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Day Ten: Female Character Meme
Mar. 16th, 2011 10:00 pmDay Ten: Favorite female character in a scifi/supernatural show: Kara Thrace
So I fell in love with the character pretty much from the pilot. How could I not? There she was all cockiness and defiance, with the gambling, and drinking, and smoking, and punching of superior officers. Starbuck had levels of swagger I had not seen since Faith from Buffy: based on that alone, I was already sold.
Of course, there's much more to her than being a kickass pilot who can outdrink, outfly and outfuck the boys. She's got major childhood trauma, a self-destructive streak a mile wide and an almost magical ability to sabotage every major relationship in her life. Let's face it: if she were a dude, she'd be the kind of character that would become fandom's instant Top Woobie-in fact, there was something about the show's framing of Kara's suffering and issues that looked suspiciously a lot like Man!Pain. Not that she can easily be put in a box: over the show, we've seen her be hero and cold-blooded killer, competent mentor and pathetic drunk, torturer and hostage, devoted wife and Other Woman, infinitely relatable person trying to deal with her world being literally blown to bits and...well, whatever she was in the finale. Yet despite all those facets, I can honestly say there wasn't a moment I wasn't, if not actively rooting for her, definitely empathizing with her character.
I know a lot of the Kara-related fannish activity was centered around Kara/Lee, but to me, that was the least interesting aspect of the character (though admittedly my most frequent source of frustration with some of her actions, especially in later seasons). Don't get me wrong, the bratty, pseudo-incestuous and incredibly convoluted nature of their dynamic had its moments, but I much preferred her “why don't you love me, daddy?” vibe with Adama senior (granted, that seemed to be a question a lot of the characters seem to subtextually ask Pappadama at times. Except it didn't usually end with him trying to kill them. Except that one time with Sharon), her more distant but equally complicated interaction with Roslin, the surprising healthiness of her friendship with Helo, the complete and utter disaster that was her marriage to Sam (I still maintain Sam and Dee should have totally hooked up and given the other two the finger. Things would have worked out SO MUCH BETTER for all concerned), the EPICNESS of her ongoing feud with Saul Tigh (with the high point them getting drunk together in that Daybreak deleted scene. I swear, if Tigh didn't remind me looks-wise of a fitter John McCain, I would be shipping that SO HARD) ...and let's not even get into the Stockholm Syndrome mess that was that Thing with Leoben.
Kara wasn't perfect, and the show's general treatment of its female characters has already been discussed at length elsewhere (short version: it sucked). But despite all my issues with Galactica, I can never quite hate on it, if only for the genius idea to genderswap Starbuck in the re-imagined version, leaving us with that glorious, lasting impression of a character who should be next to the dictionary definition of “kicking ass and taking names”.
( Days 1-30 )
So I fell in love with the character pretty much from the pilot. How could I not? There she was all cockiness and defiance, with the gambling, and drinking, and smoking, and punching of superior officers. Starbuck had levels of swagger I had not seen since Faith from Buffy: based on that alone, I was already sold.
Of course, there's much more to her than being a kickass pilot who can outdrink, outfly and outfuck the boys. She's got major childhood trauma, a self-destructive streak a mile wide and an almost magical ability to sabotage every major relationship in her life. Let's face it: if she were a dude, she'd be the kind of character that would become fandom's instant Top Woobie-in fact, there was something about the show's framing of Kara's suffering and issues that looked suspiciously a lot like Man!Pain. Not that she can easily be put in a box: over the show, we've seen her be hero and cold-blooded killer, competent mentor and pathetic drunk, torturer and hostage, devoted wife and Other Woman, infinitely relatable person trying to deal with her world being literally blown to bits and...well, whatever she was in the finale. Yet despite all those facets, I can honestly say there wasn't a moment I wasn't, if not actively rooting for her, definitely empathizing with her character.
I know a lot of the Kara-related fannish activity was centered around Kara/Lee, but to me, that was the least interesting aspect of the character (though admittedly my most frequent source of frustration with some of her actions, especially in later seasons). Don't get me wrong, the bratty, pseudo-incestuous and incredibly convoluted nature of their dynamic had its moments, but I much preferred her “why don't you love me, daddy?” vibe with Adama senior (granted, that seemed to be a question a lot of the characters seem to subtextually ask Pappadama at times. Except it didn't usually end with him trying to kill them. Except that one time with Sharon), her more distant but equally complicated interaction with Roslin, the surprising healthiness of her friendship with Helo, the complete and utter disaster that was her marriage to Sam (I still maintain Sam and Dee should have totally hooked up and given the other two the finger. Things would have worked out SO MUCH BETTER for all concerned), the EPICNESS of her ongoing feud with Saul Tigh (with the high point them getting drunk together in that Daybreak deleted scene. I swear, if Tigh didn't remind me looks-wise of a fitter John McCain, I would be shipping that SO HARD) ...and let's not even get into the Stockholm Syndrome mess that was that Thing with Leoben.
Kara wasn't perfect, and the show's general treatment of its female characters has already been discussed at length elsewhere (short version: it sucked). But despite all my issues with Galactica, I can never quite hate on it, if only for the genius idea to genderswap Starbuck in the re-imagined version, leaving us with that glorious, lasting impression of a character who should be next to the dictionary definition of “kicking ass and taking names”.
( Days 1-30 )