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Showing posts from November, 2014

Heroic Women of Speculative Fiction #6: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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  Buffy the Vampire Slayer played by Sarah Michelle Gellar       Okay, this may be my favorite guilty pleasure.   What can I say- I love Buffy.  Who else can carry a wooden stake and a lipstick in her purse and look fashionable while kickboxing a vampire's face?  I started watching it out of curiosity when it first air and was prepared to hate it, but it instantly  hooked me.  For the seven wonderful seasons it aired I never stopped loving it-even when the show sideways at times.  The TV show had great casting, from the wonderful Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy to the tweedy Giles played by Anthony Stewart Head.  It had a great combination of humor, suspense, action, drama, and mythology,(which included consistent demon/vampire rules).  Buffy was an innocent girl compelled to face horror and darkness because she was chosen .   The one girl in the world chosen to slay the vampires and demons.  So not fair-the world is filled with these evils and she had to carry this all

Heroic Women of Speculative Fiction #5: Samantha Carter of Stargate SGI & Stargate Atlantis

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The Amazing Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter of Stargate SG1 Samantha Carter.   I miss seeing her every week on Stargate SG1.  People scream about the lack of good role models for young girls, and yet all you have to do is watch some decent science fiction, people!  That's where they are!  Samantha Carter is one of the best role models for women and young girls anywhere, anytime, any galaxy-and Sam Carter has been to more than a few of them.  For 10 happy years on Stargate SG1, and 1 season on Stargate Atlantis, plus two Stargate films, she ruled as one of the great leading heroines of science fiction. I do not know where to begin in praise of  the fantastic Samantha Carter, one of the major stars of the long running science fiction shows Stargate SGI and Stargate Atlantis.  An Air Force officer, her military rank over the years advanced from Captain, to Major, to Lt. Colonel, Colonel, and finally to Brigadier General.  Oh, and she could also be address as Doctor, since

Heroic Women of Speculative Fiction #4: Juliet Parish of V (the original)

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The wonderful Faye Grant as Juliet Parish of V   In the 80's (1983-85) there was this great miniseries called V.  V was about us, in modern day US, dealing with alien invasion under the guise of "we come in peace." It was also about heroes and the unsung freedom fighters, to which the first mini series was dedicated.  It was also about heroes and villains that arise in such times.  Some people we just look at on the street and would never guess if they would be a great hero in times of great darkness or a sniveling coward collaborator.  The main characters in the series and its sequels & short-lived but beloved show were not soldiers or beings with super powers.  They were just normal people who found courage.  A street kid, factory worker, teacher, journalist, cop, housewife, and more, became heroes when their world was threatened by alien forces beyond their imagining.   I know most of you are more familiar with the recent "reboot" of V, but ch