The Five: International Women’s Day
With there being an entire day devoted to women this weekend, I thought I’d theme my Friday Five (clearly, I meant for this to go up yesterday) around my favorite women on television right now. (I decided to do current characters because I thought if I tried to narrow down my favorites of all time, I’d give myself an aneurism.) It’s no secret that I love the serial storytelling medium. And what better way to show my love than to tie it in to such a kick ass world recognized day?
Five: Mulan
Okay, so technically she’s a recurring character on Once Upon a Time, and with the actress now having another show in the first slot in her working order she probably won’t be back on the show again in the immediate future, but I still love this character. I love that she’s smart, that she’s a warrior, that she’s a true hero who helps people in trouble, and that she’s in love with a princess. The writers on the show took a risk with her and rewrote her Disney themed story in such a fascinating way. I think she’s a much more compelling character than almost any of the other current characters on the show. A part of me selfishly wishes that Jamie Chung’s new series Believe doesn’t last long so that she can return to the Enchanted Forest.
Four: Lydia Martin
Oh, the little Banshee that could, how far you’ve come. My one problem with Teen Wolf in its newest episodes is that there is a severe lack of Lydia. She’s had such a great character progression on the show, and has shown such amazing growth. The audience has gone from knowing her as Stiles’s crush and Jackson’s needy girlfriend to the smartest person in Beacon Hills who just happens to have a supernatural alert for death in her brain. I love that she’s transitioned from the girl who was afraid to let people see how smart she really was in the early episodes to the person leading the investigations now. Adore her.
Three: Felicity Smoak
I will be honest, I am a Marvel girl through and through. As a result, my knowledge of DC properties is a little bit limited. I never read the Green Arrow comic books. I am not familiar with who Felicity was in that world. I only know her from Arrow on the CW. But her character is one of the best aspects of the show. She gets to be the nerdy genius while still be feminine and strong. Yes, she’s a character that shows her emotions, but those emotions aren’t to her detriment. Is she pining for the guy in her life? Yes and no. It’s clear that she’s got feelings for her boss, but she isn’t holding out for him at the expense of her own emotional health. She also isn’t resorting to catty jealousy plays against the women in his life - she’s actually friends with and cares about them. Felicity’s a role model for girls and women everyone.
Two: Melinda May
Agents of SHIELD has a lot of great characters, even though we don’t really know a ton about them all just yet. Melinda May is very much an enigma. We know she was once the best of the best of SHIELD agents, she earned the name of the Cavalry on a mission that forever changed her, and she is the one who will get things done. I think part of the reason I love her is the way Ming Na-Wen plays her. Yes, May is no-nonsense and willing to do what no one else on the team wants to do. She’s strong, but Ming plays her with this vulnerability underneath that comes across so well. May is strong and closed off because she won’t allow herself to be any other way. She has made this team her responsibility. She likes to be in control. And she isn’t going to let anything get in her way. I think the character has the potential to be one of my favorites of all time. She fascinates me to no end.
One: Jemma Simmons
Speaking of Agents of SHIELD… Jemma is my favorite character of anyone on current television. She trumps everyone. I can’t put into words how much I adore her. She is intelligent and awkward, just as anyone of her academic prowess likely is. Let’s be honest about it; there is a reason highly intelligent people are portrayed a certain way in television, because it’s by and large realistic. The thing with Simmons though is that for all that awkwardness, she is also the sweetest person ever. She’s adorable. But she’s also strong. She does what she has to do, though in a different way than Melinda May. She’s a hero. How many times now has she opted to sacrifice herself to save the rest of the team? I’m a little worried she won’t survive the season if she keeps that up, but her actions just endear her to me even more. I also love that every single character that we’ve been introduced to so far likes her. She’s like a ray of sunshine breaking through some very dark clouds in some cases.
After assembling this list, I think it’s clear I have a particular character type that I adore, no? There’s nothing like having smart women on television.
Five: Mulan
Okay, so technically she’s a recurring character on Once Upon a Time, and with the actress now having another show in the first slot in her working order she probably won’t be back on the show again in the immediate future, but I still love this character. I love that she’s smart, that she’s a warrior, that she’s a true hero who helps people in trouble, and that she’s in love with a princess. The writers on the show took a risk with her and rewrote her Disney themed story in such a fascinating way. I think she’s a much more compelling character than almost any of the other current characters on the show. A part of me selfishly wishes that Jamie Chung’s new series Believe doesn’t last long so that she can return to the Enchanted Forest.
Four: Lydia Martin
Oh, the little Banshee that could, how far you’ve come. My one problem with Teen Wolf in its newest episodes is that there is a severe lack of Lydia. She’s had such a great character progression on the show, and has shown such amazing growth. The audience has gone from knowing her as Stiles’s crush and Jackson’s needy girlfriend to the smartest person in Beacon Hills who just happens to have a supernatural alert for death in her brain. I love that she’s transitioned from the girl who was afraid to let people see how smart she really was in the early episodes to the person leading the investigations now. Adore her.
Three: Felicity Smoak
I will be honest, I am a Marvel girl through and through. As a result, my knowledge of DC properties is a little bit limited. I never read the Green Arrow comic books. I am not familiar with who Felicity was in that world. I only know her from Arrow on the CW. But her character is one of the best aspects of the show. She gets to be the nerdy genius while still be feminine and strong. Yes, she’s a character that shows her emotions, but those emotions aren’t to her detriment. Is she pining for the guy in her life? Yes and no. It’s clear that she’s got feelings for her boss, but she isn’t holding out for him at the expense of her own emotional health. She also isn’t resorting to catty jealousy plays against the women in his life - she’s actually friends with and cares about them. Felicity’s a role model for girls and women everyone.
Two: Melinda May
Agents of SHIELD has a lot of great characters, even though we don’t really know a ton about them all just yet. Melinda May is very much an enigma. We know she was once the best of the best of SHIELD agents, she earned the name of the Cavalry on a mission that forever changed her, and she is the one who will get things done. I think part of the reason I love her is the way Ming Na-Wen plays her. Yes, May is no-nonsense and willing to do what no one else on the team wants to do. She’s strong, but Ming plays her with this vulnerability underneath that comes across so well. May is strong and closed off because she won’t allow herself to be any other way. She has made this team her responsibility. She likes to be in control. And she isn’t going to let anything get in her way. I think the character has the potential to be one of my favorites of all time. She fascinates me to no end.
One: Jemma Simmons
Speaking of Agents of SHIELD… Jemma is my favorite character of anyone on current television. She trumps everyone. I can’t put into words how much I adore her. She is intelligent and awkward, just as anyone of her academic prowess likely is. Let’s be honest about it; there is a reason highly intelligent people are portrayed a certain way in television, because it’s by and large realistic. The thing with Simmons though is that for all that awkwardness, she is also the sweetest person ever. She’s adorable. But she’s also strong. She does what she has to do, though in a different way than Melinda May. She’s a hero. How many times now has she opted to sacrifice herself to save the rest of the team? I’m a little worried she won’t survive the season if she keeps that up, but her actions just endear her to me even more. I also love that every single character that we’ve been introduced to so far likes her. She’s like a ray of sunshine breaking through some very dark clouds in some cases.
After assembling this list, I think it’s clear I have a particular character type that I adore, no? There’s nothing like having smart women on television.