What to stream this week: Strong Women Characters
I made a mistake last issue. While celebrating the then impending spring break, I forgot about a worldwide holiday that’s way more important; International Women’s Day.
So here it is, three great movies and shows with great female leads.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Show)
It’s impossible to write an article about strong women in film and TV—not to mention Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In Joss Whedon’s first big hit, Buffy was created as a response to the stereotype of the little blonde girl in horror movies who goes into a dark alley and dies.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer follows the adventures of titular teenage girl “Buffy,” a slayer tasked with keeping the world safe from vampires, demons, and other forces of evil. As the series progresses, new characters join and befriend the “Scoobies,” or the good guys and friends of Buffy in the show. As the stories progress, the characters bond and undergo significant growth.
What’s great about Buffy isn’t just the show’s writing and acting, but the underlying themes. Almost every episode investigates some sort of real world problem, exaggerated with the use of robots, demons, and other supernatural and science fiction characters.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is available on Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube.
Veronica Mars (TV Show)
Veronica Mars focuses on the titular high school detective as she deals with the problems of adolescence while trying to solve the murder of her best friend, Lily Kane. The show grows gradually deeper, exploring the complexities in the lives of different minor and major characters, as well as delving deeper into the central murder of the show.
Everything about the show is amazing. The depth of the characters, the writing, and the dialogue are all topnotch. It’s sad that the series was cancelled due to low ratings, but it was luckily revived last year as a movie.
Veronica Mars is available on YouTube, and Amazon Instant Video
Lost Girl (TV Shows)
How Lost Girl got its start was actually really interesting; writer and creator Michelle Lovretta was asked by TV Studio Prodigy to create a TV Show with a strong bisexual female character, which lead to the birth of this quirky fantasy mystery drama show.
Lost Girl focuses on “Bo Dennis,” a woman who discovers that she’s a succubus as she enters a new world filled with other people with powers of mythological creatures. Bo quickly becomes the center of attention as she breaks the strict traditions of her new world, and rapidly evolves as a character.
I personally wasn’t a big fan of the show past season 3, as it became more fantastical and simultaneously began to take itself too seriously. Before the release of the third season, however, Lost Girl has great friendships, drama, and intrigue (with a side serving of love triangles and fantasy politics). It’s a fun watch.
