I celebrated some amazing characters this year and I thought it was worth putting them all together. They're not all heroes, and most of them don't have any special powers, but they were all willing to fight for what they needed and wanted. That's what I find inspiring about them.
When I was growing up, women in fiction were mostly saved by others (usually the men of the series). It was rare to see one that saved herself or that saved those around her. I am so thrilled that now there is a whole buffet of independent women displaying all the different kinds of strength, from Tess's refusal to compromise on her dream club to the skull-crushing physical power of Mazikeen. There is the gentle and kind strength of Delenn and the saucy, independent strength of Catwoman.
There are brilliant women: Charlotte Holmes and Dr. Ellie Arroway. There are the women who possess the singular skills of professional assassins, from Gamora, to Sarah Lance, to Charlie from The Long Kiss Goodnight to Zoe Washburne. There are the criminals, like Catwoman and the ladies of Ocean's 8. And then there's the women who are sweet but determined, like Ali, Sophie, and Delenn.
These characters all stand on their own with unique personalities and goals. Even those who fall under the category of stoic warrior woman are different. There's Zoe's sense of humour and devoted love for her cinnamon roll of a husband. Sarah has the tortured, brooding past but hasn't launched herself on the usual quest for redemption. She's fine with staying on the anti-hero side of the equation. Charlie is dazzlingly competent in her combat skills, but yearned for a family. And Gamora is laser-focused on stopping her galactically genocidal foster father.
But there's more than individual characters. Women support each other in a different way than male teams do. Tess and Ali have a mentor/mentee relationship, both working together to save their beloved club. And the ladies of Ocean's 8 not only pull off a flawless heist, but do it with respect and friendship.
That's why I keep coming back to all these different characters each month. To remind myself of how far we've come and how many amazing female-led stories are out there. So please enjoy this overdose of Heroine Fixes:
Catwoman from Batman Returns, Catwoman, and The Dark Knight Rises.
Charlotte Holmes from Sherry Thomas' Lady Sherlock series.
Tess and Ali from Burlesque.
Gamora from the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers.
Zoe Washburne from Firefly.
Sarah Lance from DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
Mazikeen from Lucifer.
Dr. Ellie Arroway from Contact.
Sophie from Music and Lyrics.
Delenn from Babylon 5.
The girl gang of Ocean's 8.
And last, but not least, Samantha/Charlie from The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Blog homepage
No comments:
Post a Comment