A current trend on TikTok has seen the rise of female rage, carried by the brilliant scene “Please! I’m a star!” scene in Pearl (2022), played by Mia Goth.
These edits’ rise in popularity across social media, particularly TikTok, has seen thousands of users catch a glimpse of themselves in women in distress.
But you may be asking, what is a female rage edit?
In short, they’re a series of clips compiled into a video where female characters are screaming venom through their tears. As the name suggests, they’re full of rage.
Typically, it is a response to male characters, with the clips being drawn from scenes of relationship fallouts. They can also include any shots of women who have endured mental torment.
Set to tracks like Lana Del Rey’s Pretty When I Cry, Mitski’s Liquid Smooth, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, the music is a key element in these edits that enhances the extreme emotions and blood-curdling screams. It all makes for a very moving and stirring watch.
The most common films that appear in these edits are Pearl, X, Gone Girl, Jennifer’s Body, Don’t Worry Darling, and Thirteen – just to name a handful.
The edits feature lines from these films that evoke strong emotions, such as: “It’s my life, you don’t get to take that from me,” “I work like a dog, day and night,” “Why are you leaving me if I didn’t do anything wrong? I don’t understand, I thought you liked me,” “What is wrong with me? What the fuck is going wrong inside my head,” “Where do you think I learned all this shit from?”
Extreme phrases like this would have once been shameful to relate to, yet now the comment sections are full of phrases like: “female rage is so powerful,” “she’s so me,” “I love women,” and “real.”
Historically, women have been presented as hysterical as a means of misogyny and control – always letting their emotions win and, therefore, they should not be trusted in control. This is then reflected within the film canon, especially within the horror and thriller genres. Women experiencing anything other than material love and a flat personality were condemned.
These tropes and presentations of women are extremely reductive and a harmful weapon of authority.
As a result, both women in film and in reality have been forced to suppress these feelings, leading to outbursts like the ones featured in these rage edits. It is a moment of raw catharsis, unleashing mounds of potent pent-up frustration.
Through these edits, we can acknowledge the precedent that has been set and turn it into something powerful and motivational.
Shots from I, Tonya, Jennifer’s Body, and Black Swan show girls slapping on makeup over the tears and manically smiling to ‘upkeep appearances’ are seen as relatable. The empathy evoked from clips like this has motivated girls to stop behaving like this, pleasing others just because society has engraved it into them.
Gen Z is unapologetic and has salvaged many things women have previously been shamed for, especially angst. The generation has taken female anger and frustration under its wing and wears these emotions with pride, using these edits as a form of expression.
Creators and consumers of these edits are proudly reclaiming insanity, obsession and being unhinged. Women snap, and they get it.
It is evident that madness and hiding your raw emotions are outdated concepts. With many seeking solace in these unhinged and frustrated women, the next step is to let this seep into society. Allowing women to express their true feelings, maybe not to the extent that are depicted in cinema, is on the checklist for Gen Z’s crusade.
A wider acceptance and acknowledgement of women’s mental health and ill thoughts can only surely have a positive impact. Cinema has depicted women in this light for decades, but now, instead of it being suppressive, it is empowering – many can relate and feel consoled.
