Nom nom for us, David!
Food is the cornerstone of life, and of our lifestyles. Bonds are formed over a good meal in ways that humans otherwise cannot bond.
And we always want ways to do things faster, right?
u/killer998 asked:
What are some good cooking "hacks" that not many people know?
Here were some of those answers.
Like BUTTAH
If you're cutting cake with a ton of frosting or that weird fondant layer, run the knife under hot water and it'll cut so much smoother.
I used to have to cut cakes when I taught gymnasitics and did child birthday parties and messed up so many cakes because the layers are just difficult.
Then I learned the hot water trick
Perfection
PERFECT RICE EVERY TIME
Rice. Everyone loves it. Everyone hates making it. They hate making it because it comes out awful.
NOT ANYMORE, FRIENDS!
Here's how to get perfect rice, every time.
Whatever quantity of rice, double that amount for water.
Soak your rice for 10 minutes before cooking to help remove extra starch.
Bring your water to a boil. Salt if desired. Add rice. Let it come to a boil again, then reduce heat to minimum and cover.
LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE FOR 17 MINUTES. NO MORE, NO LESS. DON'T TOUCH THAT LID. RESIST THE URGE. SERIOUSLY, LEAVE IT ALONE. IF ANYONE GOES NEAR IT, SHOOT THEM.
Enjoy your perfect rice.
Knives Out
That round pokey looking thing that came with your knife set? That's a steel. It is NOT a sharpener. However, if you use it before you cook (by running the knife a couple of times on each side, like you're trying to shave a slice of it off), then your edge will last longer.
Related, but important; NEVER cut with a good knife on any of the following:
Glass
Granite/marble/quartz
Metal
Stone
Ceramics
Basically, use cutting boards, and only cutting boards to cut/prep your foods before you cook them.
Make It Taaaaaaste
Learn the how basic seasoning are used to add the basic flavours: Salty, sour, sweet, bitter an umami. Each cusine is different but if you get a grasp on how to combine those well you'll be a great cook.
Recalibration
If your oven has a turn knob to set the temperature, you can calibrate it. Get a good oven thermometer (not the crappy dial ones you get from a grocery store) and put the probe in the oven, turn the oven on and set the temp to 350. Check the reading on the thermometer and adjust the knob hotter or cooler until it actually reads 350. When it reads the proper temp slide the oven knob off and you should see screws that tighten down the knob face. Loosen them and adjust the face till it aligns with 350 then tighten the screws back down.
Techz
Figure out how to read a recipe for its technique and not its ingredients and you'll be able to make fancier food with just about anything. You don't have white wine or lemons making scampi? What are they adding to the original recipe? Roundness and brightness. Sub in mirin and rice wine vinegar, add a dash of soy. You're not making scampi anymore, but you're making something else that hits the same notes and you can take the recipe in a different direction. Want bolognese but don't have any meat? Stewed lentils and zucchini can both lend a meaty texture. Cook your lentils down in veg broth until they're halfway done, add fresh chopped zucchini and then the cream/red wine/tomato paste/broth. It's not bolognese, but it hits a similar feel and flavor.
Mmmm....Paprika
Paprika works really, really well with pork. Pork chops, country-style ribs, that sort of thing.
Just a load of paprika on there with some salt and pepper, maybe a little cayenne mixed in if you like heat.
Paprika (at least the normal store bought kind?) is usually pretty mild in flavor, so it takes a generous amount to add big flavor, but it goes so well with pork chops. I just discovered this by luck a few months ago, and I've been doing it every time possible since.
Butta AGAIN
Crack eggs on a flat surface not on the edge of the pan. If you crack them on an edge you will be more likely to get shell shards in your eggs and maybe even break the yolk.
If you are cooking with butter at a high heat add some cooking oil. It will slow the butter from browning or burning. This is most applicable when doing steak in a pan.
Bring meat or large vegetables to room temperature before cooking or they wont cook evenly. Especially important for chicken.
Goodbye, Stinky
Stainless steel neutralizes the chemicals that make garlic-smells stick to your skin. They make "stones" to rub your hands with but generally if you have a stainless steel sink you can just rub the sink, or the faucet handle, then wash your hands. Voila, stink is gone.
