Women Against the System

Watching Promising Young Woman by Emerald Fennel which I disliked immensely, I was nonetheless struck by how Carey Mulligan’s character fought against a system that oppressed her. It was a positive act of resistance and it made me look for other films where women resisted societal pressure and oppression. Resistance however does not have to be an act of violence. Think of Madhubala dancing to Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya in Mughal E Azam or Renée Jeanne Falconetti in the Passion of Joan of Arc who chooses death over denouncing her faith or even of the newly widowed Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind dancing with Clark Gable at a Ball...