--- title: Justice League to Star Wars: Film Posters With Only One Lady description: Ever noticed that most blockbuster films with an ensemble cast have exactly one woman in the main crew? It's called the Smurfette principle. canonical: https://time.com/4616798/movie-posters-single-woman/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-23T14:30:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:12.976Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: This Is the Disturbing Movie Poster 'Smurfette Principle' og:description: It illustrates Hollywood’s gender issue og:url: https://time.com/4616798/movie-posters-single-woman/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef12250c06c921e5/6988b3dc7cdbac6068d56a6c/justice-league.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: justice-league og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is the Disturbing Movie Poster 'Smurfette Principle' twitter:description: It illustrates Hollywood’s gender issue twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef12250c06c921e5/6988b3dc7cdbac6068d56a6c/justice-league.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Once You Notice the 'Smurfette Principle' on Movie Posters, You Can’t Un-See It > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 23, 2016 2:30 PM UTC  Justice League, 2017 Justice League, 2017Warner Bros. Pictures by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 23, 2016 2:30 PM UTC Ever noticed that most blockbuster movies with an ensemble cast have exactly one woman in the main crew? She’s usually clad in leather, can drink her weight, kicks bad guys with abandon and has a bit of sexual tension with the leading man. There are exceptions like the _Fast and Furious_ series and, lately at least, _The Avengers_. But most of the time, discounting damsels in distress or villains, there’s just the one lady. It’s called the Smurfette principle — because there was only one female Smurf among all the Smurfs. This pattern is particularly obvious looking at the posters for some of the biggest action movies of the era. Here are just a few:  Star Wars, 1977 Lucasfilm Ltd.  Ghostbusters, 1984 Columbia Pictures  Space Jam, 1996 Warner Bros. Family Entertainment  The Matrix, 1999 Warner Bros.  Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, 1999 Lucasfilm Ltd.  Ocean's Eleven, 2001 Warner Bros.  Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, 2007 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures  Star Trek, 2009 Paramount Pictures  Inception, 2010 Warner Bros. Pictures  Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011 Paramount Pictures  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 2011 Paramount Pictures  The Avengers, 2012 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures  Out of the Furnace, 2013 Relativity Media  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 2013 Warner Bros. Pictures  Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures  The Expendables 3, 2014 Lionsgate  Fantastic Four, 2015 20th Century Fox  Now You See Me 2, 2016 Summit Entertainment  Warcraft, 2016 Universal Pictures  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd.  Kong: Skull Island, 2017 Warner Bros. Pictures  Justice League, 2017 Warner Bros. 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