(SPOILER ALERT FOR THE END)

Far too many movies today portray women as totally inept and incapable of coping without the help of some Channing Tatum/Josh Duhamel/Bradley Cooper — their knight-in-shining-armor — character.  Some movies do, however, boast a strong, independent female lead.  Miss Congeniality is a great example of this; it’s a thoroughly funny and enjoyable film that says, in no uncertain terms: not only can women hold their own in this man’s world, they can sometimes be the only thing holding parts of that world together.

Gracie Hart is an FBI agent who fully blends in with her male colleagues.  She dresses and acts very masculine, has a hard time forming relationships, and is too involved in her job.  The movie opens with a young Gracie on a playground watching two boys bullying another boy.  Gracie steps in and one of the boys tells her “If you weren’t a girl, I’d beat your face off,” to which she responds, “If you weren’t a girl, I’d beat your face off!” From a young age, Gracie seems to be defensive and headstrong.  Fast forward to Gracie as an adult working for the FBI and it’s immediately apparent what type of character she is.  She’s a sloppy, strong willed feminist whose only friends appear to be colleagues from work.

The FBI, investigating threats from a homegrown terrorist who calls himself “The Citizen,” pin down the next threat to be aimed at the Miss United States pageant.  An undercover agent is needed to monitor things behind the scenes at the pageant. Of course, Gracie is the only one who fits the criteria and she reluctantly takes the job.  In two days, pageant consultant Victor Melling (Michael Caine), turns Gracie into a drop-dead-gorgeous, semi-graceful, high-heel-wearing, pageant-worthy undercover operative.

Throughout the movie, Gracie shows a characteristic uncommon to most female leads: a total commitment and determination to her job.  Not once does she stray from the task at hand. Unlike what we see in most predictable rom-coms, she doesn’t simply fall for the guy and get distracted in the process; she gets the job done. As she says: “I am the job.”

As if to emphasize to the strength of the female lead, Miss Congeniality paints a less-than-flattering picture of almost all of the male characters.  Agent-in-charge Eric Matthews is closed-minded, and looks to Gracie to ensure success in his operation — this in contrast to most movies in which the female lead is heavily dependent upon the man.  Frank Tobin (Steve Monroe), the son of competition director Kathy Morningside (Candice Bergen), is a stereotypical “mama’s boy,”  constantly berated by her, depending on her for nearly everything, and showing very little independence.  Stan Fields (William Shatner) plays the clueless pageant emcee, whose only apparent strength is his longevity in that position.  While Victor Melling is a take-charge person and completes Gracie’s moth-into-a-butterfly transformation, he is portrayed as flamboyant — certainly not the strong male lead we’d come to expect.

Fast paced and funny, Miss Congeniality sets conventions on end. Gracie ends up saving the day, but she does it on her terms and with little help from anyone else. In the end, she gets her man, both literally and romantically. All in all, this movie is a great gender-stereotype-breaking, empowering movie.