An Exploration of the Girl Boss Movie

By Sophia Mathews

Included in the Spring 2021 Magazine

Today I am undergoing the journalistic endeavor of exploring the genre of girlboss movies. I have not invented the term “girlboss,” nor have I been the first to use it to describe movie characters, but I am attempting to do what no one else has done. In this article, I will systematically define the conceptual genre of  “girlboss movies.”

A girlboss is a powerful, assertive, employed woman. Specifically, girlbosses work within and add power to a system, rather than dismantling it. They are She-E-O’s who may exploit their workers, but they broke the glass ceiling, so they are #feminist #icons. Girlbosses are commercial, as they brand feminism to sell a product and cover up their potential mistreatment of those less privileged than them. 

A girlboss movie is a movie in which the protagonist is a girlboss doing girlboss things. There are some movies with girlboss characters, but don’t make the cut if the girlboss is not prominent in the movie. This may also happen if the movie is too reliant on the girlboss as a reactionary character, rather than performing the action. Also, something I want to make clear is that girlboss movies can center around girlbosses who use their powers for good or evil. While “girlboss” can be thought of as a negative term, there are some instances where the girlboss is a good person. What can I say, the world of girlboss cinema is extremely complex.

Girlboss movies

The first girlboss movies I think of right away are Legally Blonde and Erin Brockovich. These movies are about bad bitch girlboss lawyers who do good, despite people doubting them because of their femininity. Legally Blonde is about Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon), a bubbly sorority girl who gets into Harvard Law School and tries to win back her ex-boyfriend and prove that she’s serious. Erin Brochovich came out a year earlier, in 2000, and stars Julia Roberts as the title character. This movie is infinitely less girlboss-y than Legally Blonde because, unlike Elle, Erin starts from nothing and does everything she can to get a job at a law firm, where she works on a major environmental case against a massive corporation. Because her goals are to help impoverished communities and stick it to corporations, she’s not fully a corporate #girlboss. However, I would still call this a girlboss movie, as it centers around a woman’s ascent in the legal world, but you may feel free to disagree.

I Care A Lot is arguably the girlbossiest of the girlboss movies. The girlboss in question is Marla, a legal guardian who exploits the healthcare system to take advantage of old people, and she’s good at it too. She has lots of money by virtue of screwing over senior citizens. I personally didn’t love this movie, but for a complete girlboss education, it’s a must-see.

The fourth girlboss movie is A Simple Favor, which features Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, and has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster. Kendrick plays a mommy vlogger and Lively is a public relations director at a fashion company. Lively’s character has a glamorous, lavish lifestyle, which makes it s all the more mysterious when she goes missing. Where a non-girlboss movie might be about a missing woman, this movie qualifies as a girlboss movie because it’s about women with agency over themselves and the plot (just wait until the end to find out why!).

Next up is The Devil Wears Prada, in which a wannabe journalist, Andy (Anne Hathaway), becomes a personal assistant to the editor in chief of a major fashion magazine. Her boss, Miranda (Meryl Streep) is the ultimate girlboss because she is demanding to the point of ruining her assistants’ lives, but she manages to get away with it because of her power in the industry. Andy works her way to girlbossery as well, pushing away her friends and boyfriend in the process. Simply an incredible girlboss movie.

Now, time for a girlboss movie speed round. Gone Girl is a fantastic girlboss movie that I will not spoil, but you must watch (or read) it if you haven’t yet. Then, there’s Emma––and you can take your pick with the Gwyneth Paltrow or Anya Taylor-Joy version, but I love the latter. I can’t mention Emma without its sister-movie: Clueless. “Ugh, as if” is a great girlboss mantra. Finally, there is the movie Revenge of the Bridesmaids, where childhood best friends act as double agents, being bridesmaids for a frenemy whose marriage they are actually trying to tear apart.

What’s not a girlboss movie?

At first glance, one may think Sierra Burgess Is A Loser is a girlboss movie. Sierra catfishes a bro, played by Noah Centineo, which is girlboss behavior for sure. However, Sierra is at the bottom of her high school’s food chain and is hiding her real identity. This is not a girlboss movie because girlbosses are proud of who they are.You can’t be an entrepreneuHER if you’re hiding your true self.

Another non-girlboss movie that might deceive you is Booksmart. Molly and Amy are two best friends who realize they spent all of high school studying, so they want to prove to themselves and their peers that they can have fun. Molly is certainly a girlboss: she is the school president, listens to morning meditations about how she is better than those who doubt her, and has an RBG photo in her room. However, Amy is not a girlboss, as she is not as career-minded or assertive. Since Molly and Amy have equal screen time in the movie, and a girlboss movie needs to be predominantly about girlbossery, it is not a girlboss movie. Furthermore, Molly and Amy are not powerful enough. Their adventures take them on a journey to get to a party, but they’re not the ones who are in charge of what’s going to happen.

Another movie I absolutely love is Promising Young Woman. While it has some characteristics of a girlboss movie, it does not make the cut. Cassandra, played by Carey Mulligan, takes vengeance on men by pretending to be drunk up until the moment when they try to take advantage of her. Playing men is girlboss behavior, but she’s dealing with actual painful issues and her actions are arguably net-positive, or at least well-intentioned. Also, Cassandra is a medical school dropout and cares little about her reputation, as she puts it on the line many times as she fights to vindicate her friend. She is extremely unconcerned with her career, so she is not the corporate #girlboss a girlboss movie requires.

Conclusions

Although I don’t always love girlbosses, I always love a girlboss movie. These boss babes are not always the compassionate characters we relate to, but nevertheless, watching someone rise to the top can be satisfying. Whether she’s murdering people or climbing a corporate ladder, a girlboss is always intriguing to watch in film. While it can be a challenge to discern what fits into the category of a girlboss movie, allow the mantra “girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep” to guide you in the right direction, and maybe you’ll be inspired to start an MLM or underpay your employees too.