Fun For All: The Fierce, Fearless Female

Remington Steele as James Bond

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, the accepted stock characters for an action film were: The Bad Guy, The Good Guy and The Woman In Peril. Throw in a few henchmen, maybe a sidekick or two on either side and a whole lot of stuff to blow up, and you could pretty much consider yourself done for the day.

It wasn't a bad formula. There was an impossibly fabulous hero to idolize, a thoroughly crappy antagonist to stand in for your irritating boss/spouse/children/cats, and a pretty girl to look at – ostensibly something for everyone.

Somewhere along the line, some nameless visionary, probably in search of increased market share, changed all of that – and the Fierce, Fearless Female was born.

Paging Dr. Freud...

The Fierce, Fearless Female is the conflation of the impossibly fabulous hero and the feminine eye candy. Gifted with over-the-top, action-hero strength and sex appeal, she's an archetype women want to be like and men want to be with – for the same reasons.

Simply put:

Gratuitous shots of a hot girl in a bikini = Exploitative

Gratuitous shots of a hot girl in a bikini shooting zombies = Brilliant

My love of the Fierce, Fearless Female began in the late 70's with the black-haired, blue-eyed goddess Wonder Woman. For a period of time, the only way to get me to give up my Wonder Woman Underoos was to trade them for the Super Girl set.

Could Lori Petty be in everything?

If asked in polite society, I will declare “Wings of Desire” to be my favorite film of all time. Give me a couple of drinks, though, and I will wax poetic for hours about the post-modern genius of “Tank Girl.”

Every night I pray for the health and well-being of Milla Jovovich, as I simply couldn't live in a world without the Resident Evil franchise. (Note: I will own thigh-high boots sometime before I die.)

Michelle Rodriguez, Michelle Yeoh, ...You see where I'm going with this... 

Lisbeth!!!!!!  (Also, proto-Lisbeth Cayce Pollard!!!!!)

For safety I will wear my thigh-high boots.

Before the Matrix movies, I wanted to own a black Ducati Monster. Now I want to jump one off of a roof.

Zoe is reason enough to watch/purchase the Firefly series. Ditto Aeryn Sun and Farscape.

There is a place in the world for both the TV Buffy and the film Buffy.

“I am no man.”


Today's exercise: Spend some time with your favorite Fierce, Fearless Female

Next: Still considering something hockey-related... Maybe something about how Johan Franzen is the single toughest man to ever breath air...


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