"I'm so proud that I got to play a strong female character who isn't a sexualised or a damsel in distress"

You picked the right quote to make my point for me.

Thank you! I had a bet on with myself that you would deliberately misinterpret the quote. I get to have ice-cream tonight!

I think it says a lot about you that you think that's the case. The point of the quote is that far far too often the female lead in media is either sexualized or a damsel in distress, and often both. That you seem to think there's a problem with not doing that is, as they say, sus.

The issue is not „strong female leads“. Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley were believable, Ellie is just a hack job.

I find her to be a very believable character, especially for someone who has gone through the kind of trauma that is inherent to being born into a post apocalyptic future.

> she is a tough girl boss from the very start and isn't fazed by things most people would freak out at

She literally sees people get hanged all the time and their corpses burned because she lives in a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction and people sometimes turn into monsters, both literally and figuratively. Death is not a thing that happens behind closed doors to her.

Her toughness is a projection, and her anger is a defense mechanism. She is a scared little girl living in a world where showing weakness is not ok.

She has a fascination will firearms because they represent the power she lacks but thinks will make her feel safe.

She has abandonment issues and so tests people by trying to push them away, hoping they won't go. She pretends she doesn't need anybody because show knows how badly she really does.

She's a much more nuanced character than you give her credit for.

Why isn't Joel's rugged blue-colar daddy type with a sorted past, but who's always right, considered to be a hack job?

There's a big difference between well written "strong female leads", and terribly written hamfisted "girl boss" perfect characters, such as every woman in Ant-Man 3.

> "I'm so proud that I got to play a strong female character who isn't a sexualised or a damsel in distress, or the opposite of that". Ellie in the TV show embodies that perfectly.

The Hawksian woman:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawksian_woman

I cannot recommend Ball of Fire and His Girl Friday highly enough. For a more modern Hawksian woman, there is Leigh in:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_on_Precinct_13_(1976_f...

I also really enjoy Johnny Guitar where two strong women essentially lead the movie. I still don't know how it was ever made in its time.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/johnny-guita...

Note how it is not called Hawksian teenager.