(no subject)
So, a couple people have been doing a Week of Strength in Women after a whole load of stuff has happened lately thats not been the best. I'm a little late but, I wanted to do it, because there are some amazing women in entertainment at the moment. Anyways, behinds thee cut, I've included pictures *g*
Marlee Matlin:
Marlee is one of the women that I love for many reasons. She is yes a good actress (and very funny as well among other things) - she is deaf - and is a successful actress. Even if she didn't set out to be a great role model for disabled and deaf kids she is. She both entertains audiences and shows them that you can be a disbaled/deaf [a lot of deaf people do object to being called disabled, which I have an issue with, but thats okay, I don't know what Marlee's stance on it is] can be an engaging, funny, and serious character that just happens to be deaf.
Reese Witherspoon:
Reese is an exceptional woman. In an industry right now that is loving a lot of these bimbo like airhead girls (you know who I'm talking about) she is well spoken, intelligent, and has spoken in interviews about how she feels that the girls who do act like that to get attention are doing a disservice to our mothers and grandmothers and all of the women who have worked to get us to the place we are today and to the women who are still struggling to be accepted as equals. She does his, and he is probably the woman wth the most influence/reach on my lst, she is a very popular actress with women of all ages.
Dr Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery)
Dr Janet Fraiser, CMO of Stargate Command. Other then being an intelligent woman in a position of power, she is also funny, has her dramatic moments and just very well rounded. I think one of the most important things about her character though when looking at why she is so strong and unique is that even though she is a woman in a position of respect and power and does get her own way a lot of the time (not all, but a lot of) she is not presented at all as being an emotionally cold woman, which can happen too often in a fictional character, and not portrayed as emotionally weak either. She adopts a little girl early on in the series when they rescue her and she has nowhere to go, there is another story line later on surround her and her daughter - and the relationship that is portrayed on the screen is something to watch :) She is also best friends with Samantha Carter (who is also a large part of her daughters life) - and the friendship there comes through strongly on the screen as well.
Claudia Black / Aeryn Sun
Oh, Claudia Claudia Claudia. Where do I start? Okay I guess I should start with the fact that I admire her first and foremost for how she has managed to stay a very private person about her life, which can be a hard thing to do - but the fans of hers I know are very respectful of that fact. She is funny as all can be - and very intelligent. She has done commentaries for Farscape where she talks about how she approached Aeryn as a character and went from both the emotional and intellectual ways of thinking about it. She takes storytelling into account, about how they're going to effectively tell it and the best ways of doing it, and how to keep her characters true to themselves. And she does a fantastic job. If you watch Farscape and SG-1 (Aeryn and Vala respectively), you cannot see a smidgen of either character leak over - and she is a joy to watch.
Aeryn Sun. Aeryn was born a peacekeeper, a soldier. She was raised to soley be a soldier, and take orders and fight (she was a pilot). She never knew anything else until during the first episode of the series her character was contaminated and she fled with the aliens that had "irreversibly contaminated" her. She had to learn to change a lot of the ways she thought before, and learn to rely on her shipmates, who became her family. She learned to allow herself to fall in love. All while staying a solider, and staying true to that aspect of herself. The writers and Claudia did an amazing job with it, and even during the mini-series during a particularly painful scene for her (physical pain) she starts shooting at the people coming at her simply because it makes her feel better (which is hilarious but also, it's just, it's so Aeryn.
Natalie Portman:
Harvard educated. Smart, funny (have you seen the rap she did on SNL?). A lot of the same attributes of many of the women on this list. And sexy as hell with her head shaved of course :) All reasons to go towards belonging here.
Donnatella Moss & CJ Cregg
I put Donna and CJ together because they were both on The West Wing. Both women in positions of power (yes, Donna was Josh's assistant, but she was *not* a typical secretary/assistant). Both like all of the other women, intelligent - both had learning curves. Donna had dropped out of University to support her bf (who she later dumped) and ended up working as a volunteer on the Bartlet campaign. She easily kept up with Josh's speed and was constantly getting him to explain reasons and motivations behind things and was always learning. She was pivotal in his success at his job - he couldn't have done it without her, they were a team. And she grew out of that job, because she had learned and needed to be challenged - and so she did what she needed to which was leave her job for another one within the administration - at the end of the series she was offered (highlight to read ->) and accepted the job of The First Lady's Chief of Staff. CJ. Where can you start with CJ? Eloquent, fantastic at her job, funny, warm, member of the 'sisterhood' (with Donna of course, they conspired). Intense. Has a goldfish named Gail on her desk that has numerous things appear in the bowl as deceration. Was promoted from Press Secretary to Chief of Staff. Beautiful. (and an agent once told Allison Janney that she could only play aliens or lesbians. Seriously. Idiot people).
