In Zero Dark Thirty the main character, Maya is a very strong and
powerful woman who is determined to find Bin Laden. Some may say she has
man-like qualities, but I choose to look at it is strong and powerful. In the
beginning of the film Maya experiences the torture of her enemy face to face.
She is with a man who doesn’t show any emotions to the humiliation he is
putting on his prisoner. He is very abusive to the man, he pushes him around
into small areas and he chokes him. You can tell that Maya is very disturbed by
what is going on in front of her, but over time her feelings towards this man
and torture begin to change. She starts
to feel really alone as she sees her friends begin to die around her. Her boss
is always talking down to her and she feels as though she is alone. She puts
that all aside though, and she hides all of her emotions and goes onto fight
and find the man that is killing all of her friends and country. When they get
to the possible location to where Bin Laden is, Maya’s transformation is really
noticeable. In the meeting that was being held with a bunch of executives, Maya
really let her voice be heard. When one of the executives asks who she was, she
responded with “I’m the mother fucker who found this place, sir.” I thought
that was really a powerful moment because it was then that everyone realizes
just how serious and strong she really is. She was standing up for what she
believed in and was not afraid to stick up for herself. I think by saying “I’m the motherfucker who
found this place sir” really put her on the map with the men that she is
working with. They have more respect for her because she wasn’t afraid to put
her foot down. This is all based on gender stereo types because if Maya hadn’t
have said that, then would the men would probably still have looked at her as
lesser than them, but she showed that she deserves respect just like everyone
else.
