Day Seventeen: Female Character Meme

[ishtar79]

Day Seventeen: Favorite warrior female character: Zoe Washburn




Zoe was the character that automatically came to mind for this one, and not just because she's referred to canonically by Wash as “warrior woman”. While I love all Whedon heroines, Zoe is special to me because she doesn't fit any of his more beloved tropes-she's not a deceptively frail looking girl with a destiny (instead, fighting is very much her conscious choice), she's not a weapon, she doesn't swagger and deliver quippy one-liners. But she absolutely is the person you would most like to have on your side in battle.

Zoe is the perfect counterpoint to Mal's more impulsive and nihilistic battle tactics, and their rapport was one of my favorite dynamics of the Serenity crew. In a crew of misfits getting by on pure improvisation and bravado, she's the indisputably competent one, never once losing her head, even when Mal's crazy schemes inevitably go wrong. Which was why that scene where she went medieval on the Reavers in Serenity was as heartbreaking as the death that caused it-because it was Zoe breaking down, therefore all hope was lost. At the same time, for all her stoicism, she's far from a one-dimensional soldier archetype-she's got a wry sense of humor, was half of the most loving and healthy married couple in television (certainly the most functional relationship in the Whedonverse) and while she's fiercely loyal to Mal, she still calls him on his bullshit in that understated, chain of command way. And on a shallow note, Gina Torres is sex on a stick, and I loved the wardrobe choices which allowed her to be hot as hell while still being all business.


Day One: Favorite lead female character
Day Two: Favorite supporting female character
Day Three: A female character you hated but grew to love
Day Four: A female character you relate to
Day Five: Favorite female character on a male-driven show
Day Six: Favorite female-driven show
Day Seven: A female character that needs more screen time
Day Eight: Favorite female character in a comedy show
Day Nine: Favorite female character in a drama show
Day Ten: Favorite female character in a scifi/supernatural show
Day Eleven: Favorite female character in a children’s show
Day Twelve: Favorite female character in a movie
Day Thirteen: Favorite female character in a book
Day Fourteen: Favorite older female character
Day Fifteen: Favorite female character growth arc
Day Sixteen: Favorite mother character
Day Seventeen: Favorite warrior female character
Day Eighteen: Favorite non-warrior female character
Day Nineteen: Favorite non-human female character
Day Twenty: Favorite female antagonist
Day Twenty-One: Favorite female character screwed over by canon
Day Twenty-Two: Favorite female character you love but everyone else hates
Day Twenty-Thre: Favorite female platonic relationship
Day Twenty-Four: Favorite female romantic relationship
Day Twenty-Five: Favorite mother/daughter and/or sister relationship
Day Twenty-Six: Favorite classical female character (from pre-20th century literature or mythology or the like)
Day Twenty-Seven: A female character you have extensive personal canon for
Day Twenty-Eight: Favorite female writer (television, books, movies, etc.)
Day Twenty-Nine: A female-centric fic rec
Day Thirty: Whatever you'd like!

Comments

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Zoe is one of my all time favorite female characters in any show ever... her warmth, humor, sexiness, and rock solid dependability were human and believable because Gina embodied all of that so well (I got to meet her at a convention and she is so funny and quick to open up and connect with people... and had a game going with Adam 'Jayne' Baldwin of which of them could get louder applause from the crowd).
And like you I was more destroyed by Zoe's reaction to Wash's death than I was to his death itself... I was sobbing into my coat (that I was holding on my lap) as she gave up all hope and saw just a suicide mission ahead of her.
*sob*

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I'm so jealous you got to meet Gina Torres!

Zoe is an amazing character. Damn it, why did that show have to be cancelled?

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

So true all of this! I loved her dynamic with Mal so much. And on a shallow note she's the one reason I could ever get my BF to sit down and watch a scifi show with me!

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Heh, Zoe is reason enough to overcome sci-fi watching reluctance, that's true.