(image: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.)

There have been times in movies when a girl power moment comes along that I feel my entire body shakemainly because I find moments when a woman just befriends other women for the sake of checking off a box to be tiresome, which is why I dont like the girl power moment of Avengers: Endgame (and Im not alone).

So why do I love the fight sequences ofBirds of Preyand the shes not alone moment of Avengers: Infinity Warso much? Because they manage to bring together the idea of strong women without making their characters stand up and say, We can do this because were WOMEN.

What I love aboutBirds of Preyis that it takes theInfinity Wargirl power route and, instead of basically saying those words out loud, it displays the power of its characters in a way that shows that all of these women are there extremely capable heroes/anti-heroes in their own rights.

Their fights arent about wow look at me, Im a girl taking charge of this situation, please give our corporate sponsors credit for this, but rather, just women fighting to survive. In Birds of Prey, the scene that really drives this home for me is when Huntress, Renee Montoya, Harley Quinn, and Black Canary are all fighting to protect Cassandra Cain from Black Masks hitmen.

There are little moments that show the strength of these women (and it is the iconic hair-tie moment that broke the internet recently) but what really gets me is that these women are not just powerful, but they also care. Huntress, when Cassandra is worried and freaking out in the middle of everything, pulls her off to the side and hands her a toy car that she used as a comfort when her family was being killed. Helena hands it to her and tells her to close her eyes and just focus on it, and instantly goes back into protection mode.

That moment alone with shes not alone shows that female empowerment doesnt have to come from a were women yaya! moment, but rather, just understanding how a woman would fight. If Im protecting someone, Id make sure theyre okay, and sure, its badass watching a woman use the heel of her shoe to take a man out, but I think both of these moments give us a real sense of understanding just how powerful and amazing female characters are (and should be depicted).

Female empowerment doesnt have to be an in-your-face moment but rather is in the subtlety of female strength. While we may not be these physically opposing beings from time to time, there is a different kind of strength to women and seeing moments like that of Infinity WarandBirds of Preyreminds us that women use their strengths in different ways, and it is beautiful.

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Excerpt from:
How Birds of Prey Nails Female Empowerment Without the Cringe Aspect - The Mary Sue