favorite female characters | Sliver of Ice

February 8, 2011January 1, 2018

Favorite female character in a comedy show: Geraldine Granger (Day Eight)

Geraldine Granger from The Vicar of Dibley

Geradline Granger, the hilarious and buxom Vicar of Dibley.

No one makes me laugh like Dawn French portraying Reverend Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley. I’m a huge fan of British comedies, and I grew up watching them on PBS. I never failed to laugh all the way through The Vicar of Dibley (or really anything else which grew from French & Saunders).

Geraldine becomes Dibley’s vicar by lying and saying she’s a man. But she wins the heart of the council, and they decide to let her be vicar anyway. Geraldine is a little outrageous and looking for love, but at the same time, she cares for her parishioners and the entire town. They’re a little wacky too.

One of my all-time favorite episodes is the Christmas Lunch episode because it really shows her character. Geraldine attends not one Christmas lunch, but four because she just can’t disappoint her friends and parishioners. She eats everything on her plate as they just egg her on to eat more. Geraldine is a large woman with a notoriously big appetite. By the end of the episode, Own hauls an exhausted and sick Geraldine back to the vicarage in the bucket of his tractor.

And in the same episode, Geraldine also shows her crazy and celebrity-obsessed side as she eats the chocolates from her entire collection of advent calendars, including her Oasis one. When her somewhat dimwitted best friend Alice gives Geraldine a book about the Spice Girls for Christmas, Geraldine uses the book as her inspiration for her Christmas sermon. All about how to get what you really, really want from Jesus.

Geraldine is fun-loving and hilarious, but ultimately a good vicar to her flock as she has a really big heart. Dawn French does a wonderful job at making religious humor the kind that both believers and non-believers can laugh at and brings the world of Dibley to life. Get to know Geraldine and the entire village, buy The Vicar of Dibley: The Immaculate Collection.

February 7, 2011January 1, 2018

A female character that needs more screen time: Pamela Swynford De Beaufort (Day Seven)

Pamela Swynford De Beaufort from The Southern Vampire Mysties by Charlaine Harris and True Blood

There is no way that I couldn’t love a cold, sassy queer vampire who frets about getting blood stains on her designer heels and prefers pastels over stereotypical gothic clothing.

Pam is sadly little used in Harris’ books. She mostly serves as Eric’s right-hand woman, taking over the business when he is otherwise occupied, and she briefly dates Sookie’s roommate Amelia. Pam also helps save Sookie a few times, and she refers to Sookie affectionately as her human friend. However, when reading the books, I often question if Harris actually knows what to do with a woman like Pam, who is not Southern and is supposed to be a little classier than the human women.

In True Blood, Pam has much the same duties. (Though the show hasn’t gotten to the part with Amelia.) However, Kristin Bauer has really stepped up into this role. As the series has gone on, Pam has been given a more prominent role on screen. Though I still want more backstory and plots for her.

My favorite parts with her are those exploring her relationship with her maker, Eric. Pam was turned in Victorian England by Eric. Harris’ books claim that she was a wild young girl off sneaking around, while Alan Ball’s canon places her as a prostitute from the time. Pam is very close to Eric, but I appreciate that she both defines her own destiny — she’s said to be helping out Eric with Fangtasia because she wants to — and that she and Eric have a platonic relationship. Of course, that may not be true for her entire existence, but Pam is portrayed as a lesbian and Eric states that he chooses not to sleep with other vampires.

In the latest season of True Blood, Pam is used as a pawn of the Magistrate to get information from Eric. When Eric feels that she’s in harm, he rushes to her. Likewise, when Eric fights Russell and believes he’s going to die, Pam refuses to stand by and let him sacrifice himself. Instead, Pam creates a plan to help Eric. I loved the scene where Pam refuses to listen to the lawyer about what she will inherit at Eric’s death.

I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Pam next season. Watch Pam snark while wearing pink, buy True Blood: The Complete First Season.

