[jiminy]

Just a few random thoughts/frustrations. I've looked at Movies, Pro-Wrestling and Video Games, and all three seem to (in my opinion) have fazed out the quality and/or quantity of portraying strong female characters.

It's frustrating because they still exist, but they're not being showcased as well, or as much, anymore... In my eyes anyway.

Movies

Think back to the late 80s and early-to-mid 90s and it was a real boom period for this genre: you had people like Cynthia Rothrock, Karen Shepherd and Kathy Long amongst others getting a push on the big screen. Real martial artists and quality fight scenes with little to no CGI and heavy editing like today's "Matrix" style fight scenes with over-the-top "stylized" scenes that doesn't resemble anything like realistic fighting.

Then, there is the psychological message.

Back in the day, you had tall, imposing women with strong stage presence like Bridget Nielsson in Red Sonja, Famke Janssen in "Model by Day" Marjean Holden, Cory Everson, Shannon Tweed, Lucy Lawless as Xena. Women presented as being strong who didn't need superpowers or genetic enhancement like most of todays stars do in order to kick a guy's ass.

Very few of today's female action characters seem to measure up to this standard in my opinion. Whether it's because she's genetically enhanced (Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil), posesses superpowers or is non-human (Kate Beckinsale in Underworld). TV series like Buffy, Dark Angel, Dollhouse, etc, follow a similar theme. Yes, the quantity of women kicking ass is still there, but the writers/creators usually can't do it without an un-natural reason behind it. Also, you have a lot of movies today, where the "fighting female" is clearly supposed to be interpreted as comedy.

Pro-wrestling

Like movies, 10-15 years ago, the women in the ring were more like their male counterparts. Larger than life characters with impressive physiques. I'm talking Chyna, Luna Vachon, Terri Power(Tori), Jacqueline, Jazz, Nicole Bass. Even the more "sexy" women like Sable, Trish Stratus, Lita, etc, could work. I don't really watch WWE much anymore, but Beth Phoenix and Mickie James were probably the last half decent wrestlers I can remember. Now the women hired just seem to be boney generic model types. It'd be like watching MMA and having the ring girls fight; what a waste.

On top of that, pro-wrestling seems to have fazed out intergender matches.

Video Games

What a crappy void the video game industry has left on this genre. This is compounded by thinking what great potential could be exploited. During the "16-bit" era (circa 88-94) you had so many great games with sexy, kick ass female characters like Chun Li in Street Fighter, Sonya Blade and others in Mortal Kombat, Blaze Fielding in Streets of Rage. Golden Axe, Pit-fighter, the list goes on. Now with advancements in graphics and technology, games makers seem to have virtually forgotten the action heroine. So you've got Tomb Raider and a couple of others. How awesome would it be to have a GTA game with a female character, or a good MMA/Boxing game. UFC and Fight Night franchises are pretty good, but feature no women.