Jobs for Janes: Intelligence Analysts
Judi Dench as M
When did it happen? Was I so discouraged by the one-dimensional roles of women in movies — eye candy, girlfriend-of, judges, vice-principals, best friends — that I failed to notice that the fastest-growing employment segment for women in movies was intelligence analyst? In 2012 alone: Judi Dench as M in Skyfall, Joan Allen as Pamela Landy in The Bourne Legacy and Jessica Chastain as Maya in Zero Dark Thirty. (And of course, Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison on television’s Homeland.)
Interestingly, these women aren’t playing fantasy characters, but life-based figures. Judi Dench’s original casting as M in Goldeneye (1995) was suggested by Stella Rimington, the Director-General of MI5 during the 1990s.
Collectively these actresses demonstrate not only that the sexiest part of the body is the brain, but also that grey matter is more powerful than Iron Man’s armor.
Speaking of which: Why is the uniform of these women inevitably the navy blue suit jacket worn over a crisp shirt?
Your thoughts? Who am I missing?
This is a fascinating observation and discovery, Carrie, although I wish you’d clarified that what you mean by “movies” is “American movies”–which raises the issue of whether or not this type and tendency are strictly (and exclusively) the property of Anglo-Americans.
I think it’s just a new form of cliche and one which will pass when it’s replaced by another cliche. It’s amazing how quickly they develop and proliferate (like the ever-present movie scenes showing people clicking away on computer keyboards looking intensely into screens). I also think “tough” (or apparently tough) women are considered a turn-on in the same way having a “pretty girl talk dirty” is. For me the problem is that the cliche has become annoying and, therefore, dramatically less effective. I’m sorry to say this, but good riddance to Judi Dench as M. Now, Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt is another story altogether.
Taking the next logical step on the continuum into the realm of the comic-book superhero(ine), there are the recent movie portrayals by Anne Hathaway (as Catwoman) and Marion Cotillard (as the powerful “mystery woman”) in the latest Batman; and by Scarlett Johansen (as the Black Widow) in The Avengers.