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[skygiants]

Happy Monday, everyone! Something cool to start off your morning: kattahj has made a tribute to older female characters in fandom, here. This is a concept that fills me with ridiculous amounts of joy, guys. Women don't stop being awesome when they hit forty! Sometimes - bear with me on this radical concept here - sometimes, they get even more awesome. And sometimes it feels like the world forgets that fact, so it's really nice to have the reminder.

In the spirit of this, Katta has included a truly and wonderfully epic number of ladies, but, much like Pokemon, it is very difficult to catch them all; also the vid is by necessity limited to media fandoms. So if you want to tell me about your favorite older female character and why they are awesome, that would be fun for me to read! I am selfish in this way.

Comments

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

You are so fricking sweet. Thank you! :-)

And hey, I'm going to give you another rec for an awesome woman - Gertrustein in Lois Lowry's Anastasia Again. Cranky and antisocial and lots of fun to read about. (DWJ has also written a bunch of them, but you don't need any recs there, do you?)

[skygiants]

Hey, I want to spread the awesome female character love! It deserves to be shared. :D

And dude, Gertrustein was awesome! The Anastasia books were the first place I learned who Gertrude Stein was, and I still sneakily think Gertrustein is actually more awesome than her poet-namesake.

(Oh man, don't get me started listing. Fanny and Mrs. Fairfax and Mrs. Penstemmon! Millie! Lenina and the Duchess! Mig's mom! The incredible creepy that is Aunt Maria! That is not even mentioning Sophie, who probably only half-counts, but still.)

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

This will likely come as no surprise, but: Pamela Landy from the second two Bourne movies

She stays ahead of the corrupt CIA members and turns their unconstitutional butts into Congress! She is both a noble defender of the people's rights and a cynical counterintelligence expert! And while she is from an action franchise, she is not an action girl, but awesome in a much subtler and more realistic way. A "Dude, your search parameters are all wrong. Here, do this. Oh, there's what you're looking for. See how much more you can get accomplished when I'm in charge?" way.

Also coming as no surprise: Serra Teresa from Michelle West's The Sun Sword

I think you know why, there. Actually, there are a lot of characters in The Sun Sword who can qualify for this. ...Maybe even a third of the cast.

[skygiants]

Not that I don't love action girls, but I kind of adore it when ladies get to be powerful without having to physically kick ass too. And speaking of: Serra Teresa is so hardcore. I love how much political power she holds, and how she doesn't need to break rules to get it - she just makes the system her own from within!

(Also, relatedly, I gave up on waiting for Amazon shipping and now own the second book! So I will be reading it one of these soonish days. :D)

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

The Anastasia books were the first place I learned who Gertrude Stein was, and I still sneakily think Gertrustein is actually more awesome than her poet-namesake.

Seconded. *g*

(Oh man, don't get me started listing. Fanny and Mrs. Fairfax and Mrs. Penstemmon! Millie! Lenina and the Duchess! Mig's mom! The incredible creepy that is Aunt Maria! That is not even mentioning Sophie, who probably only half-counts, but still.)

Gladys! Querida! Polly's grandmother! Adara! (Wait - is Adara old enough to count?) :-)

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

One of the things I love about the Bourne movies is that while there is lots of action, badass skills also mean doing things like going through the phone book systematically or finding a fax machine!

Exactly. Teresa doesn't have to kick ass, she just has to tell your ass what to do. And not necessarily using her gift, because it is very politically unwise to cross the Serra Teresa. She knows all the strings to pull. She trained your favorite servants.

(Eeexcellent.)

[skygiants]

QUERIDA. How could I forget to mention Querida, badass as she is!

You know, I think one of my favorite things about DWJ is how her older/parental characters are never just sort of background, they're always people with their own goals and agendas. They may be highly unpleasant or irresponsible people, of course, but people they are!

[skygiants]

Sometimes, you just really really need someone who has the badass filing and alphabetizing skills. It's truth! (This is also one of the many reasons I love Donna Noble, SuperTemp.)

And, for serious, man. I never, ever want to be on Serra Teresa's bad side, because it is a certainty that my life would be misery ever after.

[blacksheep91.livejournal.com]

Mrs. Weasley! /o/

(...and Donna Noble if she qualifies :x)

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

If Querida had been in a movie she would have made the video, definitely. Preferably the bit where she petrifies the griffins.

And yeah, DWJ writes awesome adults for a YA author. :-)

[skygiants]

I am pretty sure that Mrs. Weasley even has an entry in the Crowning Moments of Awesome page on tv-tropes. :D

(Donna Noble qualifies SO HARD, she is even the very first clip in the vid!)

[skygiants]

Man, now I am going to spend all day imagining fantasy casting for the Dark Lord of Derkholm movie. D:! (Actually, this is not really a D:-worthy thing.)

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

I have come to the conclusion that it's the DWJ book I would most love to see made into a (good) movie and one of the least likely to ever be done - it's just as expensive as a big fantasy film while still taking the mickey of the whole genre. I haven't thought about casting, though. *starts thinking*

[skygiants]

The one I would really like to see done, actually, is the Dalemark Quartet books as a miniseries.

. . . this is about 90% because there are vids I really want to make of the Dalemark Quartet, mind. >.> But in and of itself, it would be pretty cool! I was also talking recently with someone about how Hexwood might actually be really cool if well done, kind of like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or something.

However, back to Derkholm, there is no way that Querida would not have to be played by Linda Hunt.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Hee! Oh, that's perfect!

