Katniss Everdeen VS. Sydney Bristow Two of the strongest female leads in 2000’s popular culture are Katniss Everdeen and Sydney Bristow. Sydney Bristow, who is played by Jennifer Garner, is a double-agent spy in her late 20’s. Not only is she a spy for the CIA and the special operatives group SD6, but she is actively pursuing a graduate degree and working part-time at a bank. Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, is a poor 16 year old girl from the dystopian district 12 portrayed in The Hunger Games. While the only apparent connection between the two women is that they are both tough, the differences between the women’s visual portrayal, amount of choice they have, and their roles represent a distinct amount of growth from 2001 to the present. The television show Alias debuted in 2001, the same year Toni Braxton wore a bathing suit dress to the Grammys. With this in mind, Sydney’s Bristow’s portrayal in Alias is still one generally deemed scandalous— not necessarily for her lack of clothing, but more for her obvious nods
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In The Hunger Games movies, Katniss is shown in clothing that is appropriate for her role— pants and a jacket that allow her to hunt and kill. The most scandalous outfit Katniss wears is when she is in the Capital, and even then she describes her outfit as “a simple black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck” (Collins 67). Where Sydney is forced to undergo several costume changes in order to fulfill her role as a spy, Katniss is only costumed with flames. Katniss is far from modest, especially in the later movies of the series, but the dramatic difference between her appearance and Sydney’s is enough to send an entirely different message to female audiences. Unlike the message Sydney’s appearance sends to women, Katniss’s portrayal sends a message that the clothes do not make a woman, her actions make
In The Hunger Games movies, Katniss is shown in clothing that is appropriate for her role— pants and a jacket that allow her to hunt and kill. The most scandalous outfit Katniss wears is when she is in the Capital, and even then she describes her outfit as “a simple black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck” (Collins 67). Where Sydney is forced to undergo several costume changes in order to fulfill her role as a spy, Katniss is only costumed with flames. Katniss is far from modest, especially in the later movies of the series, but the dramatic difference between her appearance and Sydney’s is enough to send an entirely different message to female audiences. Unlike the message Sydney’s appearance sends to women, Katniss’s portrayal sends a message that the clothes do not make a woman, her actions make