Eggz For Dayz
Add 1tb of salt to water when boiling eggs. After about 9 minutes, take the eggs out of the water and place into ice and allow them to cool entirely. Place egg into a cup and shake vigorously The shell slips right off. Saves a ton of time. I've cleaned 50 eggs in 10 minutes.
The Best Loopholes People Have Ever Discovered And Exploited
"Reddit user Aarunascut asked: 'What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?'"
Loopholes are everywhere.
But finding them can be time-consuming.
Or they can be a straight-up accident.
Sometimes corporations don't even realize the ways they've given out great deals.
In the early days of the internet, scheming for loopholes was a favorite pastime, but companies caught on.
They're still out there though, just waiting to be discovered.
Redditor Aarunascut wanted to discuss the best "deals" they've stumbled upon and utilized, so they asked:
"What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?"
I love a good loophole.
I would always use the free gym trial memberships.
They've caught on now by using better tracking.
Alas...
Rinse & Repeat
coins GIFGiphy"You used to be able to order dollar coins from the mint."
"Pay for it on your credit card, free delivery."
"Get sky miles."
"Take dollar coins to the bank, deposit, and pay off bills."
"Repeat."
AMLT1983
I Love Pizza
"I run a recycling center and when Mountain Dew did the win an Xbox One with codes under the soda bottle caps we got a total of 20 Xbox ones. Every worker got one that year. Also, Casey’s Pizza had a thing going that you collected 10 tabs off the large pizza box you’d get a free pizza. We had free pizzas weekly for years till they stopped doing it."
Otis_Firefly
Her Code
"During my first year teaching, teachers were each allowed 1500 photocopies a month. I had 150 students. That wasn't enough. One day, a coworker announced that she was leaving for a different opportunity. I asked her for her copier code. They never deleted her code, so I had 3000 copies per month for the last 5 months of the school year."
driveonacid
Sacagawea
"Older vending machines like the ones in my high school and car wash used to take golden dollars (yes, the Sacagawea coin), count them as a dollar and then spit them back out. You could buy the whole machine with one golden dollar. My friends and I exploited this for 7 months senior year until they swapped all of the machines out."
MapUnitKey
"Interestingly almost all of the US dollar coins ended up in Ecuador as they also use the US dollar. It was super weird but convenient as an American going there and I guess it really messed up their economy. I had always wondered where they disappeared to though. Major issues with counterfitting them too, any shiny one was basically useless even if it was real."
ember3pines
Coded
Girl Cheese GIF by Pizza HutGiphy"When Pizza Hut first started online ordering they gave me a code for a free pizza for ordering online for the first time. Turns out the code also worked if you just ordered as a guest and kept working."
Stone_Reign
I miss the Pizza Hut deal days.
Online coupons used to give away the whole company.
$1.50
Make It Rain Loop GIF by Chris TimmonsGiphy"My bank thinks the vending machine at work is an ATM and refunds my 'atm fee' automatically... Chase bank if anyone wondered. I noticed I was always getting like $1.50 returned to my account here and there and then I realized what it was."
homerinthebushes
Past Services
"Back in the 80s, we found vending machines that were not regularly serviced that would overflow the coin box and spill quarters on the floor. We used to scrape them out from under the machine with a stick. Was a good time to be a latchkey unattended minor."
weakplay
"Vending machines in college (Ireland early 2000s) had a flap at the bottom that was supposed to stop you reaching your arm up to steal. But it also had a sensor used to determine if had something been dispensed. So if you held it shut, the machine would think nothing had dropped and you could order as many things as you wanted, then refund your coins and release the flap."
BrianHenryIE
Senior Year
"My senior year of high school a Chick-fil-A opened in our town and to advertise the grand opening they put a free chicken sandwich coupon in the yellow pages of the phone book. No purchase, no stipulations. For whatever reason there were like 1,000 phone books stored in a storeroom off the gym. Me and my buddies ate a chicken sandwich damn near every single day of senior year."
Panther90
Switched with Michelle
"At a former job management rearranged the schedules to expand our call center hours from 7 am to 9 pm. It was still an 8-hour day, you just started later. We had a meeting to discuss if we could pick our own hours so employees didn’t run the risk of working until 9 pm then having to be back the next day at 7 am. Management gave us a hard no-on that. But we were allowed to swap with a co-worker."
