Rules
1. List 5 of your favorite female characters (book or screen).
2. Tagging other people is optional
3. If you are tagged link back to the person that tagged you.
4. Link back to Revealed In Time
Choose one character from each category:
1. Protagonist
2. Villain
3. Superhero
4. That I would want to be friends with
5. That I wish had better development
I'm very happy that this tag specifies these can be "five OF your favorite female characters" because I could choose five or ten for each of these categories. So here are the ones I feel like talking about today:
1. Protagonist: Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) in While You Were Sleeping (1995).
I wrote here last year about how much I identify with Lucy. More than with any other fictional character. She's quiet, loyal, protective, generous -- wonderful character.
2. Villain: Drusilla (Juliet Landau)
This is hard for me to answer, because I tend to dislike villains, and there are very few I'm actually fond of. But I get a kick out of Dru, and I love the tenderness of her relationship with Spike, its sweetness contrasting with their ruthless ways so niftily.
3. Superhero: Rogue/Marie (Anna Paquin) in the X-Men movies.
Yes, I chose Rogue over Black Widow. I've loved her longer, you see -- ever since I first saw X-Men (2000). I already loved Wolverine from the comics, and I knew he had a habit of semi-adopting young female characters as a sort of younger sister/daughter, so I absolutely loved the movie's depiction of his relationship with Rogue.
She grounds my Wolvie, gives him someone to care about and come home to, someone to protect and even mentor a little. She reminds him that he's human, I think. I love her mix of honesty and tentativeness, and the way she blooms over the next few movies into a confident young woman.
4. That I would want to be friends with: Nora Charles (Myrna Loy) from the Thin Man movies.
I must admit I have only seen the first 3 Thin Man movies, but I'm working on seeing the rest :-) They are delicious! Nick (William Powell) was a working stiff, a private investigator at that, and Nora is a socialite who scandalized her family and friends by marrying "beneath her." They are an adorable couple, always pretending to bicker but really being the best pals ever, and I would love to hang out with them.
5. That I wish had better development: Kate McKay (Meg Ryan) in Kate & Leopold (2001).
I have issues with this movie and its character development. I do enjoy it, because how can I not enjoy Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber? But Kate bothers me. She's whiny and selfish and unpleasant and needy. And she doesn't change much by the end. So I wish she could go from being all those annoying things into someone happier and nicer, but I never feel like she really does.
Okay, I am not tagging anybody in particular because it took me sooooooooooooooooo long to do this myself. But if you want to do this tag, please do! It's a fun one.
I actually don't know ANY of these characters. Sad :)
ReplyDeleteI really love Sandra Bullock, though. I think if they were ever to make a movie out of "A Distant Trumpet" (ARE YOU LISTENING, HOLLYWOOD?), she would be awesome as Jessica Prescott.
:-)
Merciful Zeus! Jessica, you haven't seen While You Were Sleeping yet? Oh my goodness. Rectify this, my dear. It is a sweet, lovely movie.
DeleteI'll do my best, Jeeves :) Seriously, it does sound quite like my kind of thing.
DeleteJust wondering--is it at all related to that kid's book, "While You Were Sleeping"? Because I like that one :)
I don't know, as I've never read that book. Is it about mistaken identities and lonely people and wacky families?
DeleteI thought the exact same thing, that this tag is a great companion for the 10 favorite screen characters one. I picked all men for that one too. :P
ReplyDeleteI don't know your #2 or #5 picks, but I like the others! Especially who needs better development. I totally agree! That movie is so worth watching for Jackman and Schreiber, but Meg Ryan for the most part just gets in the way. I'm not a big fan of hers to begin with though. She usually comes across too whiny for me.
I'm glad you enjoyed the tag! :D
Sarah, I actually like Meg Ryan a lot in movies like You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle and French Kiss. Even in City of Angels, where she's more unhappy and less perky. But Kate just... needs help and can't seem to appreciate what great guys she has in her life.
DeleteI liked this tag;) Lucy is such a great character!:D But then, that whole movie is great.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Kate and Leopoldo at the library a couple times...could you tell me how it is content wise? Just curious.
