The ten women who shook sci-fi

Mr. Pointy

Mr. Pointy

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This month's issue (119) of Dreamwatch has an article about the most influential female figures in the genre...

10. Lt. Uhura - Star Trek
9. Princess Leia - Star Wars
8. Sarah Connor - Terminator movies
7. Sydney Bristow - Alias
6. Willow Rosenburg - BtVS
5. Xena - Warrior Princess
4. Capt. Janeway - ST: Voyager
3. Ellen Ripley - Alien movies
2. Dana Scully - The X-files
1. Buffy Summers

Faith also gets a mention for nearly making the list...

Not a bad result for the Whedonverse considering the pedigree of some of the other characters mentioned.

Other sci-fi ladies who nearly made the list were Sam Carter (Stargate SG1), Lois Lane (Lois and Clark - The New Adventures of Superman), Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5), Emma Peel (The Avengers) and Wilma Deering (Buck Rogers)

*Fanboy drool overload imminent...🙂*
 
Mr. Pointy said:
This month's issue (119) of Dreamwatch has an article about the most influential female figures in the genre...

8. Sarah Connor - Terminator movies
Click to expand...

I'm glad Sarah Connor made the list! The terminator movies rocked! The first and second one were better than the third, I think. I wish Sarah was in the third one, but it said she had died of cancer 3 years ago I think.
 
It wouldn't be a proper list without Lt. Ellen Ripley. Also... Sydney Bristow?? I love Alias, don't get me wrong, but come on... it's not sci-fi.
 
No said:
It wouldn't be a proper list without Lt. Ellen Ripley. Also... Sydney Bristow?? I love Alias, don't get me wrong, but come on... it's not sci-fi.
Click to expand...
Alias is not strictly sci-fi, it's true, more spy-fi 🙂 - but, like James Bond before, it's always considered a genre show. There are definite elements in the story (all the Rimbaldi devices and that whole story thread, the hi-tech stuff and Marshall the geek - love him to pieces btw) that I would definitely put in the fringes of sci-fi.
 
Sam Carter and Capt. Janeway! yeah! thats right... but we all know the FIRST women to change sci-fi television was Lt.Uhura (Nichelle Nicholas) from Star Trek. She should be #1.
and I agree... Ripley should have been added...its hard to get more sci-fi then Aliens.
 
Zander8472 said:
Sam Carter and Capt. Janeway! yeah! thats right... but we all know the FIRST women to change sci-fi television was Lt.Uhura (Nichelle Nicholas) from Star Trek. She should be #1.
and I agree... Ripley should have been added...its hard to get more sci-fi then Aliens.
Click to expand...
Ripley is there Zander, my ol' Trekker friend - check out no. 3 🙂

BTW the article doesn't seem to mention how they came up with this list. I'll check through it again but I suspect it was made up by the Dreamwatch staff rather than being a proper poll...
...just re-read it. It does seem to be Dreamwatch's own list/opinions. As a sidebar, they also give a list of the five female characters who set sci-fi back - sci-fi's least empowered women. See what you think...

5. Deanna Troi - ST: TNG
4. Nova - Planet of the Apes
3. Athena - Battlestar Galactica
2. Maureen Robinson - Lost in Space
...and at no. 1 (my least fave sci-fi lady ever btw) Mel Bush from Doctor Who (she screamed and screamed until we were sick🙂 Only Brit Who fans of a certain age are likely to get that gag btw 😉)
 
Mr. Pointy said:
Alias is not strictly sci-fi, it's true, more spy-fi 🙂 - but, like James Bond before, it's always considered a genre show. There are definite elements in the story (all the Rimbaldi devices and that whole story thread, the hi-tech stuff and Marshall the geek - love him to pieces btw) that I would definitely put in the fringes of sci-fi.
Click to expand...
I do agree with you in that department Mr. P, and Marshall is friggin' hilarious. Yet, it is, IMO, so barely on the borders that it fits more into the spy genre. Still, I think it was a great show.
 
But when you think about it, Buffy opened the doors for the whole female empowerment in the 1990s. I mean the Spice Girls were there and all but Buffy showed the girls could be strong and still be pretty. I don't even think Alias would have aired maybe.
 
What about other ST characters?

What about Jadzia Dax or Colonel Kira or even 7 of 9? Although 7 wore that catsuit that just made her a sex symbol. Kinda degrading in a way. Sorta takes away from the strong female image of her character. I would have liked to see her kick ass more. But Dax and Kira were definitely strong females. Kira was a resistance fighter and Dax had all that Klingon knowledge and influence. Also, in response to someone's comment that Buffy opened a lot of doors as a strong female character, Xena was on the scene before Buffy and got the ball rolling first. Not that Buffy didn't contribute, she certainly did and certainly gave more weight to the cause, but imho Xena started it.
 
What about Max (Jessica Alba) from Dark Angel? It may not have been on for that long, but that show was amazing, mostly because of Alba. They also should have included Zoe (Gina Torres) from Firefly.
 
Buffy & Willow certainly did but I think Aeryn from Farscape did aswell but she got no mention 🙁
 
i love xena but she doesn't belong thers its not sci-fi. its fantasy. i think perhaps sam carter or max should be in that spot.
 
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