"A few of us got together to review the monthly schedule and noticed that 5 people were in the rotation who hadn’t worked there for years. (Seriously!). So, whenever we had to work a late schedule that we didn’t want we 'switched with Michelle.' This went on for almost 2 years before management scrapped the whole idea."
Crazy_from_the_heat
The King
burger king GIFGiphy"Burger King used to have an app where you’d shake your phone and it would sometimes display a free item. A guy at work wrote his own app that looked identical to Burger King, but would only ever show a Whopper Meal. Every lunchtime he’d go to Burger King and get a free meal."
RedLeader7
I love a free meal.
Especially a free meal at any "cost!" LOL.
Partner Pet Peeves: What Drives People Crazy in Relationships
A pet peeve is defined as something a person finds especially annoying.
These tend to vary from person to person which makes them a frequent issue in relationships. From small habits to major personality traits, it's hard to know what will set someone else off.
A partner's interesting quirks or routine habits might inadvertently get on their significant others last nerve.
Reddit user ExistingAI4149 asked:
"What are some pet peeves you've experienced with a partner?"
Sleep Deprived
"Had an ex that always woke me up to cuddle/kiss before he left for the day even after I had asked him a couple times to please let me sleep."
"Maybe that sounds cold, but If I'm deeply asleep and you wake up for work hours before I have to, you should let me sleep."
"A quick kiss would be one thing but he would legit start spooning me and stroking my hair, rubbing my back etc... which always woke me up and I wanted to sleep, not have a full cuddle sesh."
~ nancycat92
Too Tired To Bend Over?
"When he takes a shower before going to bed, he leaves his clothes on the bathroom floor, even if the laundy basket is right there."
"Instead he puts them in the basket the next morning."
"I cannot for the life of me understand this, but whatever."
~ 029384756
Waste Not, Want Not
"I hate unnecessary waste."
"My partner has a habit of doing things like...leaving bread and chip bags open so they get stale."
"Opening a can of seltzer and taking one sip and then I find it the next day still mostly full and flat."
"Leaving the cap off the toothpaste so it gets dry."
"Throwing things away before I've used the last bit."
"Drives me nuts."
~ autumn_bonfire
Social Media
"Having to sit next to them in the evening while they watch TikTok for hours instead of spending time together or paying attention to a movie or show."
~ waffler71
Say What You Want
"Lack of communication."
"Literally everyone says they value communication but I've only had a few partners who actually did so. Most people say they do, but the extent that they actually value good communication is mundane stuff like discussing where to get dinner."
"When deeper emotions and/or conflicts need to be discussed, most people go tell everybody else besides their partner and that doesn't sit well with me."
~ Secret-Ad3715
TP Turmoil
"She used a lot of toilet paper, and when we started to run low, she wouldn't buy more. She'd wait until we were out, and then she'd flip out and throw a tantrum when she went to the bathroom and we were out."
"So I started keeping a reserve supply so that the next time this happened I wouldn't need to yet again rush to the store to save the situation."
"When it inevitably happened and I proudly presented a fresh roll she flipped out at me for keeping my reserve stash a secret."
~ Stargazer5781
Ssssshhhh! 🤫🤐
"When we're watching something she is interested in, the phone will be down, and there will be silence with the exception of the occasional comment or question about what we are watching."
"If it's something only I am interested in then it's time to talk about her day, or something she saw on the look of faces, to the point where I'll pause what we're watching so I can concentrate on her at which point I'll get, 'Do you want me to stop talking?'."
"Well, yes, but I'm not about to tell her that..."
~ Zombie_Jesus_83
Bright Idea
"Can you please turn a light switch back off once in awhile?"
~ ExerciseAshamed208
Not The Word You're Looking For
"She will say 'kick your a**hole' instead of 'kick your a**' when trying to threaten someone."
~ Craigothy-YeOldeLord
Brown Sugar
"Using the same teaspoon when making a cup of coffee, then putting the instant coffee granules covered spoon in the sugar jar."