Olivia, ummmmmmmmm, I have to admit I've only seen K&L 3 times, and the most recent was probably in 2011, when I was on a big Liev Schreiber kick. So I don't remember the content clearly. I know there weren't any objectionable scenes, but it did have some bad language, including the F-bomb according to imdb. I don't remember the context anymore, though.
DeleteOne f-word, two uses of GD, and four abuses of Jesus' name. There is some sexual innuendo but overall it's pretty tame.
DeleteThank you, Charity!!!
DeleteNice list.
ReplyDeleteLucy is a sweetheart. Such a darling movie.
I'll have to think about the favorite female villain thing for awhile, though... that may take some deciding, since I pretty much straight up love villains all the time!
Thanks, Charity. I have the opposite problem -- I instinctively despise most villains and when someone says, "Oh, I love so-and-so," I look at them like a panicking deer.
DeleteI've given a great deal of thought to why I like villains so much, and have concluded that a good villain brings in sufficient darkness, so that the hero must be truly powerful to counteract them with light. In short, the conflict is far more a contrast of good and evil, and I like that.
DeleteOr maybe it's that I'm a walking pile of sarcasm, and most villains are too. That could also be it. ;)
Charity, this is intriguing. And I do get what you're saying. While I agree that a book is generally no better than its villain, I have an instinctive dislike of them. Rare is the villain I am genuinely fond of. This is probably why so many of the stories I write myself have antagonists, but not villains. Perhaps, like Anne Shirley, I like people who could be wicked, but aren't...
DeleteI actually don't know any of these ladies, sooo....;-P But Nora Charles looks like a hoot.
ReplyDeleteEmma, I could see you digging the Nick & Nora movies (aka the Thin Man movies). They're witty and charming and so deliciously old-school.
DeleteI love "The Thin Man"- SO much fun!
ReplyDeleteLynn, aren't they delightful? I've been wanting to start the series over and watch them in order. Soon!
DeleteI love these characters!
ReplyDeleteLucy - I don't know why but I really like her (and it's a wonderful movie)
Nora is so wonderfully sarcastic and funny, I agree they would be fun to be around (except for the murders).
I'll admit I never thought of Kate Mckay as underdeveloped before - but then again, just as you I watch the move more for Hugh Jackman.
I don't know how anyone could dislike Lucy, do you? She's so sweet.
DeleteNora is such a swell gal. And the murders are never terribly awful, at least.
Yeah, Hugh is the whole point of K&L. We just have to accept that.
What a great post! No one ever talks about Lucy, and While You Were Sleeping is one of my favorite movies OF ALL TIME.
ReplyDeleteAll of the characters in Buffy have something special, I think. Dru is a good example of that uniqueness of character that Whedon created.
And I love the Thin Man movies! Watch them all!
I wasn't a big fan of Kate and Leopold, because I thought it was sort of one-dimensional anyway. I do like Hugh Jackman in general, though.
And I just cannot like Rogue in the movies, sorry. They changed her more from the comics than any of the other characters, and loving her character so much before, I couldn't get over it. Her relationship with Wolverine is pretty sweet, but...eh. I have some more minor issues with Rogue and Jean Grey, too. I think they did a better job with the male characters in the early movies and overall in X-Men First Class.
Thanks, Hannah! I feel like WYWS has kind of fallen out of view for a lot of younger movie buffs, which is a shame because it is such a gem.
DeleteJoss Whedon is the master of realistically quirky, nuanced characters, isn't he?
And yes, the Thin Man movies that I've seen are delightful. Recently bought all of them on DVD at an estate sale, so I'll be watching (and maybe blogging about?) all of them in order!
I actually hadn't encountered Rogue in comics before I saw the movies -- most of my comic-reading as a teen was relegated to The Spider-man Magazine and things read on the sly at the mall's book store. I read a bunch of things with Jubilee in them and was always sad she wasn't in the movies (but she's in the next one!). Later on I started getting X-Men anthologies from the library after I was married, so I've read a bunch of the originals from way back in the '60s. And then Cowboy bought me all the Essential Wolverine collections :-) But those are '80s and maybe early '90s, so a lot of him off doing his own thing, plus bunches of backstory. So annnnnnnnnnnnyway, I like Rogue because this is how I first encountered her, and Jean Grey too. Pre-movie, IIRC, I'd only read about Wolverine, Professor X, Jubilee, Storm, and Gambit.