Celebrating Film Protagonists Who Pushed Back on Rape Culture Before #MeToo

Sexual assault has long been normalized in mainstream Hollywood films. Take the 1984 film Sixteen Candles, in which the high school heartthrob Jake Ryan casually refers to taking advantage of his girlfriend when she is passed out. “I’ve got Caroline in the bedroom right now passed out cold,” he says. “I could violate her 10 different ways if I wanted to.” Or consider the 2007 film Superbad, in which the protagonists inebriate two girls at a party in an attempt to have sex with them.

But at the same time, there have been female characters who push back on rape culture in mainstream Hollywood movies, too. These radical depictions happened well before the #MeToo movement gained widespread traction in the wake of allegations made against Harvey Weinstein in 2017. These characters deserve recognition for paving the way for the transformation that the movement incited.

Legally Blonde, a movie released in 2001, follows protagonist Elle Woods as she transitions from being a Southern Californian sorority sister to a Harvard Law School student. Her peers and professors see her long blond hair, thin body, and fashionable wardrobe and immediately deem her the stereotypical “dumb blonde” who lacks intellectual value and only has voyeuristic potential. Her external characteristics contribute to her personification of what film critic Laura Mulvey suggests about the heterosexual male spectator’s ideal female character who is “glamorous, on display, sexualized.”

But Woods is also self-assured and boldly harnesses her sense of self to challenge abuse. Specifically, when Woods’ professor Callahan, who is also the head attorney on a major case he has invited her to be a part of, hits on her, Woods immediately and assertively rejects him. In doing so, she disrupts the norm.

After Woods slaps his hand off her thigh, the camera moves from allowing Callahan to dictate the spectator’s perception of the events to a point-of-view shot from Woods’ perspective. This shot showcases him leaning forward with his legs spread and forearms resting on thighs. Thus, the audience forms the same opinion of Callahan that Woods does: He merits blame for his despicable actions.

When Woods speaks to Callahan, she usurps male command of the narrative and challenges men’s practice of exerting control over the female body. She claims she realized her professor is “a pathetic asshole,” thereby stripping him of his self-professed designation of being “a man who knows what he wants” and emasculating him. She then stands while he remains seated and turns her back to walk out on him. By choosing to end the interaction he initiated on her terms, she steals back the power he robbed her of and takes control of the situation. The accompanying melancholy soundtrack evinces the film’s disdain for Callahan, showing support for Woods’ progress in dismantling a well-established, oppressive gender norm.

Thus, Legally Blonde celebrates an “ultra-feminine heroine” by enabling her to seize control of an unjust situation and stand up for herself. By bestowing power on a character that has typically been deployed as the object of sexual pleasure — a young, attractive woman — this film shows that women can reclaim the power that historic objectification has robbed them of.

Legally Blonde is not the only film of the pre-#MeToo era to disrupt the norm, though. The 1995 comedy Clueless accomplished a similar feat. This movie follows another young blond woman, Cher, in her endeavors to be a matchmaker. In one scene, Cher’s friend Elton drives her home from a party and repeatedly tries to kiss her despite Cher having already made it clear that she is not interested in a romantic relationship with him. He tries to cross the boundaries she has set, but she holds firm and declares, “Stop it. No.” Rather than excusing his behavior, Cher shows that women can indeed establish and maintain boundaries for themselves, and it is no one’s right but her own to change them.

Miss Congeniality, released in 2000, also invests itself in dismantling the normalization of sexual harassment. In this movie, FBI agent Grace Hart goes undercover as “Gracie Lou Freebush'' at a major beauty pageant to stop a domestic terrorist. While there, fellow contestant Cheryl Frasier remembers how a male professor sexually harassed her in college, but she didn’t call attention to the incident because “it happens all the time.” Hart, however, quickly challenges the notion that sexual assault should be ignored. She even equips all women with the tools to protect themselves while participating in the talent segment of the pageant. She uses the acronym SING (solar plexus, instep, nose, groin) to enable women to remember the skills, and while she comedically performs the maneuver, the practicality of her act is not lost on the audience.

These films encapsulated the power of #MeToo before our culture had the language and collective power to name that movement. But while these films started the wave on which #MeToo came to power, with our newfound hope we must continue to push forward.