~ Ok_Astronaut7075
Attention Span
"She wants to watch a show or movie and gets up every 3 f*cking minutes and leaves the room."
"Trying to show her something and say 'WATCH THIS' and she gets distracted within like 10 seconds."
~ PlainOGolfer
Eternal Critic
"Sh*tting on music or TV that I like."
"YOU don’t have to like it, but it’s really a bummer when I’m trying to enjoy something and you just won’t stop talking about how stupid you think it is."
~ Any-Angle-8479
Waiting
"Giving a fair warning what time we need to leave, and not being ready by the time I’m standing at the door."
~ Von_Blazen
Speak Up
"Being silent when we need to talk through an issue."
~ Real_Willingness1004
Another Perspective
"When my late wife started getting sick and had to stop working she was home all day so she would text me all day."
"When I'd get home she'd be working on dinner and the second I put my keys down she'd say something like 'oh can you run to the store? I need an onion' or some other thing that was needed for what she was making.
"It used to irritate the sh*t out of me that she would text me all day and not one text was'can you stop at the store on the way home'. She saved that for the second I walked in the door."
"She died in 2013."
"I'd give almost anything to get home from a long day at work now and have her need me to go to the store."
"It's funny the little irritations become the things you miss the most."
~ HumpieDouglas
Pet peeves can sometimes evolve into endearing quirks.
And other times they never stop driving you crazy or even end the relationship.
What pet peeves have you had about a partner?
People Over 50 Explain How Working Has Changed Since They Were Young
It feels like the workplace is constantly changing, especially since the pandemic, with more people working from home, more systems being automated, and more social pressure for workplaces to evolve.
But it's even more jarring to think of how much the workplace has changed for those who have been in the workforce for many decades and how seemingly every aspect of their work has changed... at least once.
Redditor LightningStrikes818 asked:
"Redditors who are 50 years old or older, what has changed the most about working when you started working vs. working nowadays?"
Dress Codes
"Skirts/dresses and pantyhose required of women in many offices through the 1990s."
- hhhmmm0
"Flipside: suits and ties, buttoned-up shirts. Brutal in summer."
- ridleyfiredome
"Pantyhose were high maintenance. I had to have an extra pair in my desk drawer in case of a major run. I had clear nail polish at home and work to stop any runs above the hemline."
"Pantyhose were expensive, I had nice department store hose for special occasions, and bulk mail order hose for daily wear. They had to be washed in mesh bags and hung to dry."
"In the summer I’d get swamp crotch when it was hot and humid, and heat rash on my thighs where they rubbed."
"Heels had to be polished and the heel tips replaced at the shoe shop. Most office clothes were dry clean only, and it was expensive, and yet another errand. Office clothes were expensive, I didn’t have many clothes, I had to plan what to wear and time the dry cleaning."
"I don’t miss the nightmare of heels and hose from the 80’s."
- phineasminius
Electrical Transfer, Who?
"Having to go to the bank to cash my paycheck."
- Cndngirl
"Oh my god, yes, and we needed to wait until after 3:00 PM to cash it."
- Big-Reflection-104
Work and... Strip Clubs?
"We took a company van with a logo on it to take out-of-town guests to a strip club. I don’t even think I can say that out loud at work today."
- scruffles360
"Strip clubs were standard practice. Especially in sales. Many deals closed in those places over my career."
- YOU_WONT_LIKE_IT
Smoking Spaces
"People smoking indoors. Clouds of smoke everywhere in the office and no way for a nonsmoker to avoid it. That was the norm so you just had to suck it up."
- andBobsyourcat
"Yes, at one stage I had the misfortune of sitting next to someone who used to smoke a pipe. I could barely see my computer screen at times for the clouds of smoke."
"Also, the IT support guy would come over to do something and he always had a cigarette dangling from his lips, dropping ash into my keyboard. Urgh! Different times!"
- MickSturbs
Office Parties of Old
"Man, in state government, all the older employees have similar stories of work parties in the 90s. Booze everywhere, smoking, people dancing, and having fun. Everyone brought their spouses, etc."
"Now you're lucky if you see a Christmas cake. People wonder why everything feels like it's coming apart at the seams and people are so unhappy. That aspect of being a human being fun, even at work is gone."
