Women’s History Month may have ended, but there’s always a time to recognize the brilliant films showcasing the standard expected of female role models. Consciously or not, we take in information from what we see on the big screen—especially in our media-driven world. Hence, positive portrayals of women are critical in sending the message to the audience that gender is not the sole trait defining a person’s capabilities. 

Here are five movies (listed chronologically) featuring outstanding female leads who show courage in all that they do.

     1. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

One of my favorite movies is the Studio Ghibli classic Howl’s Moving Castle, which details how eighteen-year-old Sophie blossoms into a self-loving, confident woman. She works a dull job at her father’s hat shop throughout her teenage years but is thrust into a vastly different world when she befriends a magician named Howl. 

At the start, Sophie gives into the thought that she’s “plain”; she can’t help but compare herself to her pretty sister. However, after a curse by a bitter witch turns her into a wrinkly old lady, she learns how freeing it feels to get past her feelings of inferiority. 

Rather than spiraling into depression from her aged appearance, Sophie demonstrates patience and compassion. Despite her fear, she keeps a calm head and never forgets that she still has her treasured family and friends by her side.

     2. Freedom Writers (2007)

Based on a real-life story, Erin Gruwell possesses an unconventional teaching style that inspires her students with harsh lives to find the light in education. Through tasking them to write diary entries meant only for their eyes to see, she gave them a chance to reflect on their personal experiences, grow from them, and realize that she’s there for them. 

Although she faces the disapproval of other school staff and her (very insecure) husband, Gruwell continued staying hours long after-school to support students she whole-heartedly believed in. Her passion didn’t go unnoticed by the students, and every Freedom Writer graduated. 

Undoubtedly, Gruwell raises the bar for female leads and teachers alike.

     3. The Princess and the Frog (2009)

In The Princess and the Frog, the “princess” does not believe in wishing on stars to make her fantasies become a reality. Instead, Tiana believes in working hard and never giving up on her goal to manage the restaurant of her dreams. It’s telling that one of the first songs of the movie centers around a dream-like sequence of her working in a lavish restaurant full of peoples’ chattering and food plates’ clattering. Tiana’s restaurant opens with a bang when the movie closes – a reward for her untiring hard work.

As the real-life inspiration for Tiana, Leah Chase, states, “Back then, people would look at you, especially if you were a Black woman, and say: ‘Oh, you just a cook. That’s it.’ But now, [with the release of the Disney classic] being a chef is it.” Without a doubt, Tiana’s diligent, untiring attitude is a strong deviation from Disney’s track record for damsels in distress

     4. Hidden Figures (2016)

Being a love letter to women in STEM, the biographical drama Hidden Figures pays respect to three groundbreaking Black women—Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson—who worked at NASA during the “space race” between the US and the Soviet Union. Maintaining a balance between family and work, all of them put their minds together to calculate the trajectory of John Glenn’s monumental launch.   

The film demonstrates the unfounded prejudice faced by women of color, who are judged not only through the lens of sexism but racism as well. Many characters doubt their competence but are promptly corrected when seeing them in action. (Of course, no one should be questioned based on uncontrollable factors like gender or race.) Hidden Figures highlights what an individual can accomplish when driven by an unwavering passion to succeed no matter what strangers may whisper amongst themselves. 

     5. Little Women (2019)

Adapted to the screen and directed by a woman (Greta Gerwig), the coming-of-age drama Little Women follows the transition from childhood to the womanhood of four sisters—Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March. Sure, they may all be sisters, but as we grow up with them, we can appreciate how their temperaments and personalities demonstrate that women cannot be confined to one ideal. 

A great quote I live by was said by the daring, firm yet tender Jo March: “Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.”

Everyone can draw inspiration from these hardworking, well-developed female leads. Sure, they may experience ups and downs, but they never back down from a challenge. We have to remember that a “strong” woman doesn’t mean aggressiveness or stoicism – it means a woman who stands up for her values, understands that there is no weakness in emotion, and grows by admitting her mistakes.

All in all, I’m glad that we are far from the overplayed “damsel in distress” trope.