Tuesday
Jul052011
Actress "Characters" Wins: Miranda, Clarice, Clementine
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 12:02PM Talking Points!
Last month I asked you to vote on the most memorable characters within the ranks of the Best Actress nominees. It wasn't about who gave the best performances but which characters have stuck with you the most. Here are the results -- I assumed you'd like to see.
1991-1996
- *CLARICE STARLING (Jodie Foster) from Silence of the Lambs
- THELMA (Geena Davis) from Thelma & Louise
- LOUISE (Susan Sarandon) from Thelma & Louise
- *ADA MCGRATH (Holly Hunter) from The Piano
- FRANCESCA JOHNSON (Meryl Streep) from The Bridges of Madison County
runners up (in descending order): (four way tie for sixth place!!!) SERA Leaving Las Vegas, TINA TURNER What's Love Got to Do With It, ELINOR DASHWOOD Sense & Sensibility and *SISTER HELEN PREJEAN Dead Man Walking and... coming in tenth *MARGARET SCHLEGEL Howards End
observations: Clarice Starling had the widest margin of victory in any of the polls, a classic character indeed. I was a bit surprised to see Thelma just edge out Louise for #2 given that Sarandon was the "leader" but perhaps people still get the characters mixed up? Thelma, Louise and Ada were pretty evenly matched with Francesca just barely edging out that cluster of women competing for the the 5-Spot. I'm surprised that Margaret Schlegel was as low as she was (I would've voted for her myself) but I have noticed that today's film culture has greatly devalued the Merchant/Ivory filmography. A true shame because nobody does Brit lit adaptations like that historic team.
weakest showing: Rose (Laura Dern) from Rambling Rose, Viv (Miranda Richardson) from Tom & Viv barely made a blip with 1% of the vote each. The surprise there is Rambling Rose since Dern's Oscar breakthrough was quite a memorable girl. But it's true that you never hear people talk about that film these days.
1996-2000
- *MARGE (Frances McDormand) from Fargo
- SARA GOLDFARB (Ellen Burstyn) from Requiem for a Dream
- *ERIN BROCKOVICH (Julia Roberts) from Erin Brockovich
- CAROLYN BURNHAM (Annette Bening) from American Beauty
- ROSE DEWITT BUKATER (Kate Winslet) from Titanic
runners up (in descending order): *BRANDON TEENA Boy's Don't Cry, ELIZABETH Elizabeth, BESS MCNEILL Breaking the Waves, SAMMY PRESCOTT You Can Count of Me and... (tied for 10) *VIOLA Shakespeare in Love and CYNTHIA PURLEY Secrets & Lies
observations: It's telling that the Oscar battles that are still most discussed these days 1998 (Paltrow vs. Blanchett), 1999 (Bening vs. Swank) and 2000 (Burstyn vs. Roberts) are all represented in the top ten and, more provocatively, in all three cases both women won a very similar percentage of the votes with the Oscar loser triumphing every time.
weakest showing: Mary Jo Walker (Janet McTeer) of Tumbleweeds narrowly avoided no votes. That film is little seen today but people were quite happy about her scrappy indie nomination at the time.
2001-2005
- CLEMENTINE (Kate Winslet) from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- SATINE (Nicole Kidman) from Moulin Rouge!
- CATHY WHITAKER (Julianne Moore) from Far From Heaven
- *VIRGINIA WOOLF (Nicole Kidman) from The Hours
- BRIDGET JONES (Renée Zellwegger) from Bridget Jones Diary
runners up (in descending order): ROXIE HART Chicago, *AILEEN WUORNOS Monster, LIZZIE BENNET Pride & Prejudice, VERA DRAKE Vera Drake and *MAGGIE FITZGERALD Million Dollar Baby
observations: A weak showing for the Oscar winners in this time period. Kate's colorful Clementine -- she's just a fucked up girl trying to find a little peace of mind -- was way way out front in this poll and Renée Zellweger's twin characters fought mightily for the 5th spot. Only 9 characters really won substantial amounts of votes with Hilary Swank's Oscar winning Maggie "Mo Cuisla!" a distant 10 spot.
weakest showing: Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) from North Country and Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) from Mrs Henderson Presents received no votes at all. Note that they're both from one of Oscar's most dissappointing Best Actress years (2005) when they seemed to be voting on autopilot and ignoring really fiery work like Joan Allen's in The Upside of Anger.
