Female Character of the Week: Jackie Brown

Quentin Tarantino is one of my favorite film directors for three reasons: 1) his whip-smart dialogue, 2) the way he plays with narrative structure, and 3) his strong female characters.  While some of his movies have problematic elements from a feminist perspective (I’m thinking primarily of Death Proof, which I still love), I get the overwhelming impression that Tarantino loves women, loves telling their stories, and loves having them kick some wannabe repressing motherfucker ass.  (He apparently has a bad influence on my language, though).  While Tarantino has showcased many empowered women in his films – The Bride/Beatrix Kiddo, Cherry Darling, the women in Death Proof, Shosanna Dreyfus – my favorite of all is the star of his underrated masterpiece, Jackie Brown.

Name: Jackie Brown

Why She Rocks: First, I like what Jackie represents as a lead character in a mainstream film (as mainstream as Tarantino can get, anyway).  I don’t know of many widely-released films that star black women, and even fewer that star black women over forty.  With all the deserved hullabaloo going on for a remake of the film Akira starring all-white actors, it’s nice to have a film where the original character was white but changed to black.  Tarantino changed the race of the character because he wanted his movie to star Pam Grier.  I understand that impulse, because she rocks in this role and was robbed of an Oscar nomination.

Second, Jackie is unique from Tarantino’s other female leads in that revenge is not her primary motivation.  The women in Death Proof, Shosanna Dreyfus, and Beatrix Kiddo go after Stuntman Mike, the Nazis, and Bill out of a desire for vengeance.  Jackie, on the other hand, simply wants a better life for herself.  Rubbing her victory in Ordell’s face is part of the fun, sure, but her primary goal is to steal money from drug traffickers and use it to live the rest of her life in luxury.  The point being, Jackie isn’t victimized before she gets to be the hero. Too many films showcase strong women who have to be beaten, bullied, or attacked before they rise up against their oppressors.  Victimization is, unfortunately, a part of many women’s experiences and those stories deserve to be told, but it’s also nice to see women like Jackie break the mold.

Third, Jackie isn’t sexualized.  Pam Grier is a beautiful woman, but there are no long, lingering shots on her legs, butt, feet, or breasts to point out, “HEY, LOOK!  PAM GRIER IS SEXY!”  She is still sexy because she’s Pam Grier, but her sexuality isn’t exploited.  It’s rare to see a movie where a major scene takes place in a woman’s dressing room and the woman dressing still manages to have dignity.

Finally, Jackie isn’t a woman of extraordinary physical strength or genius.  She’s not a deadly assassin, a strong stuntwoman, a brilliant computer programmer or strategist, the leader of MENSA.  She’s a fairly ordinary flight attendant who makes little money.  In the end, she still wins because she’s smart and trusts the right people to help her.  Jackie proves that women don’t have to be extraordinary superheroes in order to be empowered and strong.

And on top of all that, Jackie Brown is just a damn good movie and possibly Tarantino’s best in terms of character development.