Jorja Fox / Sara Sidle
All of my friends, they know of my love for Jorja/Sara. Sara Sidle is not perfect. She has her flaws, she can be too emotionally attached to cases - and she can fly off the handle about things - she can also be pretty oblivious sometimes when it comes to personal things. But she is damn good at her job - and she knows what she wants - she won't give up on a case. She is who she is.
Jorja? Again is another actress who keeps her private life away from the media, and there have been a lot of speculations on it. However, what I will say that is if you've ever been to her website, you'll see how passionate she is about the things she love and intellectual and artistic as well - and that her website has nothing to do with her personally but with the things that she cares about and is interested in.
Torri Higginson / Elizabeth Weir
Okay so you can't tell me you didn't see this one coming. Did I have anyone worried as the list went on and Torri hadn't made an appearence? Save the best for last! Well, I can't really pick a favourite for the reasons of what this list is, I don't have one. But I mean, I have a crush on Torri the size of Canada (which is larger then the United States in land mass, so there =P *g*
Elizabeth. Leader of an intergalatic mission to the Pegasus galaxy. Need I say more? Really.
Torri. Remember the reasons I like all the other women? Same apply, she is smart, she is funny (she makes me cry tears of laughter sometimes with the stuff she pulls), she does things with her character on Atlantis that they didn't think of because of Stargates inability to write women characters consistantly (I think the only one they ever wrote conistantly was probably Janet). She just, has fun with her life, and you can tell by the way that she talks. And I remember too, I heard a clip from the last Stargate con in Vancouver - where she was talking about how she was in an episode of a tv show, and they had shot a scene, and then she was told "Okay now for the german cut, take off your top" - and she was definately not comfortable with it, because they hadn't told her about it. And she remembered another woman telling her about how you should never do anything you weren't comfortable with. So she didn't. And sitting in front a crowd of women/girls/people/fans who are listening to her and she's giving this positive message about not giving in to pressure, especially when it is something you are not comfortable with.
So. My very incomplete list of women I think are strong and beautiful. And they are all sexier because of their strengths. Because of them, they are more appealing. That's why all this recent stuff is just so ridiculous. Strong women are more appealing and sexier then degraded, over-sexualized, 'stereotypical' women (there is a difference between a woman who is portrayed as stereotypical and one-dimensional in a roles as to thier position/job/what they do/like because that is the angle that it was percieved from, and a woman who chooses those positions and genuinely likes/dislikes things because of her personality and is not one-dimensional.
Marlee Matlin:
Marlee is one of the women that I love for many reasons. She is yes a good actress (and very funny as well among other things) - she is deaf - and is a successful actress. Even if she didn't set out to be a great role model for disabled and deaf kids she is. She both entertains audiences and shows them that you can be a disbaled/deaf [a lot of deaf people do object to being called disabled, which I have an issue with, but thats okay, I don't know what Marlee's stance on it is] can be an engaging, funny, and serious character that just happens to be deaf.
Reese Witherspoon:
Reese is an exceptional woman. In an industry right now that is loving a lot of these bimbo like airhead girls (you know who I'm talking about) she is well spoken, intelligent, and has spoken in interviews about how she feels that the girls who do act like that to get attention are doing a disservice to our mothers and grandmothers and all of the women who have worked to get us to the place we are today and to the women who are still struggling to be accepted as equals. She does his, and he is probably the woman wth the most influence/reach on my lst, she is a very popular actress with women of all ages.
Dr Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery)
Dr Janet Fraiser, CMO of Stargate Command. Other then being an intelligent woman in a position of power, she is also funny, has her dramatic moments and just very well rounded. I think one of the most important things about her character though when looking at why she is so strong and unique is that even though she is a woman in a position of respect and power and does get her own way a lot of the time (not all, but a lot of) she is not presented at all as being an emotionally cold woman, which can happen too often in a fictional character, and not portrayed as emotionally weak either. She adopts a little girl early on in the series when they rescue her and she has nowhere to go, there is another story line later on surround her and her daughter - and the relationship that is portrayed on the screen is something to watch :) She is also best friends with Samantha Carter (who is also a large part of her daughters life) - and the friendship there comes through strongly on the screen as well.
Claudia Black / Aeryn Sun
Oh, Claudia Claudia Claudia. Where do I start? Okay I guess I should start with the fact that I admire her first and foremost for how she has managed to stay a very private person about her life, which can be a hard thing to do - but the fans of hers I know are very respectful of that fact. She is funny as all can be - and very intelligent. She has done commentaries for Farscape where she talks about how she approached Aeryn as a character and went from both the emotional and intellectual ways of thinking about it. She takes storytelling into account, about how they're going to effectively tell it and the best ways of doing it, and how to keep her characters true to themselves. And she does a fantastic job. If you watch Farscape and SG-1 (Aeryn and Vala respectively), you cannot see a smidgen of either character leak over - and she is a joy to watch.