- t00sl0w
"I'm a millennial in industrial equipment sales, and it genuinely feels like you showed up to a party about an hour after everyone was gone."
"Nowadays, I can't even have a beer with dinner and expect to expense it."
- titsmuhgeeee
"Oh man, the office Christmas parties then, versus now?? Forget about it. Like comparing a wedding to a funeral."
- Schyznik
Safety Precautions
"I'm 42 but feel like I want to chime in."
"Health and safety has changed loads. You wouldn't get away with half the sh*t we did when I was 17."
- section4
Constantly, Always Sitting
"I watched office work go from sedentary to virtually immobile. We used to retrieve paper files, pass memos around, and consult with coworkers in other sections and floors."
"Now everything is available on the screen in front of us, everything can be shared with a few clicks. It’s convenient, but so unhealthy."
- MathematicianWitty23
What's a Pension Again?
"Hardly anybody has a pension anymore."
- whitewolfdogwalker
"That's where I feel really lucky to be in Australia, we have mandatory superannuation (a percentage of your pay plus employer contribution goes into a fund for your retirement) and most people will also qualify for an age care pension in addition to their super."
"The pension isn't really enough for our current seniors who don't have much super (due to the timeline of when it was introduced) but generations after that should be relatively well set up for retirement."
- TheGardenNymph
Work Availability in General
"I'm in the UK."
"It was a great deal easier to find work. You'd get vacancies posted in various places and could go down to the Job Centre, browse vacancies posted on postcards on boards, pick out the jobs you were interested in, and get a member of staff to arrange an interview for you. Just like that."
"Dress codes were more formal and you actually had to go to work. If you worked in an office for the right company work finished Friday lunchtime when you'd go with your colleagues to the pub. You'd go back after the 'liquid' lunch hour and work Friday afternoon, but no sh*t got done and work piled up for Monday."
"You got paid either direct debit, cash or if you were unlucky by cheque. You had to deposit your cheque in the bank or building society and wait for the cheque to clear, usually four days, but sometimes 10 days. If you got paid cash you'd get it in a small brown envelope known as a wage packet which listed all deductions on the outside. It still felt good to tear open the wage packet and take out the cash."
- ElvishMystical
The Value of Employees
"That you chose a career, and you worked for an employee, and they valued your experience. You rose in the ranks of your profession, you became a valued team member, and you stayed until you retired."
"Changing jobs often is frowned on; if you make a job commitment, you follow through on it. People get bothered and quit/move/change really quickly now. That's not necessarily bad, but it has created a gap in expertise; everyone is new all the time, and there isn't any value in having experience."
"If you happen to be an elder in your field with some level of legacy knowledge; it doesn't seem to matter because your boss is likely younger than you and less experienced."
"There used to be jobs what you did to get paid and live, and careers, what you did because you wanted to invest time into being good at something, AND that was how you made a living."
"Moreover, you went to school to be in a career. So you put time and energy into attaining your job, therefore you'd want to stay in it and grow. In theory."
"I'm not sure anyone cares about being in a career anymore. Because we all feel so betrayed by the system; wages not keeping up with COL, inflation, (and inflation subsiding and prices staying high because it's what the market will bear), and when everyone is replaceable, then no one is an expert."
"I'm GenX. I work in healthcare. I work in a broken system that no one actually wants to fix. Those of us working in this system are now just grist for the mill. It's too bad because we spent a lot of time and money going to school to be able to work in our chosen field."
"In contrast, my mom was also a nurse. She had a career. She worked in it until she was 70 and retired. She worked with a team that mostly stayed the same, over decades. I don't work with anyone I started with at my job six years ago."
- bunnehfeet
Business Phones
"People used to answer their business phones."
- BornFree2018
"Oh my god, work landline numbers. I never see those anymore. I don’t even have a phone number in my email signature at work anymore."
"And business cards used to be such a big deal. I used to get really excited to see my name and title in print. I would always send my parents one when I got a new job. What a dork!"
- ptpoa120000
What Work-Life Balance?
"There was a lot more understanding back in the 80's and 90's that each employee had a life outside of work, and work would end at 5:00 PM. You could leave work and go do something that you liked, maybe a martial arts class or some learning workshop somewhere."
