SBD: Women I love
Dec. 4th, 2006 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksIn fiction, that is. Written fiction. Televised fiction. Imaginary women I think are awesome. And who (whom?) I want to be when I grow up. If I have to grow up, that is.
ETA: How rude of me! I forgot to include the SBD link to Beth, queen of Smart Bitches Day. Mea culpa!
Lovely Salome got me thinking about women in fiction after I read her blog about The Young Riders. I followed her link about her thesis to her review of Season 1 of the show. I had forgotten how much I loved that show -- with all the lust that my teenaged hormones were capable of mustering...which can't have been that much since I'd long since forgotten it. But I digress. Lovely Salome points out that Lou, the girl dressing as a boy riding in the Pony Express, totally rocked. And she did. I wanted to be Lou...except for her romance with one of her fellow riders. I'd've skipped him and gone for Hickok or the marshall.
But it got me thinking about women in fiction and on the screen who are in total control of themselves (although not necessarily of the things going on around them). They know who they are and what they want; they take no shit and no prisoners.
Zoe from Firefly. She's the XO to Mal's captain; she's mushy when it comes to her husband and I don't know her backstory, but she kicks ass when necessary and is usually the one doing the rescuing, not the one being rescued. Thank you Joss Whedon and Gina Torres.
Eve Dallas. Yes, she's totally screwed up in a lot of ways. But Robb/Roberts manages to keep her from being a complete curmudgeon and saves her from being utterly heartless as well. She walks a fine line with very good balance, it seems to me.
C.J. Cregg. I heart C.J. Especially the last season of The West Wing, when she's more or less running the country, and figuring out what she wants to do post-White House. I'd vote for her in a heartbeat :)
Dana Whittaker from Sports Night. She's relationship-challenged, but in total control when it comes to her show and the sports world.
Both Dana and C.J. are creations of Aaron Sorkin. I would say that I heart AS, except I'm not all that impressed with his lastest TV offering.
Anne Elliot of Persuasion. Her dreams have passed her by; she's downtrodden and overlooked. But she manages to endure and find pleasure in small things. Sometimes that ability to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, to get through every day, every hour, is important. To a lesser extent, Elinor Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility) speaks to me for the same reason.
Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan of Bujold's Vorkosigan series. She's both smart and self-aware, and capable of being an asskicker -- literally and figuratively. I love the way she shops ;)
Ripley. Need I say more? The prototype of the modern female action heroine. And her follow up, paler shadow, Sarah Connors. (I still aspire to biceps like hers.) Without Ripley, would there ever have been a Sidney Bristow in Alias? a Dark Angel? An Elektra? (Fill in the top-billed action heroine of your choice.) I read once that the script was written with Ripley as a man. Whoever cast Sigourney Weaver did an incredible thing.
Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing. I always imagine that she's going to keep Benedict on his toes for the rest of their married life.
There are more, but those are the ones I can think of off-hand. Are there heroines who speak to you? That you want to be when you grow up?
ETA: How rude of me! I forgot to include the SBD link to Beth, queen of Smart Bitches Day. Mea culpa!
Lovely Salome got me thinking about women in fiction after I read her blog about The Young Riders. I followed her link about her thesis to her review of Season 1 of the show. I had forgotten how much I loved that show -- with all the lust that my teenaged hormones were capable of mustering...which can't have been that much since I'd long since forgotten it. But I digress. Lovely Salome points out that Lou, the girl dressing as a boy riding in the Pony Express, totally rocked. And she did. I wanted to be Lou...except for her romance with one of her fellow riders. I'd've skipped him and gone for Hickok or the marshall.
But it got me thinking about women in fiction and on the screen who are in total control of themselves (although not necessarily of the things going on around them). They know who they are and what they want; they take no shit and no prisoners.
Zoe from Firefly. She's the XO to Mal's captain; she's mushy when it comes to her husband and I don't know her backstory, but she kicks ass when necessary and is usually the one doing the rescuing, not the one being rescued. Thank you Joss Whedon and Gina Torres.
Eve Dallas. Yes, she's totally screwed up in a lot of ways. But Robb/Roberts manages to keep her from being a complete curmudgeon and saves her from being utterly heartless as well. She walks a fine line with very good balance, it seems to me.
C.J. Cregg. I heart C.J. Especially the last season of The West Wing, when she's more or less running the country, and figuring out what she wants to do post-White House. I'd vote for her in a heartbeat :)
Dana Whittaker from Sports Night. She's relationship-challenged, but in total control when it comes to her show and the sports world.
Both Dana and C.J. are creations of Aaron Sorkin. I would say that I heart AS, except I'm not all that impressed with his lastest TV offering.
Anne Elliot of Persuasion. Her dreams have passed her by; she's downtrodden and overlooked. But she manages to endure and find pleasure in small things. Sometimes that ability to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, to get through every day, every hour, is important. To a lesser extent, Elinor Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility) speaks to me for the same reason.
Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan of Bujold's Vorkosigan series. She's both smart and self-aware, and capable of being an asskicker -- literally and figuratively. I love the way she shops ;)
Ripley. Need I say more? The prototype of the modern female action heroine. And her follow up, paler shadow, Sarah Connors. (I still aspire to biceps like hers.) Without Ripley, would there ever have been a Sidney Bristow in Alias? a Dark Angel? An Elektra? (Fill in the top-billed action heroine of your choice.) I read once that the script was written with Ripley as a man. Whoever cast Sigourney Weaver did an incredible thing.
Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing. I always imagine that she's going to keep Benedict on his toes for the rest of their married life.
There are more, but those are the ones I can think of off-hand. Are there heroines who speak to you? That you want to be when you grow up?
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from Carrie
Date: 2006-12-04 11:28 pm (UTC)Glad TYR inspired you :) I SO wanted to be Lou. Sigh...
And yes, Ripley was originally a man. Ridley Scott pushed for the character to be a woman. Before Lou, I had Ripley. I still define a large portion of my ideals about feminine strength on her, Sarah Connor, and (for my younger, more idealistic self) Princess Leia. The big three!
As for Firefly, my favorite episode is when Niska kidnaps Mal and Wash, and Zoe has to come negotiate for their release. Funny, tense, sexual, and very true -- if such a thing can be said about sci-fi. Which I think it can.
You'll see this on Beth's SBD round-up, but on my blog now I have a link to our new unusual historical blog AND new Yahoo group. The yahoo group is for everyone; its homepage features four NIFTY surveys (one each for authors; readers; industry types; booksellers). Feel free point and click your opinion!
http://lovelysalome.blogspot.com
Gonna go pop in that Firefly now because, like you said, TYR doesn't really hold up...
Re: from Carrie
Date: 2006-12-04 11:46 pm (UTC)I was thinking of that exact episode of Firefly when I was typing about Zoe.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-05 07:27 am (UTC)Lyvvie
no subject
Date: 2006-12-05 02:02 pm (UTC)And I agree with you about shopping with Cordelia.[g]