Sports Heroines in Film: A Critical Study of Cinematic Women Athletes, Coaches and Owners by Viridiana Lieberman (review)

In contemporary Hollywood films such as The Hunger Games and Divergent series, empowered young women are featured, yet Viridiana Lieberman, in Sports Heroines on Film, laments that cinematic depictions of women in sport all too often continue to reflect protagonists who sacrifice their athletic abilities in order to better fit into a masculinized environment. Focusing primarily on theatrical films released since the passage of Title IX in 1972, Lieberman, a New York filmmaker with an advanced degree in women's studies, examines the portrayal of women as athletes, coaches, and professional team owners. Complaining about the paucity of films dealing with women and sport, Lieberman observes that most of this small sample depicts conflict between sport and fulfilling more traditional female roles such as wife, mother, girlfriend, or daughter. Instead, Lieberman argues that Hollywood should simply let women athletes enjoy and play their games. She concludes, "We need to embrace the diversity among women as athletes and as individuals. We cannot continue to compare them in order to celebrate the one who best fits the patriarchal female social construction" (170).

In developing this critique, Lieberman examines such commercially successful films as A League of Their Own (1992) and Million-Dollar Baby (2004). Directed by Penny Marshall, A League of Their Own celebrates the accomplishments of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the Second World War. While the athletic talent and achievement of the women are acknowledged, Lieberman asserts that the film text privileges traditional female roles over athleticism. For example, Dottie Henson (Geena Davis) is the best player in the league, yet, exhibiting stereotypical female values of self-sacrifice, she gives up her career for marriage and family. In addition, Lieberman insists that Dottie intentionally drops the ball at home plate so that her sister Kit (Lori Petty) may score the winning run in the league championship game. As for director Clint Eastwood's Academy Award–winning Million-Dollar Baby, Lieberman maintains that the film is really not about the boxing career of Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), but rather her trainer Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) who emerges as a father figure for the young fighter.

Less renowned films are also documented as pursuing themes of pleasing male figures. The roller derby film Whip It (2009) focuses on a special relationship between a daughter and father who celebrates her athletic achievement. Another theme in the film texts is objectification of the female body by privileged males. In She's the Man (2006), Viola (Amanda Bynes) displays a passion for soccer, passing for a boy so that she may play the sport after the high school girls' team is disbanded. The film ends by concentrating on her beauty and attraction to a boy rather than her soccer skills. Lieberman observes that emphasizing the heterosexual nature of the female athletes refutes the assumption that they are masculinized and lesbians. For example, Personal Best (1982) features a sexual relationship between track stars Chris Cahill (Mariel Hemingway) and Tory Skinner (Patrice Donnelly). By the film's conclusion, however, Chris has found a proper male outlet for her sexuality.

While Lieberman is generally critical of how female athletes are portrayed by Hollywood, she notes several important exceptions to this trend. Girlfight (2000) tells the story of Diana Guzman (Michelle Rodriguez) who finds her identity in the world of boxing. She even defeats her love interest in a gender-neutral boxing match, but this does not exclude the possibility of a relationship for a strong female character that refuses to compromise her skills. In Love and Basketball (2000), Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) is able to enjoy a family and a career in professional basketball. Blue Crush (2000) concentrates on the passion of Anne Marie Chadwick (Kate Bosworth) for surfing, although there remains an objectification of the female body in a bikini.

Similar themes are contained in Lieberman's account of films...