The New Girl: Games should be taking cues from Hollywood’s trend of stronger, raunchier females.

The past year has seen the rise of a new breed of leading lady: the foul-mouthed, dirty, yet smart and confident female worthy of the spotlight. In Hollywood, this new character is drawing in audiences, particularly with the Judd Apatow-produced hit Bridesmaids of last summer. Sundance has also embraced the character in an even darker and raunchier vehicle, confusingly titled Bachelorette starring Kristen Dunst and Lizzy Caplan.

Is this something that would translate to other facets of the entertainment world, say, videogames? The question is loaded, although this insight from Salon film critic Andrew O’Hehir on Bachelorette might help:

Can a movie this raunchy about women this mean really be feminist? I think there’s no doubt. As Caplan said during the post-screening Q&A, most of the time playing a woman in an ensemble comedy means trying to calm down and control the wild and crazy guys, whereas this film is exactly the opposite.

Now more than ever, this gives a fighting argument for women as central characters in games. Rather than serving as ambiguously female (like Chell in Portal and Samus in Metroid) or as a method to tame action, this take on women will hopefully entice bolder female protagonists within the game world.

– Lyndsey Edelman

[via Salon]