Day Sixteen: Female Character Meme

Day Sixteen: Favorite mother character: Ellen Harvelle




It's weird for anything from Supernatural to show up in a “favorite” list of mine, as to say I'm not a fan would be the understatement of the year (I watch it purely for masochistic/mocking reasons, and I guess because I don't have enough rage in my life). But Ellen (and Jo) I genuinely loved, in a non-LOLfan way, and I actually kind of enjoyed the time period in the show when she was a recurring character, largely because of her presence.

Very often on television female mother characters, especially older women, tend to be presented a certain way that involves their role as Mother overshadowing all other aspects of their life, and painted in a softer light (emotional support, nurturing and advice dispensing being major themes). And while I don't think there's anything wrong with that take on motherhood (I'm very fond of, for instance, Martha Kent in Smallville), I really liked that Ellen was this tough, no-nonsense, gritty and all-around pretty damned hardcore character...who happened to be a mother. It's not that I didn't love her relationship with Jo (all the over-protectiveness included, because it felt realistic to me), it's that she was allowed to be a character, rather than some preconceived idea about motherhood. And the lady could hold her liquor and got to slap Dean-how can I not fangirl her?

I'm not even getting into what that show (haaaaaaaaaate!) did to her at the end, because, um, yeah. The one thing I'm not feeling at that conclusion is surprise (vaginas: the SPN equivalent of red shirts).

( Days 1-30 )

Day Seventeen: Female Character Meme

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.

( Days 1-30 )