"She saved the world. A lot."
September 14
2011
Strong female characters are.... myths?
Angel writer Mere Smith looks at what makes a strong female character in TV and film.
Simon
| Cast&Crew
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Consider -- how long of a list could one come up with of strong male characters in TV or film who don't also "wield a god-like power to either kill people or heal them".
Forgive the fun toys meme, but Strong Character is Strong.
I'll agree without qualification that there are certainly more strong male characters in TV and film than there are female, and probably more SMCs by percentage of all male characters than there are SFCs by percentage of female. But Mere Smith's column seems to imply that there is a limiting rule within, and specific to, the SFCs that SFCs all have to have a sword dipped in awesome sauce, professionally speaking -- I don't think that's a phenomenon limited to the SFCs at all. It's how most TV and film characters get the "S" in the first place. Call it a shortcut, a cheap writing heuristic even, but the first and easiest way to put a neon sign over a character, male or female, and say "this shall be the character to which you shall aspire in some way" is to give them skills or abilities beyond the average audience member's.
It's a topic that's right in my wheel-house as a long time fan of Xander Harris, who is a male character that often struggles to get recognition as a "strong" male character precisely because he lacks that same mythical quality. I take her point about Roseanne's sitcom version of herself, but by the same token, just as Christina Yang might be unfairly recognized as an SFC more than Roseanne (Connor), Dr. Cliff Huxtable probably would get picked out as a male role model before Dan Connor would.
This specific issue is not one I see as being an existential crisis limited to female characters other than as a function of their being far fewer SFCs, mythical or otherwise.
And one side-note, does Ripley really come off to people as being a woman of privilege? The Nostromo crew seemed to be depicted as pretty blue collar, ham-and-eggs folks, and that actually plays in "Aliens" since the job she gets is working on a loading dock. It's just not a way I ever expected to see her described.
KingofCretins | September 14, 01:05 CET
Ragondux | September 14, 02:32 CET
ardentdelerium | September 14, 03:14 CET
ardentdelerium | September 14, 03:15 CET
Dana5140 | September 14, 03:35 CET
Which makes me think of Cordelia as a good example of strong woman with no superstrength.
Ragondux | September 14, 03:40 CET
the Groosalugg | September 14, 04:00 CET
Dana5140 | September 14, 04:14 CET
Simon | September 14, 04:39 CET
[ edited by embers on 2011-09-14 15:17 ]
embers | September 14, 05:11 CET
My initial thoughts exactly - that and the Ripley flub.
brinderwalt | September 14, 05:36 CET
Perhaps one of those thoughts where everyone has one? :)
Madhatter | September 14, 05:59 CET
By comparison, most of the strong men on the show (Adama, Lee, Helo) are normal people with no special powers.
For an "ordinary" woman who's portrayed as strong ... Donna Noble comes to mind. (Though she's a problematic example in a number of ways.) And when it comes to non-genre stuff I'm drawing a blank.
erendis | September 14, 06:41 CET
The class thing is an astute observation as far as it goes, but I note that Buffy was drifting into lower-class territory by S6, with the burger-joint job and the house troubles. And Cordy started out rich and spoiled, but working for Angel she was just scraping by. Same goes for Zoe (and therefore Kaylee).
Most important, however, is Willow.
Yes, Willow. Superpowered by the end? Absolutely. But she's superpowered because she learns. In the Buffyverse anyone can work a spell if they know what to do and do it right (heck, Andrew can do magic). Willow's just great at learning. In our world she'd be a programmer or a scientist (or heck, a lawyer), someone who's really, really capable because of her knowledge. I don't really find that unrealistic in the slightest.
She's still middle-class, though.
All in all, great thought-provoking read! And I think all my non-genre examples would have to come from West Wing.
ManEnoughToAdmitIt | September 14, 07:31 CET
Inspired | September 14, 08:22 CET
Simon | September 14, 08:27 CET
The best way we're given to judge is by their house and car. Most definitely middle class, not upper.
guidedby | September 14, 09:59 CET
Sunfire | September 14, 10:01 CET
Simon | September 14, 10:01 CET
Sunfire | September 14, 10:07 CET
Simon | September 14, 10:16 CET
embers | September 14, 10:58 CET
NL197 | September 14, 12:16 CET
ardentdelerium | September 14, 12:36 CET
If I had to guess, an art gallery director moves in upper-class circles, but money may be spotty depending on sales. And Joyce is a single mom, so while the money may be decent it's not exactly easy. Joyce makes some references to "wrestling with the IRS," too. Does she say anything about needing help in getting Buffy to Northwestern? Can't remember.
Solidly middle-class in values, expectations, and clothes, however. I wouldn't put Buffy any lower or higher than middle-middle until Season 6.
ManEnoughToAdmitIt | September 14, 13:55 CET
Dana5140 | September 14, 13:59 CET
@theonetruebix | September 14, 15:23 CET
I love that you brought up Roseanne, Mere. Like or dislike the actress, that character rocked big time. I think there may be more “regular” folk strong-women characters in the past, currently, and coming up than we’ve thought of. Olivia Benson on L&O: SVU, the child of rape championing and trying to empower other rape victims; Olivia Dunham on Fringe (even though she’s got some sort of “power”, she also got experimented on as a kid and has endured and carried on with all of that weighing on her in past seasons, psychologically speaking); Lucretia on Spartacus: Blood and Sand and the prequel, Gods of the Arena (okay, evil, but she held/holds her own in a world run by men); Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, BBC – let’s see how Maria Bello does with the American version. And also, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s new character(s) on Ringer. I thought the blue-collar Bridget character disguising herself as her own twin pretty ballsy, and I hope that continues (and Bridget herself – no problem with assertion there).
I would love to see a trend wherein these women are honored as much as a wealthy superhero type (of which I’d contest Buffy doesn’t really belong).
Further: On the way home I was thinking about why Roseanne is so great, and I think that at least part of why her strength is so enviable lies in the fact that it takes a lot to break her. Who knows whence that strength wells from, but of course I thought of the episode Joss wrote, in which Darlene delivers her poem to an audience of students and parents. Seeing that chink in her armor was a thing of beauty, and still is:
To Whom it Concerns
Tonya J | September 14, 17:30 CET
Except when Buffy lived in LA in a rundown apartment post-Becoming.
Emmie | September 14, 22:00 CET
moley75 | September 15, 05:05 CET
In any case, I find it pretty amusing that this class discussion of a character from a tv show that ended 8 years ago has gone this long. We are fans. :-)
guidedby | September 15, 06:30 CET
I'm not sure how one would adjust the Summers' household income for 1997 numbers on a California Hellmouth. Maybe Joyce was funding stuff through credit? Maybe she got child support? Alimony? I never pictured her running a top notch gallery, myself. A town the size of Sunnydale with a lack of high tourist flow just couldn't support it. She was probably getting by, but not by much. Northwestern is an expensive school and I can't imagine Buffy getting too many scholarships. This didn't seem to worry Joyce. Upper middle class doesn't seem like a bad designation to me. If the middle class ranges between say, the $20,000-ish poverty limit and the $90,000-ish upper range, the upper middle class would be… $70,000-$90,000? It doesn't buy as much as it sounds like, especially with Joyce's probable health insurance. It would allow the Summers household to make some lifestyle choices though.
BreathesStory | September 15, 08:03 CET