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Day Twenty-Two: Female Character Meme
Mar. 29th, 2011 12:20 amDay Twenty-Two: Favorite female character you love but everyone else hates: Seven Of Nine
That's a tricky question to answer, I can't think of a character that everybody hates (unless it's, like, Umbridge, but I count myself among everybody). There are characters that are unfairly bashed by canon (Amy from DW, Gwen from TW, any female character that gets in the way of the Holy Slash), but even the more unpopular characters have their share of fans.
Anyway, I picked Seven because I've seen a generally negative attitude towards her from Trek fans, while I think she's simply awesomecakes. The two main complaints I keep running into is that she was a blatant example of fanservice and that she became so central to the show her storylines erased everybody else's. And those criticisms are not exactly wrong. Clearly the corseted catsuit and stiletto heels had more to do with showcasing that Jeri Ryan is a stone cold fox than being a case of Borg sartorial efficiency-I actually laughed the first time I saw her de-Borgified enssemble (though it amuses me than the Doctor is the one who canonically designed it, which is pretty IC for his pervy holographic self). And I did miss seing more of some of the other characters (though really, less screentime for Neelix and Chakotay was a good thing, people!).
However, despite the validity of those issues, it doesn't change the fact that Seven is an awesome character. Her status as a seemingly emotionless outsider and frequent confusion at some of the crew's more human motivations (even as she's attempting to find that humanity within herself) continues a proud Trek tradition of characters like Spock, Data and Odo, and I found the Borg perspective in combination with autonomy and free will much more compelling than their usual “We are the Borg, you will be assimilated.” catchphrase. And finally, finally someone was there who could challenge Janeway without the restriction of respect for the command chain (Tuvok) or being a big dull ball of suck (Chakotay). Their dynamic was why I tuned in every week (though I also enjoyed Seven in those rarer Tuvok or B'Elanna interactions, obviously for different reasons).
And Jeri Ryan may look like every fanboy's wet dream, but the woman can act. While I loved her character, the writing was as uneven as the rest of Voyager (seriously, I love it, but it's not what one might call good), but her performance could salvage even the most cracktastic script. And beyond the high drama and general Borg aloofness thing, she could pull of comedy beautifully. Just check out the episode where she keeps getting possessed by the spirits of assimilated individuals (oh, Voyager!). Her turn as a Vulcan was brilliant and spot-on, but her as a Ferenghi had me in stiches.
For the sake of my sanity, I'm pretending her storyline in the finale didn't happen, la-la-la. Seriously, Voyager writers, if you had to go for the wish-fulfillment of having the hottest woman in the cast end up with a middle-aged guy, at least you could have gone with the Doctor (yes, I shipped them, cheesy opera duets and all).
( Days 1-30 )
That's a tricky question to answer, I can't think of a character that everybody hates (unless it's, like, Umbridge, but I count myself among everybody). There are characters that are unfairly bashed by canon (Amy from DW, Gwen from TW, any female character that gets in the way of the Holy Slash), but even the more unpopular characters have their share of fans.
Anyway, I picked Seven because I've seen a generally negative attitude towards her from Trek fans, while I think she's simply awesomecakes. The two main complaints I keep running into is that she was a blatant example of fanservice and that she became so central to the show her storylines erased everybody else's. And those criticisms are not exactly wrong. Clearly the corseted catsuit and stiletto heels had more to do with showcasing that Jeri Ryan is a stone cold fox than being a case of Borg sartorial efficiency-I actually laughed the first time I saw her de-Borgified enssemble (though it amuses me than the Doctor is the one who canonically designed it, which is pretty IC for his pervy holographic self). And I did miss seing more of some of the other characters (though really, less screentime for Neelix and Chakotay was a good thing, people!).
However, despite the validity of those issues, it doesn't change the fact that Seven is an awesome character. Her status as a seemingly emotionless outsider and frequent confusion at some of the crew's more human motivations (even as she's attempting to find that humanity within herself) continues a proud Trek tradition of characters like Spock, Data and Odo, and I found the Borg perspective in combination with autonomy and free will much more compelling than their usual “We are the Borg, you will be assimilated.” catchphrase. And finally, finally someone was there who could challenge Janeway without the restriction of respect for the command chain (Tuvok) or being a big dull ball of suck (Chakotay). Their dynamic was why I tuned in every week (though I also enjoyed Seven in those rarer Tuvok or B'Elanna interactions, obviously for different reasons).
And Jeri Ryan may look like every fanboy's wet dream, but the woman can act. While I loved her character, the writing was as uneven as the rest of Voyager (seriously, I love it, but it's not what one might call good), but her performance could salvage even the most cracktastic script. And beyond the high drama and general Borg aloofness thing, she could pull of comedy beautifully. Just check out the episode where she keeps getting possessed by the spirits of assimilated individuals (oh, Voyager!). Her turn as a Vulcan was brilliant and spot-on, but her as a Ferenghi had me in stiches.
For the sake of my sanity, I'm pretending her storyline in the finale didn't happen, la-la-la. Seriously, Voyager writers, if you had to go for the wish-fulfillment of having the hottest woman in the cast end up with a middle-aged guy, at least you could have gone with the Doctor (yes, I shipped them, cheesy opera duets and all).
( Days 1-30 )
