Inspired by my anticipation for Julie & Julia and Amelia, the upcoming biopic of Amelia Earhart starring Hilary Swank, and my continual frustration with the general dearth of female-centered biopics: What woman's life would you like you see made into a feature film?
Here are my top five:
1. Shirley Chisholm. First black woman elected to Congress, founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, first major-party black candidate for president, first female Democratic presidential candidate…what the hell does a woman gotta do to warrant a freaking biopic already?
2. Edith Stein. Jewish atheist philosopher whose fascination with Catholic mysticism prompted her conversion to Catholicism; she later became a nun. Brilliant and fascinating writer. Penned "an impassioned and extraordinarily prescient appeal to Pope Pius XI in 1933, urging him to galvanize the church against the Nazi persecution of the Jews." Stein's warning was not heeded; she was later arrested and died at Auschwitz. (I can't even write that without blubbing.)
3. Lola Montez. Irish-born dancer and famous European courtesan, whose rather amazing life of art, sex, and political intrigue took her around the world. There was a French-German film made of her life in 1955, but none since that I know of.
4. Renée Richards. Author, athlete, and activist. Famously denied entry into the 1976 US Open by the United States Tennis Association, who invoked a "women-born-women policy," prompting Richards to sue and eventually win her case in the New York State Supreme Court. The decision was hailed as a landmark in the struggle for trans equality. There was a TV movie made about Richards in the '80s, starring Vanessa Redgrave, but her story certainly belongs on the big screen—especially now.
5. Indira Gandhi. I'm honestly not sure how it's possible that there hasn't been a serious biopic made of India's first (and still only) female prime minister who was fascinating, controversial, and brutally assassinated. I mean, really?—Aileen Wuornos gets a film before Indira Gandhi? And how many films about Queen Elizabeth I do we really need? Come on.
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