"There were no phone calls. Text messages and email hadn't happened yet. Pagers were rare. People were in better shape. They had time to workout and were encouraged by their bosses to go do something to keep in shape."
"These days, it's the opposite. There's no encouragement from your boss or your coworkers other than to just work around the clock. You're never 'off.' Emails, text messages, Slack messages, video calls, and 'tickets' from your company's internal issue tracking system come in at all hours of the day."
"You're tracked in every way possible these days. You're given impossible deadlines. It now takes incredible willpower to break free and 'sneak' away to go workout. You're exhausted all the time, so you lose the desire to workout. You just want sleep."
"Instead of meeting up with friends somewhere for dinner, you are happy to just get home, get something hot to eat from your microwave, and numb yourself by watching YouTube and Reddit."
"What you do now during your downtime is very low quality and is just done to unwind from the stress that follows you no matter where you are. They call this Flex Time, and its purpose is ostensibly to give you the ability to walk away from your work and go enjoy life. Funny."
- mhv64sj
New Measures of Success
"Working for a company for many years was seen as honorable and a sign you were a good worker."
"Now it’s viewed as someone complacent, scared of change, and stupid for not salary hopping."
"I don’t disagree, though; I’ve been at my company for a long time and it’s anything but complacent and always changing."
- MysteryMeat11
"This is why we in-betweeners especially (between gen-x and millennial) have been conflicted and confused about it all. We were raised by older boomers and heard it's best to stay with companies because it looks bad on resumes to not and can even affect your buying things like houses and cars."
"But then when we did, we were let go during times like the recession and cutbacks having to start all over again, on top of not getting raises like the new hires and then confused because we were told staying and being loyal looked good and led to success."
- fidgetypenguin123
A Literal Paper Trail
"Paper. Lots of paper."
"Before email, there were people (secretaries or admins) who would take a memo someone printed out on their computer, make physical copies, and either walk around to every executive’s desk, or put into inter-office mail. This memo could be to a few people, one person, or for a general announcement needed to go to everyone."
"For expediency, these memos would also be posted in public areas (lunchroom, messaging board) if it was a general notice. These memos were often routed from the head manager throughout the department if it was more for general information."
"We once had a wave of new hires (about 20 people in our company of 400) and each got their own announcement. So, 20 people and 50 copies was two reams of paper. Copied. Hand carried or inter-department mailed. For one set of announcements."
"Oh, and each department admin had their own routing slip (small piece of paper with each person in the department’s name) that was stapled to the announcement. When you got the memo, you read it, crossed your name off, and gave it to the next person on the list."
"That’s where 'they must not have gotten the memo' comes from."
- UncleGizmo
It's interesting to look back on how things have changed. While some things have definitely improved, like improved safety precautions and more relaxed attire, other things like a sense of work-life balance have certainly declined.
If people were able to choose their working conditions, it'd be interesting to see if they'd choose today's working conditions or a different work-life balance...
There are countless tropes in movies and books that people love to follow.
From enemies to lovers, to final girls, to certain types of jump scares, there are people who will read a book or watch a movie simply because their favorite trope has been promised to be in there!
A much-loved trope is the strong female main character, or even the strong female sidekick, and fortunately, they're becoming much more commonly represented.
Redditor carlories asked:
"What movie did the 'strong female' trope right?"
Fargo
"She's not a supersleuth like on 'CSI' or 'Criminal Minds.' 'Fargo' is the original 'competence p*rn.'"
"Her relationship with Norm is one of my favorite parts of the movie. Her genuine joy when she finds out he got his duck on the stamp is incredible."
- afriendincanada
"A while back on Twitter, someone asked to name movies that feature a female protagonist who is competent at her job, in an established relationship with a man (the relationship does not start during the events of the film), and her partner does not criticize her work or encourage her to give up."
"The only movie people could name that fully satisfied these requirements was 'Fargo.'"
- Mr_Saturn1
The Silence of the Lambs
"There is so much Clarice had to deal with re men not taking her seriously all through the storyline. Then she figures it out with her bestie."
- ColorfulEgg
"Her bestie Hannibal Lecter."