How about Jon Favreau or Greg Grunberg for Derk? They both have that air of absolute harmlessness.

[skygiants]

. . . okay, I never envisaged Derk as quite that sort of harmless (I always figured him sort of dorky and awkward, like an older Lee Pace) but the image of Greg Grunberg as Derk makes me crack up so much it cannot possibly be bad! (Does this mean that should cast Janice as Mara?)

[rabidfangurl.livejournal.com]

I think it goes without saying that Cordelia Vorkosigan and Alys Vorpatril are perfect examples of this. Because we all know that on Barrayar, middle-aged women sekritly rule the world.

Oh! And in Valdemar there's Selenay and Savil and Kerowyn and Kethry and Tamra and Yfandes and Keren!

Then there's McGonagall. And Hooch. And all the other awesome witches in Harry Potter.

I would name some of my other fandoms, but I don't think the women in them are over forty yet.

EDIT: I forgot Catherine Willows from CSI. And the creepy Sith Lady from KotOR II. And Wilhelmina and Claire Meade from Ugly Betty.

[adiva_calandia]

Morning = made. FANTASY CASTING. \o/

If it's an Epic Fantasy Movie, it's got to have Ian McKellan in it, and the most obvious choice is Scales. Personally, though, I was not very impressed by his voice acting in Golden Compass (or maybe I just thought he was mis-cast; eh, anyway) so I'm toying with the idea of him as Mr. Chesney.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Air of harmlessness. Not actual harmless. Obviously Derk is tougher than people think. :-)

Though I'm not so keen on Janice as Mara. I see her as drop dead gorgeous but really sensible, more something like Salma Hayek in Dogma. But I have a very hazy mental image of Mara, so maybe I'm wrong.

[skygiants]

HAHAHA YES. He would have fun doing it, too! It is a nice change from his normal Wise Old role. He can skip the long flowy hair and ham it up!

- man, if we were doing this ten years ago, I would have to say the original Little Red from Into the Woods for Suki. The curls! The simpering! The shin-kicking!

[skygiants]

Dude, yes - I am pretty sure Cordelia is one of the strongest middle-aged female characters ever to hit the pages of science fiction, with Alys Vorpatril not far behind.

Tarma and Kethry and Kerowyn all had a major impact on me when I was twelve or thirteen and first reading those books. Talia was my wish-fulfillment, but those ladies were my required kickass quotient.

Also, while I have fallen behind on Ugly Betty this past season, one of the things I appreciated most about the show is Wilhelmina and Claire (and Yoga!) and how powerful all the women on that show are. And how important to each other!

[skygiants]

Oh, of course. It is a very important qualifier. :D

Hmmmmm . . . I see what you mean about Salma Hayek. (Though I also see Mara as very professional sexy, at least over the course of that particular book, so maybe more Salma Hayek in Ugly Betty? - or, hey, how about Gina Bellman?)

[adiva_calandia]

Exactly! And the whole thing is about messing with your ideas of Epic Fantasy, anyway. "Hey look, Ian McKellen is in this! . . . Wait, Ian McKellen is a JERK."

*giggles* Dude, yes. These days I feel like Suki ought to have a certain Paris Hilton vibe, although I would not cast Paris. (Although she did a pretty awesome job in Repo!, I have to admit.)

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Ooh, now I'm torn. I love Gina Bellman, and she could do really well with parts of Mara, but I'm not sure about her range.

[skygiants]

Exactly! Not just that, a mundane jerk. *giggling*

- OH I KNOW. Amanda Bynes!

[skygiants]

True . . . but on the other hand, Mara isn't onscreen much anyways, because she's busy being Off and Glamorous elsewhere . . .

(Also, she did a Mara-type role pretty well in Jekyll!)

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

It's Jekyll that gives me doubts - I feel she was a bit too theatrical. It works well for Jane and Sophie, but not so much for Claire.

[skygiants]

I do have to admit, half the reason I loved her in Jekyll was because I spent half the time desperately longing for the crossover where it turns out that the reason Jane is her own 'crazy twin sister' is because she is actually the WACKY HYDE PERSONALITY of Claire! And then the Coupling gang has to get involved with helping her rescue her family, and Patrick gets jealous of Hyde because Sally keeps flirting with him and Jeff spends the whole time so overcome by the existence of the lesbian detectives that he is pretty much entirely nonfunctional and Steve goes off on a long and pointless rant about shoes.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha WANT.

[vivien]

One of the things I love about Fringe is its strong female characters (and awesome story and different male characters), but especially Nina Sharpe who is over 50 and extremely interesting in an "is she or isn't she evil" way that in no way deters from her basic levels of kicking ass and taking names.

I love it when older women are depicted as the incredible, varied people they are.

[skygiants]

Me too! I love it when it's not automatically assumed that we are all going to be interested in the young people. Older people are smart. And have had a lot more time to develop fascinating personalities and quirks and issues that are fascinating to see play out onscreen!

late reply is late >.<

[elspeth-vimes.livejournal.com]

Or who is willing to dig through rooms of files to find important things and/or patterns! (Like Connie Sachs. Head of Research is an important position when John le Carre is writing!)

If you had a life afterward, which may not be the case.

ALSO, I just watched Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon again and I believe Shu Lien qualifies. Not only can she beat up pretty much anyone with most any weapon, she has the sense to go "Mu Bai, there are political aspects you have to consider here."

(Incidentally, in my dream cast of The Sun Sword, Michelle Yeoh plays Teresa.)