Behind every great woman is a Ken. This Ken may be a romantic interest, a best friend or something else entirely, but one thing is for certain… this Ken can either choose to live in the shadow of a great woman, or, they can help hold her up and bask in the sun with her. It’s pretty clear which choice is the better one, and it’s the choice that was made by every Ken on this list.
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Taking a backseat and letting others shine isn’t always a bad thing, and as times change audiences are being treated to more unconventional protagonists and more representation for healthier, more equal relationships. Although not all of these characters have a romance and ending that audiences necessarily desire (looking at youTitanic), they all have one thing in common. That is, they are all proud to be one part of a partnership.
10Nick Young, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ (2018)
Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) is an economics professor at NYU who specializes in game theory. Her boyfriend Nick Young (Henry Golding) is poised to eventually take over his family’s business. When the pair travel to Singapore for a wedding, Rachel learns that the Young family sit at the top of the social food chain in Singapore, and atop the family, is a matriarch (Michelle Yeoh) who is hard to please.
Despite being smart, kind, gracious and a self-made woman, the charming lead ofCrazy Rich Asiansstill isn’t good enough for Nick’s mom or the highly critical millionaires that surround the Youngs. But it’s more than enough for Nick, who would give up the money, friends, family and future empire for Rachel.
9Norm Gunderson, ‘Fargo’ (1996)
Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) attracts the attention of pregnant and switched on police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) when his plan to have his wife kidnapped goes awry. ThroughoutFargoit’s clear that Marge would be a keen and successful investigator regardless of who she was married to. But, it doesn’t hurt that her husband Norm (John Carroll Lynch) is a supportive sweetheart who never lets her leave the house without breakfast.
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Marge spends her days out on a shift hunting down dangerous people while seven-months pregnant. Meanwhile, Norm leads an equally thrilling life at home, where he paints birds and submits the images in the hopes they will be printed on local stamps.
8Jim Johnson, ‘Hidden Figures’ (2016)
Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) is a widow and mother of three whosework at NASA remains overlooked and undervalueduntil she is selected to help work on NASA’s first manned space orbit.Hidden Figuresexplores the power that unity can have in the face of oppression; emphasizing that prejudice is much harder to overcome alone than it is with a friend, spouse or community on your side.
This, combined with the fact that the film is based on a true story, makes the meeting of Katherine and Jim Johnson (Mahershala Ali) all the more impactful. Jim sweeps Katherine off her feet, eagerly becoming a father to her three children and a supporter of her work at NASA. The real life Katherine and Jim remained married for 50 years, until Jim’s passing in 2019.
7Lee Abbott, ‘A Quiet Place’ (2018)
Raising several kids with another on the way is hard enough. Doing so while living through an alien apocalypse is even harder. Lee Abbott (John Krasinski) and his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) are some of only a few people who have managed to survive this long during aninvasion of aliens who are blind, but can hear everything.
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There are few movie-families better prepared to live through an apocalypse than the Abbott family, who make up essentially all the characters inA Quiet Place. Despite being heavily pregnant, Evelyn is more than capable of taking care of herself. However, none of that stops Lee from formulating the best ever apocalypse birthing plan for his wife, and risking it all to make sure she is safe.
6Bill Cage, ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ (2014)
Major Bill Cage (Tom Cruise) has managed to skate through the alien apocalypse unscathed by acting as a public affairs officer who appears in media and on television as the face of the military effort to save earth. That is, until he is demoted and forced into active duty, where he meets super-solider Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt).
Being willing to die for love is certainly romantic, butactuallydying for love - and doing it hundreds of times while trapped in a time loop - is the gold standard of romantic gestures. Although each death inEdge of Tomorrowcauses Rita to forget who he is, Bill is willing to sacrifice the relationship they’ve built to ensure she can keep living (with or without him).
5Li Shang, ‘Mulan’ (1998)
When her ailing father is called upon to serve in China’s Imperial Army, young Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) makes the ultimate sacrifice and takes his place. Posing as a man, Mulan enters army training and rises in the ranks while trying to impress her stern Captain, Li Shang (BD Wong).
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Mulanembraces the idea of the student becoming the master, and ultimately shows that Mulan’s unique perspective and genuine passion is what enables her to surpass Li Shang and accomplish things he could not. While some men would be threatened by this, Li Shang is entirely the opposite. Despite his initial protests, it’s clear he likes an independent woman.
4Gomez Addams, ‘The Addams Family’ (1991)
Gomez (Raúl Juliá) and Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston) live a charming and macabre life. They are the proud parents of two beautifully morbid children, and the family live together in an eccentric and decrepit gothic mansion. Life is moving along as usual, until Gomez’s long estranged brother shows up again after a 25-year absence.
For lovers of the strange and unusual, Gomez and Morticia are truly couple-goals. Things remain mostly tame inThe Addams Familybut it’s clear that if she asked, Gomez would happily maim or torture anyone Morticia asked him to.
3Peeta Mellark, ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ (2013)
After surviving the first Hunger Games through determination, grit and a sham romance, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are forced back into the arena for an entirely new and more vicious game. But this time, the romance isn’t a sham for one of them.
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The Hunger Games: Catching Fireshows that there are few better situations in which to demonstrate your love and devotion than a battle royale style fight to the death. Peeta proves throughout the film that fighting for his own life may be important, but fighting to save Katniss is paramount, and he’s willing to do almost anything to ensure she makes it out of the arena alive.
2Jack Dawson, ‘Titanic’ (1997)
Jack Dawson (Leonardo Di Caprio) wins a third-class ticket for a trip on the brand-new ship, the Titanic, where he meets beautiful and wealthy Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet). He is poor, and she is engaged to another man, but that doesn’t stop them from having the greatest cinematic romance of all time.
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Whether Jack could have fit on that floating door has been the most hotly debated detail ofJames Cameron’sTitanicfor years. Regardless of who could have fit where, and whether the door was in fact a door, or some other form of debris, the facts remain the same. Jack would have happily tread water forever, if it meant that Rose would get a chance to have a life, even if that life wouldn’t include him.
1Kyle Reese, ‘The Terminator’ (1984)
The Terminatorintroduces us toSarah Conner (Linda Hamilton), who works as a waitress and lives a normal 80s life. She has no idea that she’s destined to give birth to the man who will go on to save humanity from a robot uprising, until a cyborg assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and a super-solider named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) travel from the future to find her.
Although Kyle traveled back in time assuming he was sent to save a woman and kill a robot, the truth is more complicated. Kyle’s entire life has been leading up to the moment he meets Sarah Connor. Kyle and Sarah are instrumental in the survival of humanity as a species, but, Kyle gradually finds out his own survival is not required and Sarah’s is essential. Kyle is willing to lose it all to ensure Sarah lives to see another day.