Aeryn Sun. Aeryn was born a peacekeeper, a soldier. She was raised to soley be a soldier, and take orders and fight (she was a pilot). She never knew anything else until during the first episode of the series her character was contaminated and she fled with the aliens that had "irreversibly contaminated" her. She had to learn to change a lot of the ways she thought before, and learn to rely on her shipmates, who became her family. She learned to allow herself to fall in love. All while staying a solider, and staying true to that aspect of herself. The writers and Claudia did an amazing job with it, and even during the mini-series during a particularly painful scene for her (physical pain) she starts shooting at the people coming at her simply because it makes her feel better (which is hilarious but also, it's just, it's so Aeryn.
Natalie Portman:
Harvard educated. Smart, funny (have you seen the rap she did on SNL?). A lot of the same attributes of many of the women on this list. And sexy as hell with her head shaved of course :) All reasons to go towards belonging here.
Donnatella Moss & CJ Cregg
I put Donna and CJ together because they were both on The West Wing. Both women in positions of power (yes, Donna was Josh's assistant, but she was *not* a typical secretary/assistant). Both like all of the other women, intelligent - both had learning curves. Donna had dropped out of University to support her bf (who she later dumped) and ended up working as a volunteer on the Bartlet campaign. She easily kept up with Josh's speed and was constantly getting him to explain reasons and motivations behind things and was always learning. She was pivotal in his success at his job - he couldn't have done it without her, they were a team. And she grew out of that job, because she had learned and needed to be challenged - and so she did what she needed to which was leave her job for another one within the administration - at the end of the series she was offered (highlight to read ->) and accepted the job of The First Lady's Chief of Staff. CJ. Where can you start with CJ? Eloquent, fantastic at her job, funny, warm, member of the 'sisterhood' (with Donna of course, they conspired). Intense. Has a goldfish named Gail on her desk that has numerous things appear in the bowl as deceration. Was promoted from Press Secretary to Chief of Staff. Beautiful. (and an agent once told Allison Janney that she could only play aliens or lesbians. Seriously. Idiot people).
Jorja Fox / Sara Sidle
All of my friends, they know of my love for Jorja/Sara. Sara Sidle is not perfect. She has her flaws, she can be too emotionally attached to cases - and she can fly off the handle about things - she can also be pretty oblivious sometimes when it comes to personal things. But she is damn good at her job - and she knows what she wants - she won't give up on a case. She is who she is.
Jorja? Again is another actress who keeps her private life away from the media, and there have been a lot of speculations on it. However, what I will say that is if you've ever been to her website, you'll see how passionate she is about the things she love and intellectual and artistic as well - and that her website has nothing to do with her personally but with the things that she cares about and is interested in.
Torri Higginson / Elizabeth Weir
Okay so you can't tell me you didn't see this one coming. Did I have anyone worried as the list went on and Torri hadn't made an appearence? Save the best for last! Well, I can't really pick a favourite for the reasons of what this list is, I don't have one. But I mean, I have a crush on Torri the size of Canada (which is larger then the United States in land mass, so there =P *g*
Elizabeth. Leader of an intergalatic mission to the Pegasus galaxy. Need I say more? Really.
Torri. Remember the reasons I like all the other women? Same apply, she is smart, she is funny (she makes me cry tears of laughter sometimes with the stuff she pulls), she does things with her character on Atlantis that they didn't think of because of Stargates inability to write women characters consistantly (I think the only one they ever wrote conistantly was probably Janet). She just, has fun with her life, and you can tell by the way that she talks. And I remember too, I heard a clip from the last Stargate con in Vancouver - where she was talking about how she was in an episode of a tv show, and they had shot a scene, and then she was told "Okay now for the german cut, take off your top" - and she was definately not comfortable with it, because they hadn't told her about it. And she remembered another woman telling her about how you should never do anything you weren't comfortable with. So she didn't. And sitting in front a crowd of women/girls/people/fans who are listening to her and she's giving this positive message about not giving in to pressure, especially when it is something you are not comfortable with.
So. My very incomplete list of women I think are strong and beautiful. And they are all sexier because of their strengths. Because of them, they are more appealing. That's why all this recent stuff is just so ridiculous. Strong women are more appealing and sexier then degraded, over-sexualized, 'stereotypical' women (there is a difference between a woman who is portrayed as stereotypical and one-dimensional in a roles as to thier position/job/what they do/like because that is the angle that it was percieved from, and a woman who chooses those positions and genuinely likes/dislikes things because of her personality and is not one-dimensional.