February 6, 2011January 1, 2018

Favorite female character on a female-driven show: Cristina Yang (Day Six)

Cristina Yang from Grey’s Anatomy

You pretty much don’t get any more of a female-driven show than Grey’s Anatomy. Not only is the audience primarily women, but most of the huge cast is and so is the show runner, Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy also sets itself apart that, last time I checked, it was the only TV show that had over 50% women in the writing room.

The brilliant, driven, and sometimes cold Doctor Cristina Yang is my favorite character. I absolutely adore that she is, by far, the smartest person in the room. I love watching her run circles around the other characters. And I like that she has flaws too. I like that Cristina’s not the best doctor in the room because she does not have a bedside manner and lacks some of the subtly the other doctors have.

Her friendship and ‘soul mate’ relationship with Meredith Grey is one of my all-time favorite female friendship on a TV show. I love how they love each other. Yes, I may want them to dump their respective husbands and get together. However, I can respect the platonic, deep friendship. So many times female friendships are ruined when they get boyfriends/lovers/husbands, but not these two. I laugh every time McDreamy wakes up to find Cristina asleep in his bed on the other side of Meredith.

Of course, many kudos for Cristina’s character belong with actor Sandra Oh, who knocks it out of the park. The times I feel like I need to give up on Grey’s Anatomy, it’s generally Oh’s performance that pulls me back in. I am notoriously not a sap (unless animals are involved), but if Cristina is crying on the show, I will be in tears too. She’s definitely not the cold fish everyone thinks she is.

Start your own Cristina love off right with Grey’s Anatomy – The Complete First Season.

February 5, 2011January 1, 2018

Favorite female character on a male-driven show: Elizabeth Weir (Day Five)

Elizabeth Weir from Stargate: Atlantis

Stargate: Atlantis was a boy’s show from day one: the writer’s room full of men and the white male characters getting the bulk of the plots. But Elizabeth Weir, who was in charge of the entire Atlantis expedition, was my favorite character. Sadly, I don’t think I realized it until she was written off the show in Season 3.

Elizabeth was a diplomat, which I really enjoyed considering the first show was military-based and often saw the humans imposing their morals and culture on the aliens. I had a lot of hope during those early season that Atlantis would be different than SG-1. But ultimately, it had the same flaws, and then the show was canceled. But that was two seasons after Elizabeth was killed off, and one season after actor Torri Higginson, who played Elizabeth, said that because of the writers lack of interest in developing Elizabeth, she wouldn’t be on the show any longer. (They’d brought her back for a tiny guest spot.)

In a way, talking about Atlantis is very hard for me because I felt so betrayed by the show. I love Elizabeth, Teyla, Kate, Laura, Katie, Jennifer, Sam, Sora, Jeannie, and all the rest of the women who were underused, ignored, killed off, and underdeveloped. Atlantis was the first space show about exploration that I’d watched in a long time. (Space exploration for pure science and wonder being the reason for my life-long love of Star Trek.) I own all five seasons on DVD, but since the final episode aired, I haven’t been able to watch even my favorites. Even the ones with Elizabeth.

I loved Elizabeth the diplomat exploring space. I love how smart and calm and peaceful she was. I love how she put her foot down to the pushy scientist and the hero military man. I love how she left her boyfriend and her dog to go explore the universe with no guarantee of returning home and that she brought of her father’s pocket-watch with her.

Even if she wasn’t in enough episodes, Elizabeth Weir and the other women of Stargate: Atlantis were awesome. Buy Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Series Collection.

February 4, 2011January 1, 2018

A female character you relate to: She-Hulk (Day Four)

She-Hulk aka Jen Walters from Marvel comic books

Most all of my favorite female characters, who are showing up on this meme, are ones that I relate to in some way or another. But She-Hulk is one who’s very close to my heart.

A friend of mine recommended Dan Slott’s She-Hulk run when I was first heavily getting into comic books. And I loved it. For those of you that don’t know, She-Hulk is the Hulk’s cousin. She received her superpowers via a blood transfusion from her cousin after she was shot by gangster. Said gangsters were coming after Jen because she was prosecuting them on murder charges as they murdered her mother.

