Heroine Disqualified 2021

So here is to the heroines who never made it. The ones who slept through the call to adventure. The ones who fell in love with the villain. The ones who saved themselves and only themselves. The ones who are disqualified, disheveled, and disinterested in your approval.

The best recent example of this is Poor Things (2023) by Yorgos Lanthimos. Bella Baxter is a "heroine" in the sense that she is the protagonist. But she is disqualified from traditional femininity immediately: she has the brain of a child and the body of a resurrected adult. She becomes promiscuous, selfish, and intellectually brutal. She does not "learn to be good." She learns to be free. That freedom is ugly. And that is the point. Heroine Disqualified

The story follows Hatori Matsuzaki, a high school student who is firmly convinced she is the "heroine" of a real-life romantic comedy. Her "hero" is her childhood best friend, Rita Terasaka. Unlike typical heroines who are portrayed as modest or selfless, Hatori is hilariously delusional, self-centered, and prone to wild facial expressions when things don't go her way. So here is to the heroines who never made it

The cool, aloof childhood friend who struggles to understand his own feelings until it might be too late. The ones who saved themselves and only themselves