Blockbuster movies always come hand in hand with hopeful-success film trailers. Having seen "Captain American: Civil War" on opening day, I viewed plenty of these. Amongst them was the second official trailer for "The Shallows", a film I hadn’t heard of until sitting in a Carmike theater surrounded by six of my closest friends.

"The Shallows" stars "Gossip Girl’s" Blake Lively, also known as one of the four sisters of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (Bridget), and is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, director of "House of Wax" (2005) and "Orphan"." The trailer reveals much of the general plot — a medical school surfer girl has found her dead mother’s favorite spot, and takes in the waves peacefully, up until she is attacked by a vicious great white shark who kills the only other two people for miles.

Watching the trailer I was intrigued. It follows the survivor in the wild trope that has emerged successfully through films like "127 Hours "and "The Revenant," and plays into the popularized fear and tension of the shark-as-a-villain plug that clearly is a call back to "Jaws." This is a relation that I’m not alone in making, as MTV and Vulture have said similarly in their own announcements of the film.

My other thoughts, beyond considering the tropes that film is playing into, went to a "good for her" moment, as I’m honestly a fan of Blake, and think it’s a benefit to the industry to take the success of James Franco and Leonardo DiCaprio and say that a female could draw as much success to a story of a similar style.

While it seems that this is a thought many news sides share with me, including the ones plugged above, viewers and commenters perhaps disagree. Next to me in the theater, my friend kind of huffed, speaking aloud about the recycling of new tropes to bring in audiences. I don’t disagree; film is repetitive. And where "127 Hours" and "The Revenant "had the one-up of being based on true stories, "The Shallows" is unabashedly a fictional work that’s following in the procession of what has come before it.

Across websites like MTV, Vulture, and Variety, as well as within the comments for both trailers on Youtube (Trailer 1 and Trailer 2), there are many other criticisms to the film: it’s unrealistic — considering the patterns of shark attacks within the film, it’s detrimental to our understanding of sharks, it’s just a reason to see Blake Lively in a bikini for two hours, etc…

It’s funny, how no matter the unrealistic survival movies can be, it can always be twisted. Over the years we’ve not only seen James Franco and Leo fight the elements, we’ve also had movies like "Cast Away", "Buried "(2010), and "Life of Pi". Hell, even "Lost" is a survival of the fittest story of great popularity, that guess what? It isn’t realistic.

"Jaws "wasn’t criticized as being overtly unrealistic, it was lauded for its intense drama and anxiety building. And while "The Revenant" might be built off of truths, it’s marketability was credible due to the prior success of "127 Hours". Perhaps "The Shallows" might not be a wonderful Oscar nominee; the film’s trailers give away the general plot, and the overt sexist divide of it being dumb because of the scantily clad Blake being the star, versus the perverse comments across these platforms saying that her body will be what wins over audiences. However, nevertheless, we need to see more survivalist females.

Erin Brockovich and Cheryl Strayed shouldn’t have to be our only sources of female empowerment against literal nature. They are amazing, amazing women, but why can’t fictional women show as much prowess, cunning, wittiness, charm, and strength? Why do we need there to be such a thick line between a biographical projection of female empowerment, to the Angelina Jolie/Scarlet Johansson badass-spy trope? What I’m saying is, if we can have fictional males who are as realistically powerful, mentally and physically, as real-life heroes and adventurers, why aren’t women given that same respect?

Whether or not the situation is realistic, we need more strong female characters as leads in movies. Especially ones who have a realistic edge, despite their heightened environments. Blake Lively is a fun, passionate actress, who deserves a chance. And her past success in her most popular roles gives her important standing for young women. The film industry, and its viewers have a tendency to lean on the white-male lead, as a focus of true-stories and of fiction. If this is our way out, it’s a good start, and I’ll definitely be giving it a chance when it comes out in June.