Monday, June 14, 2010

Coma Heroines (Party Day 1)

Back in the day--the day being pre-1970 or so--female Main Characters (MCs) tended to be sweet, pretty, and passive. SO passive, in fact, that many of them spent a significant chunk of the story hanging out, waiting to be rescued--or ASLEEP.

Snow White: coma
Sleeping Beauty: coma
Rapunzel: her sole contribution to her own rescue was her HAIRSTYLE. I hope the upcoming Disney movie Tangled will change this up a bit.

I'm not going on an anti-Disney rant--Disney has some GREAT female characters. Mulan kicked butt! But I notice she's not on a lot of the sparkly pink merchandise that my 4-year-old covets.

Maddie Dunn doesn't do pink-and-sparkly much. She's the MC of Minder, and, in honor of her non-passivity, today's posting topic is:

Who's your favorite strong, female character?

Post as many comments as you like. Each unique post (by 7am EDT Tuesday, June 15th) will earn you one chance at the prize of your choice: a signed copy of Minder, a Minder t-shirt, a Minder poster, a writer's critique, cookies, or a character in a later Ganzfield book named after you. Details are spelled out in the Virtual Launch Party post from this past weekend.

You can earn additional chances by linking your blog, website, Tweet, Facebook page, etc. to any of the following (or three chances if you link to all three):

http://thedisgruntledbear.blogspot.com
or
http://www.ganzfield.com
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lv6eC3E-9k

Just put a link to YOUR link in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by, and please come back tomorrow for ANOTHER giveaway. I'll be here all week, folks. Try the veal, and don't forget to tip your waitresses!

24 comments:

Disgruntled Bear said...

Ripley from Aliens

(and no, I can't win my own contest. I'm just saying that Ripley kicks alien butt).

fairyhedgehog said...

I'm glad you go for strong female leads. One of my favourites is Torin Kerr in Tanya Huff's Confederation series. I also like Ofelia in Elizabeth Moon's Remnant Population.

It's much easier to find decent female MCs than when I was a kid!

Peter Smith said...

Nikita from La Femme Nikita.

(In college, didn't I host a "chicks with guns" movie night? I think that we cheered on both Ripley and Nikita that night.)

Disgruntled Bear said...

You sure did!

When "Victor the Cleaner" made his appearance, my boyfriend at the time* told me that, "Anyone named 'Victor' is always a bad-guy."

It's true!

*Victor

RichStorrs said...

Princess Leia became one, by the end...

RichStorrs said...

I'd also choose Elizabeth Bennett from "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"...a literally butt-kicking heroine...

RichStorrs said...

Hester Prynne, from the Scarlet Letter, would count too, if for no other reason than that she is stronger than any man in the book...

RichStorrs said...

How about Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean? (and Keira Knightley played both her *and* Elizabeth Bennett)

(is it obvious I want a t-shirt to add to my colletion?)

Emily White said...

Hmmm...I'd have to say my favorite kind of strong female character is the one who is willing to show and embrace her weak side from time to time without it crippling her. So, with that in mind, my choice would have to be Cara from The Sword of Truth Series

Pauline said...

any of Linnea Sinclair's heroines. They're able to kick tush and stay in touch with their feminine side. Love that. lol

SiNn said...

well tv characters theres a few


all the women off of army wives

pain killer jane in the tv series as wella s the comics

books Sabina Kane is one any female character in Nora roberts books

and my all time fav character ever

Faith Devilin in After the night by Linda Howard

Disgruntled Bear said...

How cool is it that several of the strong MCs you all have mentioned are in books I haven't read yet (or shows I haven't seen)?

Two words: SUMMMER READING!

Thanks for all the great posts! Keep 'em coming!

And a new addition for the list:
Rose in the Vampire Academy series.

Gail said...

hmmm Riley Jensen from Keri Arthur's Riley Jensen Guardian series

Mercy Thompson too from Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson seriesgiemosk

Katie said...

Alanna of Trebond, from Tamora Pierce's young adult series. I must have read those books a dozen times growing up. Young Alanna cuts her hair and assumes the identity of her twin brother so she can train to be a page, squire and eventually knight in his place. Cue much kicking-of-ass, court intrigue, defeating of evil sorcery, and rock-solid willpower. She even gets the guy at the end.

Aviendha, from Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series, looks great on the surface. But Jordan's strange obsession with gender wars (men don't understand women! Women don't understand men! repeat ad nauseam!) and the insipid, dreamy-eyed relationships he cultivates detract from the characters far too much.

As strong as Cara and her fellow Mord-Sith appear at first glance, I can't cast a vote for them. Goodkind has them wearing skin-tight red leather all the time, and their power comes from being sexy brainwashed dominatrices. If a character can't play her part without emphasized bosoms (cf. Elizabeth Swann's oft-exposed cleavage), I cannot in good faith support her. How many admirable men are selected for a straining codpiece?

Anonymous said...

Dagney Taggart Atlas Shrugged or I have to say Scarlet O'Hara, sorry but when you say strong SHE is strong, a bit manipulative but it ensures her survival.Or is she just a bitch?!

Peter Smith said...

I had forgotten about TV characters. How about Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

(Yes, she was a movie character first, but what has Kristy Swanson done recently?)

Peter Smith said...

My last comment reminded me of another butt-kicking heroine from another Joss Whedon TV (that was also a Joss Whedon movie):

Zoe from the "Firefly" TV series and the "Serenity" movie.

(Kate, if you haven't watched Firefly, I highly recommend it.)

Disgruntled Bear said...

Haven't watched Firefly? I think I've seen EVERYTHING that Joss Whedon has EVER done!

Disgruntled Bear said...

Stef, Scarlett is a b****, but she's still strong! I say she counts!

Birch Grove Designs said...

Yay! Official launch week!

I like Laura Ingalls Wilder (her books - I don't like the TV show). While she was a real person and I tried, in vain, as a child to get her books re-classified to non-ficion, the Library of Congress does have them as fiction. Anyway, that is my rant. While she is still "girly" in some ways, she was remarkably strong and independent for her day and showed that true strength doesn't mean rebelling against all traditional female stereotypes.

I also posted ganzfield.com on my FB page, though I'm not sure how to link it. Here's a try!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=1226106381

Disgruntled Bear said...

The link works, Jessica! Thanks for spreading the word!

Pelotard said...

It's not a leading character, but I've always been partial to McCoy in "Streets of Fire", played by Amy Madigan. (The role was originally written for a male actor, though.)

Disgruntled Bear said...

Monday's Contest is now closed, and the first winner of the week is...SiNn!

Please send me your choice of prize (see Saturday's Virtual Launch Party post for details) and your mailing address (if I'm shipping something to you) through the contact form at Ganzfield: http://www.site.ganzfield.com/Contact.html

If appropriate, please tell me your shirt size or favorite kind of cookie.

fairyhedgehog said...

Congratulations to SiNn!