(no subject)
Hmmmm. Interesting article here about strong women on TV. WARNING, SOAPBOX AHEAD.
So basically, this article is about how after Veronica Mars and Buffy there haven't been too many strong female characters on TV. You know, the kind who kick ass and take names, and quote pithy pop-culture references while doing it. I started to think, "Self, is this true, self?" and I can't think of many women on TV I've fallen in love with nearly as much as I fell in love with Buffy. Well, HIMYM I think, has strong female characters who often act more stereotypically 'masculine' than the guys do, but that show isn't really about kicking ass and taking names.
Hmmm, I started to think. I read a bit further down in the article, and they list women from other shows who rock, mostly from a sci-fi standpoint. Okay, cool. Then we get to Rose Tyler.
Whooo boy, I think to myself. Rose Tyler bashing aside (and I totally think Martha is ten thousand times more awesomesauce, as we all know). My first thought is, "She ain't no Buffy." She's really not. Buffy stayed cool and awesome, and while she fell in love with plenty of hot dudes, it wasn't the end of the world when they left her, or whatever other horrific things Joss could think of happened to them. She had a destiny, and she knew she had to fulfill it. Rose, towards the end, defined herself by the Doctor. He left, she fell apart on the beach, we get hints she works for Torchwood, but she's got to get back to the Doctor, OMG!
I've always sort of wondered why Joss gets street cred for being feminist. I mean, it's cool that he writes strong characters, but you know. It's odd to have some guy walking around going, "Aren't I cool, and isn't this show awesome? Look at how all of my female characters punch people. Yay, I'm such a good feminist."
And I think, in a weird way, I've found my answer here. I think about how the female characters in Doctor Who hold up and how Russell also tends to get street cred among feminists, and I can see how Whedon's stuff holds up. You have a wide range of women in Firefly, especially, where you have River who's terrified of the world and then breaks, and then picks herself up again, and saves the day. You have Kaylee, who would never fire a gun, but she's a mechanic. She's kind of a wuss, but that's okay. You have Zoe who fought in a war. And yes, I think even Inara holds up. Because while she's a 'companion', she has a wide range of emotions and... that's okay. It's normal to cry your eyes out because a man you love is totally inconsiderate and having sex with your friend. I have cried over men, too, and I consider myself to be a feminist. But anyway. Inara picks herself back up again, and she does her job. You also have a wide range of women in Buffy. Willow is the opposite of her friend, but she's fully rounded and she is never written-off as second best. You want to find out more about her because she's written well.
But the problem, I think, with Doctor Who, is that Rose never picks herself back up again. It's better with Martha, because she does pick herself back up again, and she does her job. But the script treats her as second best. Fandom treats her as second best, and I don't really know why. They even love Donna over her, because Martha will always go down as the woman who didn't get the man. That's how she was written, and that's how she's looked at, I think. I mean, seriously, who cares she brought down the freakin' Master, you know?
This is how I side in the whole feminist issue: I don't care if the woman falls in love with a man and crushes on him for an extended period of time. That's how the world works. If women didn't have crushes on men, babies wouldn't be born and the human race wouldn't continue. But I want her to have depth. I want her to have interests other than him. I want her to be able to pick herself up from heartbreak and awesome all over the place.
And in the meantime, I put forth HIMYM as a surprisingly feministy kind of a show. Marshall is kind of a wuss, Ted wants to settle down and get married, the pretty girl, Robin, is scared of babies and loves guns, Lily's struggling against her feminist mother who wouldn't let her have any girly toys but all she wants to do is play with an Easy Bake Oven, dammit!
Rant over. And if anyone read this, here are cookies.
So basically, this article is about how after Veronica Mars and Buffy there haven't been too many strong female characters on TV. You know, the kind who kick ass and take names, and quote pithy pop-culture references while doing it. I started to think, "Self, is this true, self?" and I can't think of many women on TV I've fallen in love with nearly as much as I fell in love with Buffy. Well, HIMYM I think, has strong female characters who often act more stereotypically 'masculine' than the guys do, but that show isn't really about kicking ass and taking names.
Hmmm, I started to think. I read a bit further down in the article, and they list women from other shows who rock, mostly from a sci-fi standpoint. Okay, cool. Then we get to Rose Tyler.
Whooo boy, I think to myself. Rose Tyler bashing aside (and I totally think Martha is ten thousand times more awesomesauce, as we all know). My first thought is, "She ain't no Buffy." She's really not. Buffy stayed cool and awesome, and while she fell in love with plenty of hot dudes, it wasn't the end of the world when they left her, or whatever other horrific things Joss could think of happened to them. She had a destiny, and she knew she had to fulfill it. Rose, towards the end, defined herself by the Doctor. He left, she fell apart on the beach, we get hints she works for Torchwood, but she's got to get back to the Doctor, OMG!
I've always sort of wondered why Joss gets street cred for being feminist. I mean, it's cool that he writes strong characters, but you know. It's odd to have some guy walking around going, "Aren't I cool, and isn't this show awesome? Look at how all of my female characters punch people. Yay, I'm such a good feminist."
And I think, in a weird way, I've found my answer here. I think about how the female characters in Doctor Who hold up and how Russell also tends to get street cred among feminists, and I can see how Whedon's stuff holds up. You have a wide range of women in Firefly, especially, where you have River who's terrified of the world and then breaks, and then picks herself up again, and saves the day. You have Kaylee, who would never fire a gun, but she's a mechanic. She's kind of a wuss, but that's okay. You have Zoe who fought in a war. And yes, I think even Inara holds up. Because while she's a 'companion', she has a wide range of emotions and... that's okay. It's normal to cry your eyes out because a man you love is totally inconsiderate and having sex with your friend. I have cried over men, too, and I consider myself to be a feminist. But anyway. Inara picks herself back up again, and she does her job. You also have a wide range of women in Buffy. Willow is the opposite of her friend, but she's fully rounded and she is never written-off as second best. You want to find out more about her because she's written well.
But the problem, I think, with Doctor Who, is that Rose never picks herself back up again. It's better with Martha, because she does pick herself back up again, and she does her job. But the script treats her as second best. Fandom treats her as second best, and I don't really know why. They even love Donna over her, because Martha will always go down as the woman who didn't get the man. That's how she was written, and that's how she's looked at, I think. I mean, seriously, who cares she brought down the freakin' Master, you know?
This is how I side in the whole feminist issue: I don't care if the woman falls in love with a man and crushes on him for an extended period of time. That's how the world works. If women didn't have crushes on men, babies wouldn't be born and the human race wouldn't continue. But I want her to have depth. I want her to have interests other than him. I want her to be able to pick herself up from heartbreak and awesome all over the place.
And in the meantime, I put forth HIMYM as a surprisingly feministy kind of a show. Marshall is kind of a wuss, Ted wants to settle down and get married, the pretty girl, Robin, is scared of babies and loves guns, Lily's struggling against her feminist mother who wouldn't let her have any girly toys but all she wants to do is play with an Easy Bake Oven, dammit!
Rant over. And if anyone read this, here are cookies.