pain in the ass) women.

+1 about stephen spielbergs wife in temple of doom , had she been in the shinning , we,d all have been cheering jack on in his murderous attempts

razorblunt

Sarah Jessica Parker's character in The Family Stone, not sure was it poor acting but I really really hated her.

pixelburp

I think the article's in jest - at least I hope so - because if not I think there's a bit of unfair slathering of the PC-brush going on. Probably reading too much into it, but interesting how out of the 5 films in the list, three are set during that catchall, fake European-medieval-period Hollywood likes to use (ok, Never Ending Story's a bit of a stretch there) where females were the submissive gender anyway. Ditto the pulp 1930s of the Indy movies.

Should it be a necessity that our modern sensibilities be transplanted onto times that are inherently archaic in the first place? Or are we not grown-up enough to recognise that if a film is set in 'the past', showing certain social norms is not the same as endorsing them. Like I said, probably just reading too much into it

ImpossibleDuck

Not really pathetic, but keeping with the theme of "female characters that annoyed you so much you hoped they got killed off", I'm going to have to say: Melanie in Jackie Brown.

Jesus Christ! I cannot express my relief/gratitude when

DeNiro shot her in the car park. I just thought 'JESUS, FINALLY!' :pac:

One kind of pathetic female character that springs to mind is Celeste Boyle in Mystic River. Maybe it's because, as an audience, we're sympathising with her husband, but she just seemed really helpless and useless.

Zirconia

Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) in the original 'Alien' from 1979 - annoyingly pathetic, whiney and moany.

foxyboxer

Zirconia wrote: »

Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) in the original 'Alien' from 1979 - annoyingly pathetic, whiney and moany.

Beaten to it. First one that sprang to mind!

Gandalph

I haven't seen it yet but I know I am going to f**king hate Rihanna's character in Battleship!

McChubbin

Bella Swann.

A vapid, dog-faced excuse of a character who foolishly believes abuse and stalkerish behavior is the basis for true love.:rolleyes:

/Thread.

krudler

Sarah Jessica Parker in War Horse

Rothko

Bodhidharma wrote: »

The most pathetic female character is Screamin' Willie Scott from Temple of Doom. My God, she is basically a flower that has the ability to emit a high pitched screetch at the drop of a hat.

Lol, she was the first one that came to my mind when I read the title.

Sir Gallagher

The actress who plays Anne Hathaway for me.

kingofthenerds

female characters are normally too insignificant to even have a grading system applied to them unless i missread the title and its porn we're talking abut?