- pawg730
"It's funny how in his own sick way he was supportive of her and believed in her. He's a monster but not a sexist. Then he somehow talks to that disgusting guy in the jail cell next to him that assaulted her into eating his own tongue."
"I also love the part at the end where they tell her that he escaped and ask if she wants to go into hiding and she says, 'I don't think he will come after me. He would consider it rude.'"
- ClutchReverie
"A major theme of the movie is identity, both self-identity and the identities that society tries to put on people. A sub-theme of that is 'contradictory identities within one person.'"
"For Clarice Starling, she was both a smart badass (recall how she was introduced) and also a little girl (again, the introduction). Hannibal Lecter is both an absolute brute (to the point of being less of a barbarian and more of a wild, rabid animal) but also a highly intelligent, educated, and even courteous modern-day renaissance man."
"I f**king love it. This is one of my favorite movies."
- jeffseadot
Terminator 2
"I love that Arnold has said that she’s the star of the movie, not him."
"Linda reached out to him to help her workout, apparently, so she could be a totally different Sarah Connor in the sequel."
"For that reason, watching those movies back to back is always a great experience! Her voice changes at the end of the first movie as she begins the most insane mission ever, but you can tell she’s just getting started."
"In 'Terminator 2,' she is such a bada**, but also mentally broken. It’s hard to make all of that believable in a single character, but Linda did it!"
- YossiTheWizard
"My favorite part of Linda’s performance is when she sees the Terminator step out of the elevator. Up until this point, she’s been established as a completely different person from who she was in the first film."
"She’s absolutely fearless, ruthless, and can adapt to any situation. Then, she literally sees her worst nightmare slowly walk off the elevator and turn to look at her."
"She falls helplessly to the floor, totally consumed by fear, and then immediately sprints back into the arms of the people who had been abusing her for years."
- thewoodlayer
Alien
"I love this meme about 'Alien.'"
"The writer: 'Sooooo, I have been writing reviews for about ten years. My wife's review of 'Alien' puts everything I have ever written to shame.'"
"The wife: 'Alien is a movie where nobody listens to the smart woman, and then they all die except for the smart woman and her cat. Four stars.'"
- Jmen4Ever
"Sigourney Weaver nailed it at every turn. Today's 'strong females' just don't induce suspension of disbelief for me. Weaver had me utterly convinced that every single thing she did was one hundred percent possible and logical."
- NickDanger3di
Jurassic Park
"Laura Dern in 'Jurassic Park.' Seeing a strong woman in science at such a young age had a profound impact on me, and I truly think it’s one of the reasons I am a scientist today."
- mmert482
"And Lex saved the day with her computer skills."
- RobinReddBreast
X-Files
"'X-Files.' I can't believe I haven't seen that yet. She was highly intelligent with a strong confidence that couldn't be beaten down by the sexists in the early seasons nor the crushing but invisible power of the Syndicate."
- andrewnormoux
"She’s always one of my first thoughts when someone asks this question. She’s smart and doesn’t let anyone make her feel less than them, and she knows who she is."
"She’s kind and patient with others but takes no bulls**t. She doesn’t let being in a boys’ club push her into trying to be 'one of the boys,' nor will she accept any misogyny."
"She’s dedicated to her job and to her partner. Between her and Mulder she’s actually the trigger-happy one!"
"She also of course influenced a lot of young girls to go into STEM fields (see 'The Scully Effect')."
- teddy_vedder
Lilo and Stitch
"Nani is the best female character Disney has ever written. She’s 19, also dealing with the grief of losing her parents, and she’s giving up her dreams and working so she can take care of her little sister. Proper strong."
- hearsesong
"One of the most heartbreaking details I read about the movie is how a corner of Nani’s room has a bunch of trophies, medals, and ribbons, all presumably for surfing. She was likely on her way to becoming a professional athlete when she gave all of that up to step up and take care of Lilo."
- RiceAlicorn
"Bruh, she was just 19, holding down an entire house, raising her little 'off-beat' sister, and then had CPS breathing down her back..."
- Zijoelocks
"That moment you realize there is a very real threat in that movie, and it is NOT the aliens."
