Athletic Women Blog

Strongwoman Aneta Florczyk is at it again, showing us once more that men do not have a monopoly on physical strength. In this clip, Aneta is lifting a 232 lb (105 kg) "log" overhead (and as usual, she also makes it look easy):



It seems Aneta and her sister athletes everywhere are the role models of 21st-century feminism, leaders of a revolution already under way. And as women (re)discover their potential in the athletic arena, they will become empowered in a profound way that will forever change society.

Well, I keep watching but can't say I'm actually hooked. The show has been uneven so far, good at times but not often enough. I suspect that's largely because they don't really know where they want to take it yet.

This week's episode, for example, was a complete disconnect from the one last week, which left several important items unresolved. More tweaking? Perhaps. But despite the slight jolt of discontinuity, it was one of the better episodes to date, mainly because it was more action-oriented. Yet it also had its downsides: having Jaime dote on a CIA agent, and no Sarah Corvus (see below).

Michelle Ryan has the potential to be an action star. She hasn't quite lived up to the hype yet, but I expect she will improve as the series goes on, especially if given better, more consistent material to work with.

But the best thing about the show up till now has been Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Corvus, the first, and not always nice, bionic woman. Katee is a commanding presence, and she dominates virtually every scene she appears in. They are lucky to have her and should use her more.

We get this update from The Hollywood Reporter. A couple of the women reported to have auditioned might make a passable Wonder Woman, but overall, there is nothing to get too excited about here.

I keep hoping Warner Brothers and JLA director George Miller will focus on getting someone with the physicality the role needs so that Wonder Woman won't be perceived as a pushover compared to the male superheroes. When they were talking to Jessica Biel, it seemed they understood that, but now I'm not so sure.

They want to go with a very young cast (or so the article linked above says), which is fine. But I'm really surprised that they didn't call Missy Peregrym in for this first big round of auditions; outside of Jessica Biel, she is arguably the most athletic young actress currently working in Hollywood. (This photo gives a glimpse of her athletic physique—you can tell that she doesn't have trouble putting on muscle.)

Production president Jeff Robinov has informed Variety that Warner Brothers isn't run by a bunch of misogynists after all. To the contrary, they are committed to making movies—action films in particular—with women in the lead. Now that's nice and I'm glad to hear it (assuming we can take his word for it), but it really only addresses part of the problem.

Here's an idea, Jeff: How about making good female action movies while you're at it? Yes, that means giving a little more attention to writing, directing, and production. But it also means using sound principles when casting instead of a bunch of outdated, sexist notions.

A certain type of actor is generally required for action roles; e.g., moviegoers—male and female both—must find her convincing as a formidable character for it to go over. Indeed, as shocking as it is to some Hollywood insiders, occasionally a role might call for a woman with muscles. (Gasp!) The idea that you can plunk any actress into an action role and have it work is absurd. It takes more than a pretty face and red-carpet cred, and getting a "good" actress isn't always enough either. (Meryl Streep is a great actress; however, I have no interest in seeing her play Wonder Woman.)

Yet time and again we see the studios forcing ill-suited actresses—often with no more training than a few weeks spent in a cushy Hollywood gym—into action roles while genuinely athletic actresses struggle to find work.

That's not only sexist, it's bad moviemaking.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Jessica Biel has said no to playing Wonder Woman in Justice League of America. That's unfortunate because it takes a good option completely off the table—and it's probably not a good career move on Jessica's part either.

Oh well, the show must go on. And excellent candidates are still available, like those I mentioned earlier: Missy Peregrym, Stacy Keibler, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Jill Wagner, and my special pick Gina Carano.

The important thing, though, is that they continue looking for someone with the requisite physicality. They at least had that much right with Jessica Biel.