I’ve always had a problem with women. Let me rephrase that. I’ve always had a problem with women in movies and books. They just always struck a nerve with me. Every time I’d sit down with a good novel, or take a seat in the movie theater, I’d end up grimacing at the women and their flaws. They just never seemed right. They were always too whiny, or dainty, or weak, or able to get away with being rude or promiscuous. It’s not like I didn’t try. Trust me, I looked for every redeeming quality I could find in those girls, but their weak personalities always caught up with me and I’d turn my attention to the men. That was until I sat down and watched Titanic for the first time in years. It just struck me hard that Rose, the main female, was so good. I sat there and stared at the screen for almost three hours, absolutely taken away by the fact that she was tremendous and fresh and stunning as a character. To me, Rose sets the standard for any character, male or female.

When I first saw the movie when I was seven (the censored version, of course), I thought Rose was beautiful. I wanted to dye my hair red and get bright contacts. I still think so now. The thing I love about her looks is the fact that she’s unique. She has wavy, bright red hair. How often do you see that in a movie? A redhead heroine? And on top of that, how often do you see a curvy woman playing a lead role. She wasn’t a stick during the movie. She was an actual woman, and she held herself up high. In a society where every single leading lady is an Angelina Jolie or a Katie Holmes or a Kate Hudson, we need more women who are voluptuous, and aren’t afraid of it.

But looks weren’t the only thing that made Rose stand out as special to me. It was her fighting spirit, and her refusal to conform. As an upper class woman, she fought for the right of people with less money than her and wouldn’t see them as any less than her. I don’t know why, but the thought of being raised to look down on certain people from a young age, and being able to see beyond the only thing she knew growing up had a positive impact on me. Her intuition stood strongly against everything she’d ever learned, and to me, that’s profound.

Rose also had a brain. A very big one at that. She wouldn’t allow herself to be a mindless drone that every woman around her was. She could talk politics with the men, speak different languages, memorize people’s words and actually look and see things, rather than glance and acknowledge them. Women were looked at as tools to solidify a future family, and Rose didn’t listen to that. Not only did she have a big brain, but she had a big heart as well. She let herself love somebody regardless of class. She risked her life to save that person with love as her only motivation. She even jumped off of a lifeboat because she would rather drown with him than live herself. It was moving to see her follow her heart throughout the film, as well as grow as a person.

Every time I read a story and there is a female character involved, I think back to what makes Rose so special. I never expect any character to be the same, because they shouldn’t be. But I want them to be rare. I’ve read so many books and watched so many movies, and I’ve found myself able to connect with a select group of women. I know there’ll be more fantastic characters, male or female, and because of that, I know I’ll walk into the movie theater again, and I know I’ll sit down with a book and read. But I know I’ll always remember Rose as one of the first women that would move me.