"Just the Facts, Ma'am"

At Movie Fan Collectibles we devote a lot of energy to figuring out why different types of movie memorabilia would be desirable to film enthusiasts and collectors like us. What grabs a person's attention and makes them take notice? What makes a press kit photo, movie still, or poster accrue meaning and value over time?

Nancy Allen & Jill Hennessy armed and ready

In our quest for seeking out the meaning beneath the surface of glossy black and white photo prints, brightly colored lithographed lobby cards, and sprocketed celluloid film strips, we have found some super tropes, if you will, that seem to rise above all the rest. These steadily recurring archetypes, which cut across film history and genre, provide a unique window into a particular type of cinematic depiction that insinuates itself deeply into our subconscious, and keeps us coming back to the theater for more.

For us, "Girls with Guns" (or light sabers, slingshots, plasma blasters, knives, etc.) is just this type of ever-present arch-character trope.  Tho they are camp and cartoonish, these dames packing heat seem to provide a perfect lens on the mostly wish-fulfillment-driven and very idealized representation of women in Hollywood film. Girls with Guns seem to be what most men want from a movie: the ultimate fantasy alignment of sex, violence, and fun.