The action-movie heroine,
(Stance dramatic, costume tight)
Defeats predatory villains
With her righteous wrath and might.
They’re heavier by thirty pounds,
Most of it’s muscle mass—
She lines ‘em up and knocks ‘em down.
(An expert choreographs.)
The lady never loses—
That would be no fun to see;
The audience revels in her
Invincibility.
She needs no rescuer.
She gives no damsel’s distress call—
A suggestion that she’s vulnerable?
That wouldn’t do, at all.
So we suspend our disbelief
And evil’s put to rout.
Yet, far from lights and cameras
A darker script plays out…
Where predators are real,
And bullies often get their way
And actresses lack the powers of
The characters they play.
The industry which gives us
“Tough girl” heroines to praise
Doesn’t fight villains—it conspires
In their getaways.
So the predators have prospered
The Polanskis; the Weinsteins—
Dare we ask how many more,
While in our movie ticket lines?
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