Not only is TN’s character focused through a man, but a pooh-butt man at that. This after a seeming eternity of TN only cast as a maid, a specter of pain/shame/evil, or some other less than human, less than Caucasian person. But I’ll leave the issue of minority-women in scifi/fantasy for someone else far more intelligent than me to address.

Must join the fansquee for Angela Bassett in Strange Days, a really fascinating and interesting film.

re: strength

For me there are two aspects to this question.

One is the question Kit asks: how do we define strength? Is it only about violence? strength? or is endurance, or, as Marie suggests, a quality of strength which has to do with the ability to stand your ground.

Obviously I think it is all these things. The focus on the capacity for physical violence as the most important indicator of strength (or on “upper body strength”) does a disservice to many many men as well, and privileges a very small group of people.

One thing that’s interesting about the mother protecting young trope is that it’s opposite seems to be father avenging wife/child trope. At least, I mean, in American cinema tropes, which are not, after all, the only ones present across the international film industry.

I think we are seeing more fierce non-mother women in popular fiction lately–particularly in movies, where the kick-ass action heroine has become something of a trope in recent years.

A few examples off the top of my head:

Angela Bassett in Strange Days (a difficult movie to watch in some ways, and I haven’t seen the movie in ten years so my memory may be faulty, but I remember her as being great)

Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider movies (and other action movies)

Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu in the Charlie’s Angels movies (again there are problematic elements, but these are nonetheless tough competent physically strong women)

Of course, in most such movies, the action heroines generally also function as eye candy for the presumed heterosexual male gaze (http://everything2.com/title/Girls+Kick+Ass%253A+A+Feminist+Critique+of+the+New+Action+Heroine+and+the+Male+Gaze). But to me, that doesn’t negate their role as physically powerful women who not only fight men but win.

…That article also mentions Buffy and Xena; good points. And I would add Starbuck from BSG (and, to a lesser extent, some of the other women on the show). And looking around online leads to reminders to also mention Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow in Alias, Anne Parillaud in La Femme Nikita, Zhang Ziyi from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Michelle Yeoh in various things. Oh, and let’s not forget Vasquez in Aliens.

Of course, as Katharine Kerr noted in an earlier comment, the question of whether/how violence equates to strength is an important one; I’d definitely like to see more explorations of other kinds of strength, from both men and women. But given that our culture often does show skill with violence as being (at least one form of) strength, I’m glad that we’re getting more female characters (at least in action movies and TV) who do show that physical/violent form of strength.

And I think it’s worth noting that physical strength/combat skill in these movies and TV shows does often go along with personal strength of other kinds: strong will; self-confidence; standing up for themselves; defending weaker people; fighting evil; courage; fortitude; tenacity; and, for that matter, intelligence.

Polgara is effectively the main character’s mother - and is quite literally the last woman in the world you would ever want to pick a fight with - with the sole possible exception being her mother, Poledra. Porenn’s also a mother any normal individual should be terrified of, were she sufficiently angered.

Other than that, though, your essay brings to mind the old Disney Hates Mothers argument…

As for motivation of author vs motivation of character, well, we do live in a society based on property. Said he who lives in a state found specifically for the purpose of expanding slavery. Our laws treat children like chattel and only redefined women’s status in the last 80 or 90 years; only limittedly then.

So of course, in our oh-so-advanced stage of awareness, we can only perceive of a woman as fierce when in the defense of her child,… or kitchen, or bare-feet, or pregnancy. A man is fierce all the time but mess with HIS wife, or child, or horses; see ‘The Jack Bull.’

Charles Bronson is a pacifist-wimp until somebody messes with his wife and child, then he becomes CHARLES BRONSON. Ironically, Clive own avenges his brother’s ‘rape.’ But the English are so much farther along than us.