My Favorite Female Characters (of a certain kind)

There are a lot great roles out there for women. I know women complain that there aren't, but then try being Asian or Indian, there are like two roles out there for them. No, women have had some great parts in the movies, don't deny it. But this list is more focused on female characters of a certain kind. The funny, quirky, awkward and angsty kind. The First World/White people problems kind. The kind that has the best one liners. Admittedly, they are often teenagers. In no particular order:


1) Mina Tannenbaum

We grow up with Mina and her "best friend" Ethel in the 60s and 70s. She is an awkward girl just trying to fit in and get noticed by the cool kids. We forget that it was sort of hard to grow up Jewish in Paris at that time since the French are closet anti-semites. And Mina is Parisian Jewish neurotica at its best, complete with an inner dialogue that berates everything she does and says. Perhaps the most tragic character of all my favorites. Also, this is a French film.







2)  Charlotte of "Mermaids"

Please God don't let me fall in love and want to do disgusting things...
Dear God, I love the way he throws.

Another Jewish girl! Charlotte feels like the adult of her household, led by the fun loving, if a little too sexy and sassy, Cher. Of course, she's just a teenager who has merely found another way to be young. 








3) Juno

You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away
babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them
in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events.

Before the backlash, there was Juno. She is awesome. We all know this even if we don't want to admit it. Every girl secretly wants to be her, every guy secretly wants to date her. She doesn't exist, she can't exist, but that is why there is a movie in her name. 









4) France Ha

Sometimes it's good to do what you're supposed to do
when you're supposed to do it.

27, livingish in New York City, struggling dancer and is so far from having her shit together you almost feel good about the fact that you work in Corporate America and have your own shit together (on thin paper). Except while Frances is dealt blows, she somehow retains her optimism, buoyed perhaps by unrealistic hopes, quirkiness and her rambling social awkwardness (which is of course, way more insightful than what other idiots-who-have-their-shit-together say). You wish you had her resilience and her ability to lie when shit is at its worst. 


5) Rayanne Graf (My So Called Life)

Last year that rumor about me and Mark Cameron,
the orchestra pit, I mean in that case it was true but...
man all the conversation, people writing notes and the- they
look at you different trying to figure out who you really are, like
you're famous. Admit it, it's really great.

While we all thought we were Angela Chase (Angela Chase, c'est moi), we wanted to be the bold, the awesome, the original, Rayanne Graf. Plus Angela got really damn sanctimonious with her after the whole Jordan Catallano incident, which annoyed me quite a bit. 

She was flawed, she was funny, she had inimitable style. I loved this girl.

6) Veronica (Heathers)

I can’t believe this is my life. Oh my God. I’m gonna have to send
my SAT scores to San Quentin instead of Stanford.

Half the reason I love Veronica is because I discovered this movie on my own at around midnight when I was 11 years old. I felt really special. But yes, before it all spins out of control, Veronica has some of the best lines in this category. 





7) Norah (Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist)

 I will not be a goody bag at your pity party, Nick.

Another Jew! Norah has very superfluous problems. She's rich, she's pretty, she got into Brown. But she's nice, has some solid lines, she likes music and most importantly, she spends the one night in New York City that I've always wished for myself. I've come close, but no cigar. Let's throw Nick in too. He's just one of the girls.


8) Deb from Napoleon Dynamite

... And here we have some boondoggle key chains.
A must-have for this season's fashion.

Most of these other girls I've listed claim to be nerds, or losers, or at least, they are totally self-deprecating. But let's face it, they are all hot and cool. Now Deb, on the other hand she is the real deal. She is a bonafide nerd. She owns that nerdiness and wears it with pride. And you know she's gonna go on to be something amazing when she grows up. 



9) Watts (Some Kind of Wonderful)

Keith... you're losing it. And when it's lost, all you are is a loser.

In another era, Watts might have been a lesbian. But instead she is a tomboy who hides her sensitivity and love for her best friend, Keith. As someone who grew up a sensitive tomboy, I found her incredibly likable and mizundastood. But she likes being misunderstood, she revels in it. It's like Miley Cyrus and all them haters. What would we do without the haters y'all? Of course, there's a happy ending.