WEIRDLAND: Superheroines

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Superheroines

"While her dialogue was clunky, and she seems to be the only non-floozy female in Gotham City, I found Rachel Dawes to be a very reassuring presence in The Dark Knight. There were opportunities galore to sex her up, and flake away her brains, but Christopher Nolan didn't take it. Instead, she's a capable career woman, who dresses smartly (love that blue dress of hers), and holds her own against Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. I can see why both men love her, because frankly, I kind of do too. As the brainy girl oft passed up for the flashier model, I like that the smart girl gets the studliest guys in Gotham – and isn't dependent on either one of them. (Someone will knock me here for judging Dawes by her attractiveness to men, but perhaps I can temper it by saying that I especially admire Dawes' emotional fortitude in her darkest hour?)
And maybe I can further temper the "studly" remark by my commendation of Virginia "Pepper" Potts in Iron Man. I love that she so coolly resisted the suave charms of Tony Stark. She had a few wobbly moments in the middle of the film, but hey, not every personal assistant can handle corporate espionage and her boss in a robot suit. Plus her verbal volley towards Stark's "Remember that night?" made up for it. She could have easily hopped into bed with him at any point of the movie – investigative journalists did, with nary a care – but Potts knew she deserved better.
But the prize for the most kickass female of summer belongs to a little iPod lookalike named EVE. She's rebellious (her free flight after being dropped off on Earth speaks volumes), she packs firepower, and she takes her directive so seriously that no boy, not even one as cute and attentive as WALL-E, can dissuade her. There was something vaguely Princess Leia-like about her that I couldn't put my finger on – maybe it was her coloring, maybe it was her blaster, but when she proved to be a co-savior of Earth, I wasn't surprised. Frankly, the emotion tucked into her repeated "Plant!" packed more punch than most of the lines given to any of summer's love interests. Way to go EVE – it's a sad state of affairs when you're more complex and interesting than half your human counterparts. Let's hope Summer 2009 fares better in this regard. (I'm looking at you, Terminator: Salvation, Star Trek, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Don't let me down. Give me someone to rival Elizabeth Swann, at least.)

That concludes my scorecard on the girls of summer.
There's two I left off because I haven't seen the films yet andthat's Liv Tyler as the latest Betty Ross in The Incredible Hulk, and Selma Blair's Liz Sherman in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. So please, tell me where you think they should rank!
Source: www.cinematical.com

No comments :