Movies & Series It's no secret that substantive representation of women – both in terms of quality and quantity – has been an uphill climb in Hollywood. However, with compelling and powerful roles for women expanding, we decided to take a closer look at how audiences respond to female leadership as portrayed in modern movies and TV series.
Using our Lumiere platform, we tested several scenes featuring eight fictional female heads of state with 150 viewers.
Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Game of Thrones
President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), Veep
Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright), Black Panther
President Claire Underwood (Robin Wright), House of Cards
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), The Iron Lady
Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy), The Crown
President Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young), Scandal
President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), 24
Some of the most highly-rated leaders display expert diplomacy, by showing strength while also inspiring those who follow them. Daenerys Targaryen and Margaret Thatcher in particular exemplify this combination.
A viewer favorite in our study was Black Panther’s Shuri, who doesn’t function as a traditional head-of-state but nonetheless leads effectively with ingenuity, creativity, and humor. She’s particularly quick with a witty response to anyone confused by her technological expertise,and this resonated well with audiences.
While men in our study showed a stronger preference for women as US presidents, women viewers showed a disproportionate affinity for The Crown’s Queen Elizabeth. There are a range of possible reasons for this:her uniquely compelling portrayal by actress Clare Foley, the incredible depth and nuance of her depiction in The Crown, the fact that she is a real person and therefore seems more aspirational to real women. Whatever the reason, The Crown’s Queen Elizabeth II has a notably strongerhold on the hearts of her female audience.
After watching several scenes focused on these characters, we asked viewers to reflect on how accurate these portrayals seemed, compared to real world women leaders. While a majority of men (56%) said these portrayals felt “very accurate,” only a minority of women (41%) felt the same way. Open-ended responses suggest women were more aware of the actual barriers their fictional counterparts would likely face and felt some of these depictions did not always fully capture those barriers authentically.
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