2006-2010
- MIRANDA PRIESTLEY (Meryl Streep) in The Devil Wears Prada
- *NINA SAYERS (Natalie Portman) in Black Swan
- JUNO (Ellen Page) in Juno
- *EDITH PIAF (Marion Cotillard) in La Vie En Rose
- CLAIREECE "PRECIOUS" JONES (Gabourey Sidibe) in Precious
runners up (in descending order): RAIMUNDA Volver, KYM Rachel Getting Married, JENNY An Education, BECCA Rabbit Hole and (tied for tenth) BARBARA COVETT Notes on a Scandal and CINDY Blue Valentine.
observations: I found that the more recent the poll the more the votes got spread out... time really does cement popular consensus as to who the classic characters are. Miranda Priestely, who should've won Streep her 3rd Oscar, and Nina Sayers who did win Natalie Portman her 1st, were way out front here battling for the #1 spot throughout. Page's Juno put up a surprisingly strong fight but maybe it helps to nail truly memorable dialogue and play a title character and be headlining a big hit, too. It can't hurt.
weakest showing: Sofya Tolstoy (Helen Mirren) in The Last Station narrowly avoided no votes at all.
COMMENTS? THOUGHTS?
If you had to choose between Clarice, Marge, Clementine and Miranda who would get your single vote?
tagged Best Actress, Oscars (00s), Oscars (90s), polls
Best Actress, Oscars (00s), Oscars (90s), polls
Reader Comments (42)
Clementine, of course. Easily Kate's second most memorable character (sorry, Rose can't be erased from memory). I'm a bit surprised that Julia Lambert didn't make the top 5. It's recent but that character just seems like a would-be icon. I guess the film was too small scale.
I vote for Marge. I don't think I've seen a more interesting woman character in the last 20 years.
Miranda would come second, but I really think that if it wasn't for Meryl Streep, the character per se would not tell me very much.
Clementine!
Out of those five, Clementine definitely gets my vote. "Meet me in Montauk..."
Miranda!
Really surprised Mirren's turn in The Queen didn't show, and also surprised Cotillard scored so high. All four #1s are great icons played by fantastic actresses. I've seen the articles along the lines of "sure, Streep/Winslet are famous, but what are their great roles?" Welp, here you go. Same goes for Nicole Kidman, who shows up twice in the early 00's.
No one comes close to the divine Miranda Priestly played brilliantly and effortlessly by Meryl!
Her character speaks to us in more ways than we care to know. She is a witty, nasty but very human modern heroine.
Miranda Priestly, duh!
I think Miranda was the most memorable character even if it took Streep's great performance to make her so distinctive. Along with Clarice, the character seemed to have the best connection with the moviegoing public of the four characters, based on the commercial success of the two movies.
I can't believe I'm first to say Marge of those 4, but Marge! Totally. I guess I need to watch Silence a third time, since I love Foster and think the character is wonderful and memorable, but not a #1 for me.
LOL, can't read. Second then. :o
did anyone else find it interesting how many Oscar battles that are still discussed resulted in high placement for both characters? is it a chicken/egg thing ... if they hadn't been Oscar warring would they be so well remembered... or were they oscar warring because they were so damn memorable?
Miranda, bar none. I think Marge is a good character who is stuck in her film--if you haven't seen the movie, you don't know her character by name recognition or anything else. Clementine and Clarice both have name recognition outside the film's fans, but they aren't true icons like Miranda Priestly. The fact is that it wasn't the performance, though that was a huge supplement. It wasn't the comparisons to Anna Wintour--Priestly became a character of her own recognition. Miranda Priestly goes beyond a great character--she's an iconic one, and other than Capt. Jack Sparrow, probably the most iconic Oscar-nominated role of any gender in any category.
Clarice Starling, of course! One of the greatest heroines in modern cinema, the film is a timeless masterpiece and Jodie Foster's performance is really one of the best pieces of acting we've seen in the 1990s.
PS: What about Annette Bening's Nic from "The Kids Are All Right"? She deserved a place in the top 10!
Clementine. She's unforgettable.
It's a toss-up between Clementine and Clarice.
I have to say I'm a bit surprised at the many mentions Miranda gets. I love Meryl, I liked Miranda but in my book this character is nowhere near as iconic as either Clementine or Clarice.
Are we gonna do this for the men? I'm almost sure that Daniel Plainview, Ennis del Mar and Hannibal Lecter would lead in their groups but I have no idea who could be the leader in 96-00 race... Jerry Maguire?
@eurocheese: Considering that the only people enthralled with anything having to do with "The Queen" were the awards-giving bodies, the results of Nate's poll make perfect sense to me. I know several people who can quote and mimic Miranda Priestly word-for-word and gesture-for-gesture, which is a definite sign of something iconic. I can't say the same for Dame Mirren's queen (anecdotal, yes, but one would think after five years the queen would have made some impression).
"Goodness" as a character trait may not make much of an impression onscreen, but that's what sticks in my mind about Emma Thompson's performance in "Howards End." I've never seen plain moral goodness portrayed so completely (sans any kind of flash whatsoever), so that performance is sort of a touchstone for me. Memorable in every way.
Must I choose just one? I love them all so....
Watching Silence of the Lambs last night made me realize that there's not enough Jodie in the world anymore. Come back to us, Jodie!