- Nepetea33
The Addams Family
"Morticia: 'I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. It's just, I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade.'"
- akaioi
"Morticia Addams (from the 1960s series) has been the love of my life since I was six."
- frank-sarno
The Long Kiss Goodnight
"The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) with Geena Davis was great and doesn't seem to get much love."
- CazzaMcSpazza
"'You’re going to die screaming. Am I telling the truth?'"
"She was, in fact, telling the truth."
- KevSmileTime
Better Call Saul
"Not a movie but Kim Wexler in 'Better Call Saul.'"
- Smega-Spread
"I wish I could upvote this more. The Emmys did Rhea Seehorn wrong, her performance in the entire series was incredible."
- come-heroines
The Mummy
"Rachel Weisz playing Evie in 'The Mummy.'"
"'Take that, Bembridge Scholars!'"
- AmoebaGal
"Evelyn: 'Look, I... I may not be an explorer or an adventurer, or a treasure-seeker or a gunfighter, Mr. O'Connell, but I am proud of what I am.'"
"Rick: 'And what is that?'"
"Evelyn: 'I... am a librarian.'"
- Carefullyyellow
"This movie and this character was the first time I felt like I could relate to a female character in an action movie. I felt seen. She needs help but she’s not helpless."
"And she is the one who really kills the mummy in the end too. The only one who was educated and studied enough to read the correct passage from the book. Love that movie."
- ecstaticegg
Mulan
"One of my favorite things about Mulan is that she's not the hyper-masculine female lead who's just as good as the men at everything. She was a young woman in the army; no, she was not going to be as physically strong as the men."
"She saved China because she used her strengths to her advantage. I think that that's much more valuable to young girls than some emotionally dead, oversexualized character who has no visible flaws."
- lo_profundo
Legally Blonde
"I love this one because it's a great deconstruction of how more feminine interests and hobbies are perceived."
"A girl can be ultra feminine, be super into stuff like fashion and tiny dogs and carry herself in a certain way, and still be clearly intelligent and capable."
"Oh, and also because she has an actual character arc in the movie too. That's super important. It's not enough to write a character who is just good at stuff. That's easy. Making them a growing and evolving human in a believable way is the hard part."
- sylinmino
"Yesss. It's telling how many of the female characters listed in this thread are tomboyish fighters. People tend to think a strong female character is a woman who shed her femininity to kick some a**."
"This is why I love Elle. She actually reaches her full potential while actively embracing her hyper-femininity, and others are proven wrong for underestimating her due to that femininity."
"Even some of my favorites like 'Mean Girls' unfortunately fall into the trap of associating hyper-femininity with negative traits... I'm hoping the 'Barbie' movie follows in 'Legally Blonde''s footsteps on this front."
- twoshotsofoosquai
Arrival
"Oh man, this movie is so good. I still catch myself thinking about it often. Totally mind-blowing."
- missilefire
Stargate SGI
"Not a movie but... Samantha Carter from 'Stargate SG1.'"
"She's an a**-kicking brainiac super scientist lady who was also kinda goofy at times and still very much in touch with her feminine side."
"What I like the most about her is that not only is she utterly indispensable to the team, but she doesn't overshadow any of the other team members, she never lords over others unless they're being a d**k to her first and in general, is a good person."
"She kicks a**, can take a joke and crack one too."
"What I really liked with her is that they made sure she wasn't the overall brainiac, she was the scientist, the tech guru, and she knew how things worked. But Daniel Jackson was the history/language/culture guy and they often had them working together with Daniel reading the instructions to tech written in alien languages while Sam did the reprogramming."
"She had one 'modern strong female character' moment in episode one, but apparently Amanda Tapping hated that line and they never made her say cringy s**t like that again. She wanted the character to not stand apart from the team because of her gender or have others act like 1980s movie sexist bullies towards her."
"She wanted her character to be a fully realized part of the team and for other characters to act like professional adults around her (except when they were under the influence of mind control but that didn't make them sexist)."
"Cannot recommend her enough."
- FlapJackMicky
While a lot of work still needs to be done to ensure that women receive he representation they deserve across the entertainment industry, it's wonderful to see such a long list of films, ranging from the '80s all the way up to being released this summer.