From Effie White with her amazing voice and personality that arrested everyone in the room in Dream Girls (2006) to Imperator Furiosa with her willingness to put her life on the line to free the Five Wives in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), aren’t we all glad to have strong female role models across pop culture to inspire young ladies growing up?
With more women at the helm of productions in recent years, more of these girl power-focused tropes have come to life — with their stories of individuality, resilience, strength, and womanhood front and center.
Get to know and maybe learn a few life lessons along the way from these female icons. Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Gossip Girl’s Julien Calloway
She’s as moneyed as an Upper East Sider as she’s influential as an Instagram celeb. With her shaved head and supermodel bod, Julien (Jordan Alexander) rocks as the new Queen Bee of Constance in this Gossip Girl reboot.
Make no mistake, though: While usually nice, JC uses her Serena van der Woodsen-esque charm and Blair Waldorf-trademarked sense of authority to her advantage. In the recently concluded first season, she shows off a backbone of steel—defying her father’s wishes to connect with her half-sister Zoya and then confronting him about his sexual abuse allegations. In contrast to the OG GG queens though, Julien exhibits more accountability.
And Just Like That…’s Seema Patel
As the overdue follow-up series to the iconic Sex and the City, And Just Like That… proves that women can hold their own — no matter the decade or phase in life.
The show may have its original leads in Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte, but no one translates this message more than 50-something realtor Seema (Sarita Choudhury). A new addition to the series, Seema is a breath of fresh air—playing a major role in showing the recently-widowed Carrie that there is still more to life after Mr. Big’s death. She even helps her find a new apartment! Unabashed and opinionated, Seema points out Carrie’s mistakes including this one insensitive—albeit unintentional—remark on her love life and age.
KIMI’s Angela Childs
Trauma affects people in different ways—Angela (Zoë Kravitz), a sexual assault victim too scared to step out of her Seattle loft, knows.
Angela works from home as a data monitor for Amygdala, a tech firm whose products include a smart speaker that uses human monitoring to improve its search algorithm called Kimi (think Amazon’s Alexa). It’s the perfect job for her until she hears a terrifying voice recording that has her suspect someone is being assaulted.
Angela reports the incident to her superiors, but none believe her—an experience she knows too well after being disbelieved for her own assault. In this new scenario, she finally musters the courage to check out what’s beyond her front door and gather enough evidence to make a case.
The Girl Before’s Jane Cavendish
Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), after suffering from a traumatic stillbirth, ran away to escape her pain by renting a gorgeous home in One Folgate Street owned by an eccentric architect, Edward (David Oyelowo).
Despite red flags (strict rules, cameras everywhere, no personal possessions inside), Jane decides this is the perfect place for her to heal.
She even develops a romantic relationship with Edward but everything changes upon learning about Emma, the previous tenant who has more than a passing resemblance to her had mysteriously died. Feeling a connection and wanting to find answers, a suspicious, justice-seeking Jane is led down a dangerous rabbit hole.
Land’s Edee Holzer
Feeling extremely guilty after losing her family in a theater shooting, sole survivor Edee Holzer (Robin Wright) physically isolates herself in the mountains of Alberta, Canada. It’s as if Edee came to the mountains to die, as she leans on her pain and lives off-grid with no survival know-how.
After a bad snowstorm destroys her new home, she meets Miguel (Demián Bichir), a hunter who teaches her how to hunt and rebuild her home. Edee finds solace in her new friend, who also lost his family. Edee finally lets herself grieve for her own loss as she navigates her way back to the life she had left.
Batwoman’s Mary Hamilton
In the dark city of Gotham City, the Batwomen—Ryan Wilder and Kate Kane—are fighting with its villains. On the other side of the coin is the cheerful Dr. Hamilton (Nicole Kang), who has hers anchored on nursing. She supports Kate upon learning of the latter’s identity as the female caped crusader.
Despite numerous setbacks, including becoming Poison Ivy and turning on her friends, Mary proves that strong women can do what’s right to help others. In an episode, Mary stops supervillain Alice from blowing up the Gotham Dam and saves thousands in the city.
Watch, discover, and be inspired by stories of strong female icons only on HBO GO, powered by PLDT Home’s fastest connections. Enjoy HBO’s collection of award-winning content with the undisputed fastest broadband network in the Philippines, as recognized at the Ookla Speedtest Awards.
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