If you’ve joined us on the side of TikTok that worships women and really likes movies, you’re probably familiar with the “good for her” cinematic universe. The simplest explanation of what that means is when a woman in a movie commits murder and you whisper to yourself, “as she should”. You’re not condoning violence, you’re acknowledging the catharsis of the situation and letting good media sweep you away from reality. Let’s dive into this trope, without judgment. We’ll start with some of our favorite examples. (spoilers ahead for Carrie, Gone Girl, and Midsommar, A.K.A. a bunch of classic shit you should’ve already seen).

The first film to master this genre was actually a book first! Stephen King’s Carrie is classic good for her material. Throughout the movie (and the book that preceded it) we watch Carrie White, the protagonist, get systematically shit on and terrorized by her classmates and abused by her fundamentalist mother. So, when the movie ends with her murdering the vast majority of her classmates and committing a little bit of matricide, you can’t help but say it: good for her! Carrie was a Girlboss before millennials had even thought of the word. Our next “She”-E-O, building her empire, is Amy Dunne from Gillian Flynn’s novel and award-winning movie, Gone Girl. Amy might be the most popular example of this idea because there’s something so backwardly triumphant about watching her frame her asshole husband for murder and then kill her creepy, entitled white boy stalker. What makes Amy such a memorable Girlboss is her iconic “cool girl” monologue. She perfectly explains the ways she has assimilated to the male gaze to become a desirable contradiction which leads to why she is trying to send her husband to death row for fucking a different, slightly younger, “cool girl”. Amy taught us all that the coolest of girls plot elaborate crimes as revenge.

The most recent movie that made us smile at the sight of blood was Ari Aster’s acclaimed mindfuck, Midsommar. Dani’s boyfriend is the worst, and the people in the cult are just so nice! The genius of this film is that it brainwashes YOU while you watch Dani get brainwashed, only contributing to the good for her effect. When we saw her win a funky dance-off and then sew her shithead boyfriend into a bear, all we saw was Pele having a better chance with her now. Haters will say that being an absent gaslighting boyfriend doesn’t justify being disposed of inside of a giant animal carcass, but we have no use for haters in this movement. Get on board or be left behind.

Good For Her!