Female Characters

[alixtii]

Ari was badgering Cady (I'm writing this after the body of the post and I'm too tired to do the usernames) to post a list of fave female characters. And I'm not Cadence, at least not the last time I checked, but here's my list:

Female Characters I Love: Kaylee, River, Dawn, Drusilla, Fred, Kennedy, Faith
female Characters I Sorta Dislike: Buffy, Cordelia, Inara

Now, unlike fanfic, when I get into the character's mind, this is going to be a more or less unashamed exercise in the het male gaze. But that's okay. I like my gaze.

It sees pretty girls.

1. Kaylee. Okay, do I really have to say anything here? To quote from my ship_manifesto essay:

If you need to ask why I ‘ship with Kaylee, though, then you’re not a het male. (Okay, given the statistical demographics of fandom, you probably aren’t a het male. But let me make my case in peace.) Hell, I’d even go so far as to question if you were human. Kaylee was clearly deliberately made to be the character whom everyone loved—sort of a Willow-squared—and, IMHO, Joss and his staff succeeded with flying colors. When she is in danger, one’s heart turns upside down. When she’s happy, we’re happy. One thus wants her to be happy—whether with Simon, or Mal, or somebody else. Add to that the fact that she is a) pretty, b) hot, and c) beautiful. (Three very different things in my opinion.) Why wouldn’t someone ‘ship Kaylee?

2. River. Well, first of all, she does do that cockney accent, so if one really pushes it one could could argue that she falls under my "insane and British" kink. Okay, really, really pushes.

But River's a genius. And while I'm not, I am an academic, an intellectual, someone who values the mind. So River's sort of who I want to be when I grow up. Even if she is insane and, according to canon, younger than me.

But she's also a little girl who wants to have fun (and hot sex with Simon and/or Kaylee; Mal or Jayne will do in a pinch). And Summer Glau does such a great job of bringing out that innocence, that playfulness to the character that one can't help but love her.

3. Dawn. I'm a Dawn writer. I don't see anyway I could deny that fact. I've written a lot of Dawn fics. And I certainly do love the character. I'm not 100% sure why I love her so much.

Back in August, I speculated in Cady's journal that maybe it's youth. For me, Buffy is about the adolescent fantasy, but when the series ends Dawn's the only one who's an adolescent. (Of course, that doesn't explain the sudden rash of ficlets I've written where Dawn is 30, but no theory is perfect.)

I love the competent Dawn we saw too little of in season 7, and want to know where that took her. annakovsky's "Umad Learns Sumerian" has been a part of my personal fanon ever since I read it. I also want to see how that girl is the same girl as the troubled girl of season 6. I want to see her harness that darkness within herself.

I love her in canon, but I have to admit that I love my fanonical version even more. I don't believe in canon sues, but there's more than a little wish-fulfillment in my Dawn fics. (Although I don't want to marry Giles, so the self-insertion only goes so far).

4. Drusilla. The voice. Do I have to say anything more? Oh, that voice. I've gotten used to having a closed canon and actually enjoy the freedom it brings, but oh how I miss Juliet Landau's faux British accent. (And after The Woman in White, I recognize I have a very weird kink.)

5. Fred. Oh, come on. The geek girl every geek boy fantasizes about. I mean, quantum physics. Not to mention Amy Acker is quite attractive. And judging from River and Drusilla, her starting out crazy didn't hurt either.

But honestly, this is where the het male gaze probably really comes into play. I identified with Wesley. Wesley loved and wanted Fred. So I loved and wanted Fred. The fact that Wesley and Fred were actually woefully unsuited for each other had nothing to do with it; I did, and do, want the guy to get the girl.

6. Kennedy. Actually, I admit it. At least 60% of this one is probably due to the fact that Iyari Limon is really, really hot. But the other 40%? She's competent, and never in the series are we ever given any reason to believe that her confidence isn't justified. You have to admit, the girl's got spunk.

7. Faith. Why did I put Kennedy before Faith? That's just weird. Well Faith, she's a primal force, and remember the part before about "adolescent fantasy"? She's it embodied. I mean, I disargree with pretty much everything in that essay "Also Sprach Faith" by Karl Schudt, but that's mainly because I don't think that Nietzsche was talking about the adolescent fantasy as much as I did when I was a, you know, adolescent.

† † † † †

Maybe tomorrow I'll give my comments on Buffy, Cordelia, and Inara, but I'm tired right now. And what is there to say? I don't disapprove of anyone else liking them; they just don't speak to me. Although I suppose there are reasons for that, so maybe. See y'all on the flip side.

Comments

[wisdomeagle]

Hee. *shares your gaze, in a queerfemale way*

(Though I don't actually think Wesley and Fred are unsuited to each other. I think they're sort of always... almost but not quite colliding. But then again, you know, hopeless shipper fangirl here.)

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'll be hopeless sipper fanboy right next to you. But it's not as if there's any chance of, you know, a happy relationship actually surviving in the Jossverse, so the question is somewhat academic. The fact that I really can't see Fresley fluff which kids and bag lunches is sort of overdetermined.

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

But Simon and Kaylee are sort of always almost but not quite (until the movie) colliding. In fact, Wesley/Fred is sort of like the Buffyverse analogue to Simon/Kaylee for me--in both cases, I want the ship to work primarily because I identify with the male figure's desire. Even with Mal/Kaylee I see the ship through Mal's eyes. (I do identify with River a little, though.)

