Jennifer Lawrence Factchecked After Claiming She Was First Female Action Lead With 'Hunger Games'

\u201c"We were told girls and boys could both identify with a male lead, but boys cannot identify with a female lead," Jennifer Lawrence says of taking on the role of Katniss in #TheHungerGames. https://t.co/TqYPwDLCC4\u201d

— Variety (@Variety) 1670434235

\u201cJennifer Lawrence was the first female action star. \n\nLinda Hamilton\nPam Grier\nMichelle Yeoh\nSigourney Weaver\nMilla Jovovich\nUma Thurman \nAngelina Jolie\nMichelle Rodriguez\nCarrie-Anne Moss\nHalle Berry\n\nThis women owe everything to Jennifer Lawrence\u2019s trailblazing\u201d

— Stream the Vote (@Stream the Vote) 1670434940

\u201cWith the upmost respect to Jennifer Lawrence, these women (and more) have pioneered female representation in action cinema.\n\nCan we be doing more? Absolutely. A lot more.\n\nBut we have to acknowledge film history and how these actors have paved the way for film heroines today.\u201d

— Yoko Higuchi (@Yoko Higuchi) 1670434505

\u201cJennifer Lawrence saying that she was the first woman to ever lead an action movie is so disrespectful to these icons.\u201d

— Daniel Kwan (@Daniel Kwan) 1670450676

\u201cIt is untrue that no one had ever put a woman in an action movie before Jennifer Lawrence in Hunger Games.\n\nIt is absolutely true that Hollywood had and has a real bias against women driven action movies because of this ridiculous belief about who identifies with whom.\u201d

— Franklin Leonard (@Franklin Leonard) 1670435174

\u201cPart of the problem is that previous successes were often dismissed as being successful for reasons other than their being female driven action: Alien is a monster movie. Kill Bill is Tarantino. Titanic was epic romance. Twilight is YA.\n\nThey're all female driven action.\u201d

— Franklin Leonard (@Franklin Leonard) 1670435174

\u201cAnd female driven action has made money in Hollywood since time immemorial, just like male driven action has.\n\nBut just like so many other kinds of films, the industry ignores the data, because they're wed to conventional wisdom that is all convention, and no wisdom.\u201d

— Franklin Leonard (@Franklin Leonard) 1670435174

\u201c@K__TequilaShot @franklinleonard YA/Teen movies/Major Franchises. Hunger Games was the first. Either way, shes right, so not sure how yall took this as a slight to other standalone action movies.\u201d

— Franklin Leonard (@Franklin Leonard) 1670435174

\u201c@franklinleonard I'd also add that it's a YA/teen movie, and off the top of my head I can't really think of an action movie before Hunger Games with a teen girl as the protagonist. I think that *may* have been where she was coming from on this.\u201d

— Franklin Leonard (@Franklin Leonard) 1670435174

\u201c@franklinleonard @KenSimonSays It\u2019s also cyclical - people who purport to have trouble identifying with people who aren\u2019t like them will continue to have trouble if they\u2019re not exposed to stories told from their POV. Meanwhile, underserved audiences have no choice but to see themselves in white guys.\u201d

— Franklin Leonard (@Franklin Leonard) 1670435174

\u201c@iWatchiAm Respectfully disagree. Men love watching female lead action films. Silence of the Lambs, Lucy, Underworld, Aliens, Resident Evil, Kill BIll, Jolie's TOMB RAIDER, T2, etc. all films that's target audience is men/boys all HITS.\u201d

— Olivia Truffaut-Wong (@Olivia Truffaut-Wong) 1670436537

\u201c@tonygig But do men love watching female led action films that aren't overly sexualized and marketed specifically to a horny male audience? Even Alien features an unnecessary underwear shot.\u201d

— Olivia Truffaut-Wong (@Olivia Truffaut-Wong) 1670436537

\u201c@iWatchiAm Respectfully, I disagree. Her very valid point feels moot when she's ignoring women, who in some way, may have paved the way so she could star in a Hunger Games. Pam Grier, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Yeoh, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry & so many others deserve better\u201d

— Olivia Truffaut-Wong (@Olivia Truffaut-Wong) 1670436537

\u201c@TheDetourEffect @iWatchiAm As much as I love Jennifer Lawrence, she completely missed the mark on this one. Boys/Men absolutely can &do relate to & identify with female lead roles. There are plenty of female rolls & characters that we relate to. In my 45 years I've never heard anyone make those claims.\u201d

— Olivia Truffaut-Wong (@Olivia Truffaut-Wong) 1670436537