Comments | scrollgirl: 30 Days of Female Characters: Day 10

scrollgirl

30 Days of Female Characters: Day 10

Mar 17, 2011 14:39

Day Ten: Favourite female character in a scifi/supernatural show

Kira Nerys, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Okay, the thing about Kira is that she's absolutely not your run-of-the-mill hero. She wouldn't be run-of-the-mill even if she were male, and for a female character? Almost unheard of on television. ( Wherein I wax lyrical, kinda, about my hero Kira Nerys. Cut for SPOILERS. )

canon:star trek, picspam, feminism, character:kira nerys, meme:30 days of female characters, tv:star trek ds9

Comments 6

masqthephlsphr March 17 2011, 19:32:15 UTC

DSN is Kira's story because DSN is about the Bajorans. Which is a weird choice, when you think about it. Humans are in it, as central characters, but it's never about Earth. Never (really) about the Federation. The show centers on Bajor and Bajorans and their culture and myths in an almost myopic fashion which, when you stop to think about the fact that it's not only alien, but all made up astounds you in how it nevertheless never stops being interesting to us self-centered Earthlings.

Sure, there is an allegory between some Earth cultures and the Bajorans, but it never is an obvious allegory to whom, because it's a mixed allegory of many.

scrollgirl March 17 2011, 19:53:53 UTC

I love, love, love DS9 for the incredible world-building. Yes, the Bajorans were fleshed out so wonderfully (though I do wish we'd had another Bajoran POV besides Kira in the later seasons) and so were the Cardassians. I like to call it A Tale of Two Planets. Perhaps it's not strictly analogous, but it has a nice ring to it, don't you think? *g*

Sure, there is an allegory between some Earth cultures and the Bajorans, but it never is an obvious allegory to whom, because it's a mixed allegory of many.

Yes, the DS9 writers were smart not to make it a strict parallel with WWII. It's not a retelling of one particular war in in human history, but that it's a story of that kind of war.

masqthephlsphr March 17 2011, 20:29:26 UTC

See, I don't even think it's that. There's so many non-WWII occupations of one country over another, so many non-WWII stories of terrorists freedom fighters struggling to rid themselves of that, that just assuming that a WWII allegory is more obvious than the others only shows which ones you yourself are familiar with.

scrollgirl March 17 2011, 20:38:18 UTC

Yeah, no, you're right. I find that there's more mythologising of WWII than other wars, so that's what comes to mind first--for me, at least.

(OTOH, there's the Maquis. But they came later.)

midnightsjane March 18 2011, 07:33:54 UTC

I agree with you totally. Kira's arc is so wonderfully layered and she is one of the most complex characters in Trek. I love that she is so tough and yet vulnerable in her relationships, that she is always true to who she is.
DS9 is my favourite Trek because of the depth and complexity of the world building, and because it doesn't try to make everything all better by the end of every episode. It's darker and more political than TNG in so many ways, and although I love TNG, DS9 is more interesting as a story to me.
Really must get on with that rewatch I started ages ago!

scrollgirl March 18 2011, 20:56:18 UTC

You should totally do a re-watch! There are so many terrific episodes and terrific characters. I love the whole ensemble, but Kira is definitely top of that list for being such a complicated, unconventional woman. Totally agree about her arc being wonderfully layered.