In the Buffyverse, on the other hand, I'm much more likely to see the relationships through the girls'/women's eyes. I don't really identify with any of the male Buffyverse characters, and I think I should make a post about that once I get some free time.

[wisdomeagle]

Hmm. I tend to both *want* and identify with the same characters -- Kaylee is my fictional teevee girlfriend and has been since I saw "Serenity" the episode, but I totally feel her crush on Inara -- while I don't feel her crush on Simon at all (though I'd be blind not to *see* it). I honestly don't read Simon as having romantic feelings for anyone but River in the series, and also think that Simon is horribly cruel to Kaylee (and not in a sexy, oh-god-Ari-is-going-to-hell way like Wesley's cruel to Fred in "Billy," but just a stupid pratish rich boy sort of way) and will ultimately in the long run not be good for her.

Whereas Wesley and Fred I think share a more... okay. Here's the thing where I'm an elitist. But I think that having some sort of intellectual compatability is really, really important. And I do see that in Wes/Fred, in spades, since the buddy!researcher thing is played up a lot, but in Simon/Kaylee, not so much.

I guess... Wesley/Fred I think could have been a beautiful friendship if it weren't so always already corrupted from Wesley's Bad Horrible Male Gaze (and then later in S4 Fred's Guiltily Reciprocated Lust), whereas Kaylee and Simon would have been... just crewmates without the attraction.

I do see the analogy (for instance, both 'ships are much-hated by bits of fandom!), but I have Lots of Words to explain why I ship one and not the other.

Though really it's just a matter of me liking Wesley and not Simon.


I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on characters you identify with. Me, it's, well... obvious characters, like Willow and Tara and Fred. Various others at various points in their arcs, but really (at this point in my life) mostly Tara. (And possibly because I'm so far removed from the source-text that the Tara in my head just is me, only more magically delicious.)

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

I plan to provide thos e words at some point in the future. Because in Buffy and Angel, I tend not to identify with any of the male creatures (except maybe in Wesley, but I think that may be because of the romantic subplot as much as anything), whereas in Firefly that's not the case so much.

[cadence-k.livejournal.com]

I'm not Cadence, at least not the last time I checked You're not?? :)

Great list! I'm with you on most of them, but for different reasons. Also, Inara is one of the VERY few female Joss girls that I'm not 90% or more in love with. Interesting.

I'll post my list tomorrow. I promise!

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

Nope, not you. 98.6% sure, witha margin of error of ±1.2%.

I'd be interested in hearing your different reasons. And ye, Inara is one of the few Jossverse characters that falls really flat for me. (I mean, I have reasons for disliking Buffy, so she's interesting even as I like dislike her. Inara, not so much.)

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

River. Well, first of all, she does do that cockney accent

Since when? Please tell me before I'm forced to call in sick and search my 'Firefly' DVDs for a himt of it.

Gina

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

"Shindig."

Badger comes onto Serenity and River calls him a sad king on his sad hill, or something like that.

At least, Mutant Enemy called it cockney.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

I think I remember the bit you mean. That's Mockney, that is (see Jamie Oliver for a prime example).

Gina

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

Seeing as Angela Christian and Juliet Landau are both American, I wonder if the fakeness of the accent is actually part of the kink.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Possible, I suppose.

Gina

[flurblewig.livejournal.com]

Interesting stuff! I hope you do post thoughts on Inara, because she's the *only* Jossverse female I don't feel the love for, and I don't really know why. I'm spectacularly easy to please (I even liked Eve!) and yet Inara leaves me pretty much cold.

[liliaeth]

If you need to ask why I ‘ship with Kaylee, though, then you’re not a het male. (Okay, given the statistical demographics of fandom, you probably aren’t a het male. But let me make my case in peace.) Hell, I’d even go so far as to question if you were human. Kaylee was clearly deliberately made to be the character whom everyone loved—sort of a Willow-squared—and, IMHO, Joss and his staff succeeded with flying colors. When she is in danger, one’s heart turns upside down. When she’s happy, we’re happy. One thus wants her to be happy—whether with Simon, or Mal, or somebody else. Add to that the fact that she is a) pretty, b) hot, and c) beautiful. (Three very different things in my opinion.) Why wouldn’t someone ‘ship Kaylee?


You know, I think you've just given me a reason why I most likely wouldn't like Kaylee even if I watched Firefly. Because all of those, they're most of the reasons why I despise Willow to such a degree. It's like Joss said: "Who wouldn't love Willow" because we're supposed to love her.
She's just such a Mary Sue to the highest order, that I'm left being unable to even tollerate her. Because it feels like we're forced to like her, because Joss does.

[alixtii.livejournal.com]

I do indeed think it may be one of the situations where the artistry either works or fails. When it works, it works perfectly. When it fails, it seems horribly artificial.

Fortunately, for me, the artistry works, and Joss succeeds. But I can understand how it might not work for others.

[liliaeth]

True, they were using the same method on Fred and I like her well enough.
(except when they tried to push the 'everybody loves Fred' in Angel s5)

Though of course it helped that she was being nice to Spike and that's a sure way to get me to at least tollerate a char*g* (hey it worked for Andrew at least for one ep)

I do have to admit that I don't generally like the cute characters, people like Willow, like Lana on Smallville, they just rub me the wrong way.

I mean, I know they use the same kind of string pulling on Doctor Who to get us to like Rose, but I actually love Rose, mostly cause she's not cutesy. I guess she works for me, where chars like Willow and Lana don't.