WomenInScienceFiction: Wired on BSG’s “Strong Women”
Like a lot of folks, I’ve eagerly (read: impatiently) awaited the return of Battlestar Galactica. Now that we know who is the Fifth Cylon, and now that Earth is officially off the table as a candidate for humanity’s home, BSG’s characters seem to be in no man’s land - without hope, without cohesion and without faith.
Oh, what great, angst-ridden television!
Naturally, I’m not the only person who is paying attention. Over on the Wired Blog network, Hugh Hart has a piece about the "Strong Women" of BSG and their sizable roles in the last journeys of the human race. While I wouldn’t necessarily include Six in this group, I will agree that Roslin’s journey seems more vital than Adama’s to the overall plot, and that Starbuck’s destiny plays a huge part in the grand scheme of BSG.
The article includes a summary of femme fatales of science fiction, a list that doesn’t quite match its title. I’ll agree that Barbarella and Princess Leia should be on the list, but Sarah Connor, Ripley and Firefly/Serenity’s River don’t quite have the sex appeal attributed to the classic definition of femme fatale. Those three aren’t out to seduce anybody - they’ll just kick your ass.
Related posts:
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- NASA’s Astronauts On Changing Climate & In “Wired”
- Women (Sort of) On Mars!
- Wired: Geeky Women In History
January 26th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Yeah, Ripley is about as far from “femme fatale” you can get (Which got me on a long tangent ending in the thought “There should be more butches fatale”).
January 27th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
I was annoyed by the “femme fatale” label too, for a couple of reasons. First, because whoever wrote that line is using it as a synonym for “female lead,” as though leading lady = crazy maneater. It’s especially jarring in an article about complex and varied female characters.
Second, I’m with Rachel–Ripley is clearly a butch, thank god.