<p> This paper explores the patriarchal ideologies present in the top three grossing films of each year from 2000 to 2011and how these messages work to continue the subordination and oppression of women. The movies studied have been grouped into three genres: animated, action, and science fiction/fantasy. Within each of these genres the presentation of the heterosexual romance-marriage-family ideal, violence against women and the men as protectors narrative, and the depiction of men as being the only capable leaders are explored. The analysis of each genre specifically concentrates on one of these narratives, as each genre was found to place an emphasis on one particular ideological message. This paper further addresses how these films and the ideologies they are presenting in regards to women can be seen as a sort of backlash or counter-narrative to gains made by the women's liberation movement of the 1960s to early 1980s. </p>