Let us paint you a picture: end of the world; fires; floods; violence; no wifi. What do you do? You find a partner with whom to navigate the madness. Now imagine your options are say… Barak Obama, Bruce Willis and Angelina Jolie. Obviously you choose Bruce Willis. If you’ve been raised in the West (and we don’t mean Santa Monica) you do. Consider that the guy did a series of “Die Hard” films and maintains a composure surpassing that of Sylvester Stallone and any of these “Twilight” vampire kids. Bruce Willis is a “man’s man.” A “man’s man” is a survivor because he dominates his environment. So, what’s a woman’s woman then?

There are definitely some badass women portrayed in film. They throw gnarly punches and high kicks, but in the end, any power they have is a function of their sexuality. Recently released “Colombiana” stars Zoe Saldana as a young woman who grows up to be a stone-cold assassin after witnessing her parents’ murder. Now think about the dynamic of female power in “X-Men,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “G.I. Jane” and the “Tomb Raider” series. There are definitely strong female roles (female protagonists even), but the nature of their power is significantly different from their male counterparts. Their power is a function of their provocative, thinly clad bodies and their ability to manipulate men. Rarely do films portray brawls between men and women as equally matched. However, we will concede that there are exceptions to the rule.

“Enough” (starring Jennifer Lopez), “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” (starring Noomi Rapace) and “Kill Bill 1 and 2” (starring Uma Thurman) are three such films in which female protagonists perpetrate violence with the same aggression as that of a man. Their strength is not just a function of wit; it is a function of their actual physical strength. The fights between these female protagonists and their attackers are legitimate, no-holds-barred brawls. The women are punched in the face, kicked in the stomach, thrown through walls… but thing is… you’ve got to see the other guys. Their opponents got their come-up’in’s good and well.

Soon to be released film, “Julia X” (starring Valerie Azlynn) portrays a similar sort of violence. “Julia X” starts off as a stereotypical romantic-thriller: boy meets girl; girl falls for boy; boy sets out to murder girl just for kicks; girl spends the rest of the film running around half-naked while being chased by her clever male attacker. The kicker is that eventually the woman reveals herself to be just as psychotic and violent as her attacker. The violence depicted is the graphic sort that mainstream films tend to shy away from. I mean, who wants to see their sister, daughter or mother punched in the face and kicked in the stomach? Furthermore, who can imagine their mom giving a smooth uppercut to the mechanic? In our heads, violence (legit violence) perpetrated by women is very difficult to imagine.

We’re stoked on “Julia X” (yet to be released widespread) because we want to see if the film approaches female violence with anything new to say. Admit it, aren’t you a little tired of seeing women evade their captors by running upstairs versus out the damn front door; or just running away in general versus taking the offensive? Don’t you even wonder what the world might look like if the person you wanted by your side at the end of the world was “Alien’s” Sigourney Weaver? We’d pay good money to see Bruce Willis take on Weaver. Talk about an equally matched fight! So, mull it over and ask yourself, “Who YOUR money would be on?”

Words by Ariel Maccarone