1. Miranda
2. Clementine
3. Marge
4. Clarice
Not too many of my choices, but Miranda Priestley was a one-of-a-kind creation. If it hadn't been Helen Mirren's year, I would have fully supported Meryl's third Oscar for this. La Dench had her Oscar, and sure enough, Kate's and Penelope's wins were on the way. That would have left Mirren out to dry, and there was no way in hell she was winning for "The Last Station." But how cool is it that the 2006 lead actress lineup all have Oscars now?
I think Anthony Hopkins deserves some of the blame for why the public hasn't let go of Clarice Starling. Each actor's performance wouldn't substain without the other's.
Clementine is unforgettable. Too bad all the Academy had on its mind was a three woman race between the abortition dame, the overdue, even then, theatre dame, and Hilary Swank's film being in the Best Picture race to become the new Sally Field.
Miranda. I will forever love that as a character's name because of Cynthia Nixon. Parada didn't do a thing for me except to appreciate Emily Blunt. An actress I never seen before until Parada, who of course is cast in the non-Julia Roberts part (Hathaway).
Clementine!
This is particularly apt coming on the heels of the "Strong Female Characters" op-ed in the NYT this weekend (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/magazine/a-plague-of-strong-female-characters.html?scp=1&sq=strong%20women&st=cse). When I say "strong female characters," I mean characters like Clementine, Marge, and Clarice, who are complicated and funny and dark. They don't "reveal a latent talent for martial arts, jump the rifle-range counter and start pummeling the guy at the desk," as the op-ed author puts it. They're "strong" only in that they're brave, maybe, or brave at points, and multi-faceted.
Anyway, among Clementine, Marge, and Clarice, it's really hard to pick just one. I'd go with Marge today but I might feel differently tomorrow.
Clarice
96-99 period: Of all performances given, I'd like to think Martin Blank or The Dude. Of the actual Oscar nominees? That has got to be their worst four year stretch in the category. Here's my list of the six best performances/characters from the period, from best to worst:
1. Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski
2. John Cusack as Martin Blank
3. Chris Cooper as Sam Deeds
4. Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank
5. Aaron Eckhart as Chad ? (From In the Company of Men. No one has last names.)
6. Jim Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert
The shock: NONE of those got nominated, not even the ones that seem most obvious (Broadbent's W.S. Gilbert (character actor made good by being a baity lead, and a more genuine choice then Richard Farnsworth) and Jim Carrey (star makes good by taking a risk)).
Ester -- I hope you read the Strong Female Heroes link I posted on the week in eye candy. That comic strip is so hilarious whilst skewering cultural sexism.
I'm proud to admit that I was Janet McTeer's savior, assuming the "narrowly avoided no votes" allusion meant she only received one. I thought her performance was so wonderfully charming and she sunk into the role so ridiculously perfectly. Great film.
Miranda Priestly by a landslide. It really is a no-brainer.
I would have thought that Emma Thompson's portrayal of Miss Kenton in The Remains of the Day would have scored higher. A magnificent performance.
Clementine or Marge don't make me choose. Both just so Iconic. And third place goes to Miranda Priestly. Regarding the fourht contestant, I don't care for the character, movie nor the actress.
Of course Miranda. The speech she gave after Andy laughed about the belts was magnificent.
“...Stuff...?”
i think since this weekend we have Horrible Bosses, we should celebrate Miranda Priestley.
Marge. The movie surrounding her interests me less and less, but she is the memorable heart of it. And Emma Thompson's characters reach you and never let you go.
Miranda, but Clementine as close second.
"what did you see, clarice, what did you see...?"
marge, for her innate goodness
let's face it, clementine and miranda are far too self-involved and clarice's accent would eventually make your head hurt
KARI & PAR -- it's funny how hard "goodness" is to do onscreen. Or maybe they just don't try often. But i immediately think of Olivia de Havilland's "Melanie", Franny's "Marge" and as Kari mentions anything by Emma Thompson :) She's so great.
ADRI -- why is Fargo fading for you?
Clarice then Marge then Clementine then Miranda. Yes, that's it! :D
This shouldn't even be a question. Clarice Starling is a far more iconic character than the others in the bunch. It was voted greatest screen heroine of all time by AFI for a reason. I love Clementine and Miranda Priestly, but no those characters are not as iconic as Clarice.
A lot of people don't know the difference between favorite and most memorable. You're picking your favorite female character when really it's about the most memorable. Clarice Starling even 20 years later is the most memorable and classic of the female characters here. Hands down.
Cool! Why not go back in time and make a survay for previous decades?
Taci -- like 80s and earlier i assume you mean? I just might!
Numero Uno is Clarice. She is a heroin, iconic and a great character. And the way Jodie Foster dances with Anthony Hopkins is amazing.
If The Queen had not been made, I think there would have been a tough call between Streep´s Miranda and Judi Dench Barbara. They are both so well acted written and oh so memorable
I think Im one of the very few who has not seen Fargo and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind. Yes kill me if you like