Thirty Days of TV: Day Fifteen

[selenak]

Day 15 - Favorite female character

This is far more difficult to answer than the previous question, not because of fewer candidates, but because of more! Also, I am a bit more fickle with my female loves, in that I’ve always have had more than one favourite. And sometimes my affection lessens a bit over the years. For example, Laura Roslin of Battlestar Galactica was certainly one of my all time favourites for a few years – there are a lot of female warriors and tomboys around, but Roslin was a rare example of that other archetype, a queen, with moral ambiguity and political shrewdness and ruthlessness, and all this being middle aged. Unfortunately, the last half season basically consisted of missing scenes as far as her personal arc was concerned and also I’d come to extremely dislike her love interest (and she evidently did not), and thus while I still liked her (and wrote my last BSG story about her), she was no longer a favourite.

One favourite which remained through ups and downs and many years past:
Amanda of Highlander (and its spin-off): a case where my affection only deepened with the years. Amanda was my favourite cat burglar before I ever “met” Selina Kyle; she has a great sense of humor, her pragmatism can tip over to the wrong side of cutting your losses, but otoh, when it does sink in she did something wrong she faces up to it and tries her best to remedy the situation. If you’re her friend, you’re her friend for life (which, considering she’s immortal, is really saying something). And her relationship with the show’s hero is still one of the most unusual m/f ones I’ve encountered in genre tv, because it’s never played as star-crossed romance or hate sex or whatever else you’d expect given he disapproves of her usual sources of income; they’re lovers when neither of them is with anyone else and friends throughout the centuries they’ve known each other, and it’s amazingly angst free. (Special situations like season finales involving a possible outing of all Immortals excempted.) The scene where she dares him to dance on the banisters (or is the right English word railing?) on top of the Eiffel Tower with her and he actually does it still captures the spirit of Amanda (and her relationship with Duncan) in a few amazing minutes.

And a most recent favourite:

Gwen (Guinevere) of Merlin: her canon didn’t always do right by her, but in terms of her overall series journey and where it lead her to, how we leave her, it did. It’s no coincidence that my first Merlin story was about her, as well as the most recent one I wrote (and I’m still planning on another one, though God knows when I’ll find the time for the necessary rewatchs to write it). Gwen’s development from servant to Queen, her quiet strength, her intelligence and observance, her affection for her friends and loved ones were lovely to watch. Again (as with Laura Roslin who memorably uses a gun only once, starts the show being told she has cancer and would not last in a hands to hands combat scene), I appreciated that while we see Gwen with a sword in her hands perhaps only three or so times in the five seasons of the show, and then only in dire emergency situations, she was a strong character anyway. (Because in the last decade or so this idea that the only way a female character can be strong is if she also is a superior martial artist seems to have taken hold both in fandom(s) and in production bureaus.) When I’d have to list “most impressive Gwen scenes” they would entail her talking to other characters. Because how she connects and confronts, if necessary: that’s one main reason why Gwen is my current favourite.




Day 01 - A show that should never have been canceled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show
Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 – Favorite male character

Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death.

Comments

[astridv]

Totally with you re. Amanda, she was one of my favorite things on that show and her appearances never disappointed. I tend to like feisty, strong-headed cat burglar characters like that. Just wish I knew where to find the fic about her. I've read exactly one story (a great one) but I don't know where to look for more. Female character centric plotfic probably was even more of a rare beast then than it is now.

I could never pick just one favorite character of all time, I think. I mean, I love different characters for different reasons. (And I always feel like my favoritest of all is the one I'm actively fanning about.)

[selenak]

I must seek Amanda fic now; I remember there were some great stories at the old Seventh Dimension site, but it's gone, and at any rate, I'm still reading through the Wire and that fabuluos follow up to The Kid's Aren't Alright that got recced yesterday at crack_van.

I love different characters for different reasons, too. Fannish polyamory for the win!

[kalypso]

I'd say railing, and keep banisters for stairs.

(Oh good, I don't get to use this icon very often!)

[selenak]

Thanks for filling in the linguistics!