Director James Cameron has been known for directing blockbuster classics such as the first two "Terminator" films, "Aliens," and "Titanic,". As male audiences cheered , female audiences weren't deprived of female characters to root and relate to. Rather than being likable, innocent, defenseless eye candy trophies for the male protagonists, they are just as daring, heroic, and macho as the males.
Ellen Ripley from "Aliens" and Sarah Connor from "The Terminator" films for example are aggressive, headstrong women fighting against authority to protect people from the near-certain doom that awaits them, whether its an army of aliens or machines. They are knowledgeable about the dangers if this threat is not controlled, serving as a loud voice of reason that gets ignored because of greed or because they are seen as insane. Naturally, both have to break the rules of authority by breaking the law, doing whatever is necessary to keep people safe. They show no mercy when fighting against the monsters, at times fighting through their pain. They're skillful fighters, using whatever tools they find that can be of use when killing the film's primary antagonists. Sarah, for instance, uses a machine to crush the terminator at the end of the first Terminator, just as Ripley uses a forklift and an airlock to destroy the Queen Alien.
Not all the women in Cameron's films had to prove they are were as tough as men. Rose in "Titanic" was just as smart and determined, as the other women. As Ripley and Sarah physically both fought off a foe; Rose wants to live an adventurous life with Jack. Rose knew that she will be as miserable and bitter as her mother showing female viewers that strength comes from pursuing a dream.
Cameron shows female protagonists having the same abilities of male protagonists without them abandoning their feminine side. Rose, for example, wears elegant clothing, has lovely hair, uses make-up,and poses in the nude. Nevertheless, looks aren't everything to define a woman. Rose, in one scene, joins a party in with the lower class, drinks hard liquor, and grabs a smoke out of a man's mouth. But she gets the men's full approval for being tight from her dancing skills by performing a stand "en pointe" for a few seconds, showing you don't always have to act like a man to impress. Though Rose's desire is freedom, what helps drive her to that freedom is her attraction to Jack. It's as clichéd as a Disney fairy-tale, yet that doesn't mean that strong people aren't incapable of feeling love and emotion either. Sarah Connor fell in love with Kyle, the soldier from the future, Kyle before turning into a commando warrior. After losing him, she keeps his spirit alive by teaching her son all the skills she learned to assure that John will save humanity from the machines during a war in the future. Sarah loves her son; however, the motherly qualities of a female protagonist are better shown with Ripley. When Ripley isn't commanding the troops or killing aliens, she spends her time taking care of an orphan girl named Newt, whose family was killed by the aliens. As Sarah always remains in her war-frame of mind, Ripley puts it aside, understanding that Newt is alone and scared with nowhere to go. She now has a mellow presence to comfort her as she feeds her, cleans her, encourages her, and tucks her in, treating Newt as if she were her daughter, revealing a tender side of herself.
Cameron successfully demonstrates that being feminine doesn't mean being weak. That doesn't mean these characters are superheroes without flaws. Just having a female who's powerful, knowledgeable, and still acting like their gender as they fight isn't always exciting enough. As any good heroic character should have no matter what gender they are, they need to have flaws and weaknesses to make them engaging. Otherwise, they'd be too perfect, resulting in them being boring, and the power and skills they gain would not feel as rewarding. Rose may be glamorous looking, but she's not flawless. Before she meets Jack, she feels doomed in the life she lives with no fun and adventure, feeling more like an object than a person for her fiancé. Her first thought to leave it all behind wasn't to run away; she attempted suicide, feeling there's no other way out.
Sarah Connor in the first Terminator was nowhere close to being the hero people praise her for. She was clumsy, unorganized, a push-over, and very vulnerable. For most of the film, she's always rescued Kyle. It's not until the climax of the movie when Sarah starts to become hardened, rescuing Kyle. Everything that mattered to her is stripped away, including her lover. In the second film, when she fully evolves as high as she is at fighting, she can still be vulnerable by having trouble escaping and getting injured. She's not just weak in battle; she has character flaws when it comes to dealing with emotion. Like Kyle, she kept all of her feelings inside her, treating her son more like a solider than loving him like a son, making John feel unloved and feeling a loss of childhood. John, at one point, thinks he's going to get a hug from her after breaking her out of a mental institution but instead checks to see if he's hurt as Sarah frustratingly says his mission to rescue her was stupid. When she's not awake fighting, and concealing her emotions, she has nightmares of judgment day, only making her feel more unstable.
Ripley suffers from nightmares as well. Ripley's near-death encounter has traumatized her so much that it prevents her from destroying the aliens. She'd preferably work on the loading docks, knowing she will be safe from harm. Of course, she does eventually go out on the battlefield destroying all traces of the aliens, but she's far from fearless. She gets scared, she feels shaky when firing a gun, and she gets injured. Sometimes she can make significant mistakes like dropping Newt by accident where she'll be taken away by an alien. Instead of letting her die, she goes back to rescue her as the station is going to be blown to bits.