Unlike her cousin, She-Hulk is in full control of herself. A Harvard-trained lawyer, Jen was fighting the good fight before she became a superhero, and her new status as a superhero didn’t prevent her from practicing the law. As She-Hulk, she’d bring in the criminals, and as Jen, she’d put them behind bars permanently. One time, Jen ran the United Nations when the planet was under attack, and another time, she was picked to be a cosmic judge.

As a hero, Jen’s served on the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the Lady Liberators. She’s often the powerhouse on the teams. On the Fantastic Four, Jen replaced the Thing for a while. She’s also a character who has a lot of fun. Jen surrounds herself with family and friends and has a healthy dating life. The side characters in her stories often want to be better just because they’re around Jen. She’s a good friend, mentor, daughter, coworker, and fellow superhero.

One of the reason I appreciate She-Hulk is that she’s a comedic character, without being a tired trope. For those of you who’ve never read a She-Hulk comic, starting with John Bryne’s Sensational She-Hulk, She-Hulk breaks the fourth wall constantly. She talks to the reader, knows she’s in a comic book, and argues with her writers and editors. Slott kind of toned Bryne’s fourth wall breaking down, but She-Hulk comics are still the place for the wacky fun. In one plot, Jen visited a comic book shop in order to obtain evidence for a trail she was working on. I love comedic women as women are just as funny as men.

She-Hulk is a well-rounded woman; she uses her brains and brawns, and she’s funny too. I have a lot of love for her.

Read all about She-Hulk from the beginning, buy Essential Savage She-Hulk by David Kraft and Stand Lee or buy something more recent like She-Hulk Vol. 1: Single Green Female by Dan Slott.

February 3, 2011January 1, 2018

A female character you hated but grew to love: Jean Grey (Day Three)

Jean Grey from The X-Men

So it’s not so much that I hated Jean Grey, she just was probably my least favorite X-Men. I tried to like her, I really did, but she just didn’t appeal to me. She was always too much of a goody two-shoes and a suck-up to Professor X. (Something I disliked in myself as a child.) And Jean was too afraid of her powers and why did she date that Cyclops guy? (If there was one character I disliked more, it was Cyclops.)

Perhaps, I should’ve started by saying that my first exposure to Jean was in the X-Men Animated Series from the ’90s. Where in addition to all the things I complained about above, she also had the worst costume out of the bunch. And when everyone else is wearing primary yellow and blue spandex and you take the shitty costume award, that’s saying something.

Jean tried to be interesting. She did the whole Phoenix and Dark Phoenix storyline. And that was set IN SPACE (which always makes everything better, in my opinion). But at least in the animated version, I felt like everyone was having adventures and Jean just had things happen to her. Jean transformed and then used some of her superpowers, and maybe this whole spiritual change just didn’t transfer well to my child brain or children’s TV. I was far more preoccupied with Lilandra running her armada.

But thankfully, I’m not a child anymore, and I like Jean now. I don’t think she’ll ever be my favorite, but I have an appreciation for her I did not. Which makes it really a shame that Marvel keeps using her as their poster child for popular characters staying dead.

And maybe someday, I’ll rewatch the X-Men Animated Series and see what child-me and adult-me can argue about.

Buy X-Men: Volume One and see if my childhood nostalgia holds up.

February 2, 2011January 1, 2018

Favorite supporting female character: Etta Candy (Day Two)

Etta Candy from Wonder Woman

Etta Candy knocks out a Nazi guard. — Once again, Etta Candy saves the day. This time, she uses candy to bribe a guard, knocks him over the head, and disables a power grid. From the 1940s.

Over on my comic book blog, I’ve been slowly working my way through 1940s Wonder Woman and keeping up with the current run. While I love and adore and want to be like Wonder Woman, I’ve also grown to love and adore Etta Candy.

Etta was created as the comic relief. As the fat, ugly, and funny foil to the athletically slender, beautiful, and regal Wonder Woman. Etta spends a lot of those early comics talking about her love of candy and spanking her sorority sisters. (No, I am not joking.)

