better a witty fool than a foolish wit

30 Days of Women: Day 12

Day 12: Favourite female character in a movie

Hildur (Astrópía). Hildur is down on her luck after her rich boyfriend is sent to prison. She goes looking for work and ends up in a shop that sells roleplaying books and comics. She wrangles herself a job and does her best to fit in, sorting out the paperwork and teaching herself about the new culture she is immersed in. She loves reading romance novels and creating scenarios for herself, and tentatively joins a gaming group. She chews out the DM when her character is given an impractical costume, she cheerfully joins in with the fun, she enjoys the world that they are creating and slowly loses her dependence on her boyfriend.

What I love about this film is that it shucks stereoypes. Hildur is a spoiled model - this doesn’t mean that she is a bad person. She and the geeks aren’t at opposite ends of the spectrum, and don’t shun each other, and aren’t cruel and dismissive of each other. They all fall into a natural friendship over a shared love of creating, and respect the people that they are without attempting to change or ‘fix’ each other. The director describes this as showing “that Hildur had this fantasy side to her, so everybody would believe that she would and could go into the imagination of role-playing. It was also important to show that everybody has this roleplaying/fantasy side to them, everybody is daydreaming when they read books, watch movies or play computer games.”

In several regions you can watch this film for free here. It is well worth the watch!