The release of Hidden Figures, which tells the untold story of the African-American women who literally helped NASA put men on the moon, gets me thinking. Namely, about the countless number of women who also achieved great things, but nevertheless haven’t been deemed important enough to warrant a movie based on their extraordinary lives, one in the vein of say, Schindler’s List, Malcolm X, Raging Bull, The King’s Speech, Walk The Line, Goodfellas, or Lincoln. (Starting to notice a pattern?) But that doesn’t change the fact that their accomplishments deserve to be acknowledged…at least in a top 10 list. Whether they were scientists, artists, tech geeks, activists, writers, or warriors, here are ten amazing women who deserve the biopic treatment.
How, how, HOW has this woman not been giving the prestigious, Oscar baiting biopic treatment? Her story has the power to leave even the most jaded of us in awe. She was born into slavery and not only successfully escaped it, but frequently returned to the South to help others gain their own freedom. She aided the Union Army during the Civil War, and was also very active in the movement to give women the right to vote. But Tubman’s time for making the leap from our wallets (forcing Andrew Jackson off the $20 bill) to the screen might just be closer than we think. Not only is Viola Davis working with HBO on a documentary about her life, but there’s even a feature film entitled Harriet in the works, with Charles D. King signed on as producer and Seith Mann of Homeland set to direct. Here’s hoping for great things.
Ida B. Wells
This woman is a case study in resilience. Born into slavery in 1862, she grew up free thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation. She also practiced civil disobedience before it was a thing when she refused to move to the car designated for African-Americans during a train trip. After being forcibly removed from the train, she sued the railroad and won, only to have the decision overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. This inspired her to begin a lifelong career of writing about the many injustices she witnessed, especially lynchings. Oh, and she helped found the NAACP, was deeply committed to ending discrimination against women, and (unsuccessfully) ran for the Illinois state senate. Perhaps this quote sums up what drove her: “I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.”
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Anna Nzinga
Here was a woman who was worthy of the title queen. Also helps that she was one, in what is now Angola. The country certainly lucked out by having her on hand to rule in the 1600s when the Portuguese came calling, looking to exploit the country and enslave the population. But Queen Nzinga proved to be as formidable a negotiator and ruler as she was a warrior, keeping the European powers at bay (if not completely out) and building her kingdom into an economic force to be reckoned with. One of the most famous stories about her was that during one of her meetings with the Portuguese authorities, they refused to provide her with a chair, so she had one of her people drop on his hands and knees, while she sat on his back. And despite many attempts to capture or kill Nzinga, she died peacefully of natural causes when she was in her 80s.
Boudica
Boudica was another warrior queen, albeit in a drastically different era. She was born around AD 25 in a Celtic Britain, coming of age just when Rome began to take a much greater interest in her home. After her husband died, the Romans invaded, sacking cities and plundering the country’s resources. When Boudica objected, she was punished by flogging while her daughters were raped. In response, she began a rebellion against Rome that left their cities in ruins and thousands of their citizens dead. In other words? Don’t mess with a mother, folks. The rebellion was eventually suppressed, and Boudica is said to have poisoned herself to avoid capture, going out like a badass.
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Nellie Bly
Elizabeth Jane Cochran, who would eventually become the journalist known as Nellie Bly, spent her career writing mostly about the plight of the underdog, especially working women and girls. She had a lot of experience in that situation herself, with her father’s death leaving her, her mother, and her siblings with little financial security. Bly put herself on the map by writing a fiery letter to a newspaper after it published an extremely sexist column about women belonging in the home. The paper was was so impressed with her response that it gave her a job. Eschewing the fashion-centric, frilly stories women were expected to write, she decided to pretend to be suffering from amnesia so she could write about the conditions in a mental institution, and the result was one of her most famous works, 10 Days in a Mad-House, which shocked the public and led to some much-needed reforms. Bly also traveled around the world in an effort to break the record of the fictional protagonist of Around the World in 80 Days. She did it in 72, setting an actual world record and becoming famous in the process. She also interviewed some of the most famous people of her time, such as boxer John L. Sullivan, and suffragist Susan B. Anthony. Hers is a life that begs for a big budget Hollywood treatment, especially since she wrote about issues that are sadly still prevalent today.
Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia is one of the most talented artists you’ve never heard of. She’s not only one of the finest female painters of the Baroque period, she’s one of the greatest, period. But when she is mentioned, even her impressive talent tends to be overwhelmed by the event which rocked her to the core, that of her rape by a tutor. The resulting trial lasted months, during which Artemisia was tortured by having ropes wrapped around her fingers and pulling them tight, all in an effort order to prove her honesty. While her rapist was convicted, he was released by the judge, apparently because he was such a successful artist, with the pope being one of his fans. (And a white male “artist” not only getting away with abuse, but being rewarded, is still frustratingly common.) The transcript can still be read today, and contains a depressingly familiar-and modern-narrative. There are arguments about whether Artemisia was a virgin when she was raped, whether or not she was promiscuous, and insults against her character and her artistic skills. After the trial, Artemisia married and kept on painting, going on to become one of the most famous artists in Europe, with her paintings often illustrating Biblical women from a nuanced female perspective. However, her most famous work is the Judith Slaying Holofernes, which depicts the assassination of Holofernes by Judith. In the brutal scene, two strong-looking women hold Holofernes down while one of them stabs him in the throat, while blood realistically flows from his neck onto the sheets. It’s hard not to view it without seeing the barely repressed rage of a woman who suffered under a patriarchal system incapable of seeing her as fully human.
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Anne Bonney
Sure, Anne Bonney has popped up as a side character in a few movies before, but why hasn’t she taken center stage? Her story has all the delicious ingredients that make for a good adventure story: action, drama, romance, and even a tight bond between her and another infamous woman who chose to make her living on the high seas. Born in Ireland but brought to South Carolina as a child, legend has it that a man tried to rape her, but the teenaged Anne beat him so badly he had to be hospitalized. When her father tried to marry her off to a local man, she married a sailor instead and journeyed with him to the Bahamas. When that husband became an informant for the governor, Anne started regretting the marriage and took up with the pirate John “Calico Jack” Rackham. Soon, she found a friend in Mary Read, another female pirate who disguised herself as a man. However, the British Navy came upon Mary and Anne’s ship when the entire crew, except for the two women, were too drunk to resist. While everyone else was executed, Mary and Anne escaped by claiming they were pregnant. Mary died in prison nevertheless, while Anne Bonny’s father is said to have ransomed her and brought her back to South Carolina, where she remarried and had eight children. Her having become a pirate and been the only crew member to tell the tale surely speaks to the fabled luck of the Irish.
Fatima al-Fihri
At a time when women in Islam are subject to constant debate and all measures of control, it’s important to remember that stories involving Muslim women aren’t always about oppression. Take Fatima al-Fihri. While little is known about her life, it didn’t stop her from making an impact. She was a wealthy, well-educated woman who lived in the ninth century. When her father died, Fatima and her sister Mariam inherited his fortune and decided to found mosques that would help the community. The mosque Fatima founded, Al-Qarawiyyin, not only became the world’s first university, but also the world’s oldest library, both of which still exist today in Morocco. And in an era where whitewashing is STILL a thing and politicians can build careers out of demonizing Muslims, it would be refreshing to see an actress of Middle Eastern descent get to play a different kind of role. You know, the kind that doesn’t involve terrorism or a need to be rescued, liberated, or in any way saved, but rather one which involves building a revered institution that’s lasted thousands of years.
Alice Guy-Blaché
Women are still strugglieng to get a fair deal in Hollywood, so it’s hardly surprising that Alice was not only the first female director, she was actually the only one for about ten years. Really, she just might be the first director, as her first effort, the 1896 film The Cabbage Fairy, is considered to be the first movie with a plot. She also started her own studio, which made films that criticized the social restrictions of the time, and experimented with sound far before Hollywood did. But after her husband left her for a young actress, her success began to wane, and she never made another film. Her achievements, unlike that of her male contemporaries, have mostly been completely ignored and sidelined. But it’s never too late to bring forgotten histories to light.
Ada Lovelace
It’s no secret that open, rampant sexism still exists in the tech world, while women are still discouraged from entering STEM fields in favor of more traditionally female professions. However, the world’s first computer programmer was actually a woman, Ada Lovelace, who was also the daughter of the famed poet Lord Byron. Being born with such an elite pedigree meant she had access to some of the finest minds of the day, but it was her friendship with the inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage that would change her life. When Babbage built a calculating machine and asked Lovelace to translate an article about his invention, she added her own notes, along with a code that could be used to program it, which is considered to be the first algorithm, and thus the first computer program. Tragically, Ada died of cancer at the age of 37. A biopic about her life could certainly be an enjoyable one, where a woman is the one contributing to science, rather than being relegated to a supporting role.
Honorable mentions: Tomoe Gozen, Hedy Lamarr, Jane Goodall, Tamar of Georgia, Marsha P. Johnson, Edith Wilson.
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