While at the same time, Etta is spunky and has a lot of self-confidence. She regularly hits on men, telling them how beautiful they find her; unlike Wonder Women who’s over in a corner pining away for Steve Trevor. Also without Etta and her Beeta Lambda Sorority Sisters, there’s no way Wonder Woman would’ve won all the battles she has with Nazis and other Axis spies. Etta is always ready with a fist.

When Etta gets left at the altar by a spy, she declares him unfit for her and punches him in the face. That’s right, Etta doesn’t slap you; she decks you. And then instead of wallowing in her sorrows, Etta declares weddings silly and just wants to ride horses with her best friend, Wonder Woman (Diana).

Sadly, Etta and Betta Lambda were written out of the comics due the Comics Code Authority cracking down on gayness in comic books. I blame the real stagnation of Wonder Woman on her lack of gal pals. Straight, gay, or otherwise.

But in the 1980’s, Etta was brought back as a female friend for Wonder Woman. And this Etta ends up marrying Steve. How many texts can say that the supporting female character married the male lead who was head-over-heels in love with the female lead at one time? (Or in another universe, whatever, DC.) I think this is pretty awesome.

Of course, poor Etta still got labeled as the fat kid. In an unfortunate run, Etta develops an eating disorder and passes out from hunger/malnutrition/low blood sugar while trying on her wedding dress. And this makes me sad for the Etta who offered Steve and his soldiers candy on top of a train they were attempting to sneak aboard to defuse a bomb.

Thankfully, Gail Simone took the helm of Wonder Woman, brought Etta back, and did right by her. Etta is not slender like Wonder Woman, and both she and Steve have aged. But this time, Etta is working as a spy for Checkmate and toned herself up. She’s become the general that she always was in the ’40s. Only instead of bossing her sorority sisters and captured Nazis around, she actually has real commandos of her own.

I love you, Etta Candy.

Read about Etta’s early days, buy Wonder Woman Archives Vol. 1 by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter.

February 1, 2011January 1, 2018

Favorite female lead character: Buffy Summers (Day One)

Buffy Summers from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

There’s something to be said about the privilege of seeing people like you reflected back in media. I’m a petite blonde woman from the West Coast. Buffy is a petite blonde woman from California. Buffy Summers is three years older than me. And oh yeah, she kicks evil vampire, demon, etc. ass. We’re both a little sassy.

I loved Buffy from the very first time I saw her on the TV show, holding Angel’s hand in a graveyard, all the way to the very end where she slayed Turok-Han with her scythe. I love Buffy.

(Yes, I know there are comic books. But Joss Whedon and I broke up big time, which I won’t get into here.)

I’ll never understand why people who didn’t like Buffy stayed to watch a show called Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. Yes, Buffy’s extra special Slayer strength came from being able to save the day with her friends, which is part of what made her so revolutionary; but without Buffy, there is no show. Without Buffy, Willow and Xander would’ve been food / minions for the Master and Giles would’ve been depressed, 5 o’clock shadow Watcher guy. There was an entire episode about it.

Buffy is great. I love her in her too-short skirts in Season 1 and her eye-melting fast food uniform in Season 6. I love her when she quips a vampire to death or when she fell in love with one or when she knocked a house down having sex with another. I loved that she put weapons into her picnic basket of her Red Riding Hood costume because she didn’t trust Halloween.

But perhaps Jonathan said it best in the episode, The Prom:

We’re not good friends. Most of us never found the time to get to know you, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t noticed you. We don’t talk about it much, but it’s no secret that Sunnydale High isn’t really like other high schools. A lot of weird stuff happens here.

But, whenever there was a problem or something creepy happened, you seemed to show up and stop it. Most of the people here have been saved by you, or helped by you at one time or another. We’re proud to say that the Class of ’99 has the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in Sunnydale history.

And we know at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class, offers its thanks, and gives you, uh, this. It’s from all of us, and it has written here, ‘Buffy Summers, Class Protector.’

Watch the entire episode on Hulu or buy Buffy: the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Series (Seasons 1-7).