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Women in space (and in space movies/TV)On October 25, 2007, when international space station commander Peggy Whitson welcomed space shuttle Discovery commander Pamela Melroy on board, the meeting marked the first time ever that two female commanders have hooked up (no, not like that) in space. That's a happy addition to the timeline of women's accomplishments in space.
Sometimes I think I'm the only one who still gets excited about nonfictional shuttle launches. It's amazing to me that the same culture that paid George Lucas to crank out his craptastic Star Wars prequels treats the space program like the nerd in high school who liked math and carried around Isaac Asimov novels. (You know, ignore it most of the time, but when it's having a bad day, tape a “kick me” sign to its back and watch it careen down the hall.) But I get the fascination with space stories. I grew up with E.T. (which is 25 years old this year!), spent one summer in the '80s watching Space Camp until I wore out the tape, and yes, I, too, forked over the money for tickets to those Star Wars prequels, though that was mostly for Natalie Portman. And I do believe we should celebrate women in space-type entertainment, because they encourage us to dream of possibilities outside of our own experience. Here are a few of my favorites. Side note: I didn't mention — reluctantly, due to my abiding love for Ripley — anybody who made Silver's recent Sci Fi / Fantasy list. Nor have I included Battlestar Galactica and Torchwood, both of which are in my queue marked “things I missed when I didn't have TV but really need to watch.” Feel free to scold me in the comments. 1. Kate Capshaw as Andie Bergstrom in Space Camp (1986). Capshaw's Andie, one of the counselors at NASA's camp for young would-be astronauts, heroically tries to save a space shuttle full of teenage accidental tourists.
Doubtless my love for Capshaw's character and this movie stems from years of crushing on camp counselors at Girl Scout camp. We never accidentally ended up orbiting the planet, but I'll admit to a fantasy involving riding horses along winding trails next to a golden-haired counselor nicknamed “Trotter.” 2. Two of my favorite women from Firefly (2002) and Serenity (2005): Gina Torres as Zoe Washburn and Jewel Staite as Kaylee. Zoe was a deadly fighter with nerves of steel, while Kaylee was the big-hearted mechanical genius who kept the ship — and sometimes the assorted cranky crew members — from falling apart.
I still have a soft spot for Kaylee. So what if an entire subplot of the series was woven around her unrequited love for Simon? She was a mechanic. Like my ex-girlfriend. And my ex's ex. And, well, you get the point. 3. From Star Trek: Voyager (1995 - 2001), Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine. The lesbian subtext was a frustrating pleasure of the show.
It's been said that Seven of Nine's outfit was a sexist ploy to titillate male audiences. (I was not complaining.) But Voyager featured a cast of strong female characters (I could mention Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres as well) that I still miss every time I turn on my TV. 4. Denise Richards as Carmen Ibanez in Starship Troopers (1997). I know, the movie's been accused of pro-militaristic fascism (though I've always wanted to believe it satire). And I know, it's Denise Richards. I don't understand it either, but I love this movie, and Richards' Carmen is both smart and hot.
Besides, any universe where it's a recognized fact that women make superior pilots because of quicker female reflexes and sharper minds can't be all bad. Add a brilliant deadpan performance by Neil Patrick Harris, and the movie version actually is an oddly compelling social satire. 5. Jodie Foster in Contact (1997). A no-brainer to round out my favorites.
Argue all you like whether Foster ever actually left the Earth. She still embodies that little kid in all of us who wants to believe that there are answers out there about the origin of the universe, and that humankind really can stop fighting long enough to save itself and grow wiser. Now that's the real final frontier. Your turn. Who are your favorite fictional women in space? Submitted by on October 30, 2007 - 5:26pm. |
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Favorite women in space
Even before she kissed a woman, my all time favorite woman in space was Dax. ST:DS9.
Dr. Crusher.
Lt. Natasha Yar, especially in "Yesterday's Enterprise."
And Kes, Kes during the early years of Voyager before the "big hair."
Plus of course, Ripley of Alien fame.
I agree with you about real space news. It is my ultimate dream to see earthrise one day. In my formative career years, I would have worked to be an astronaut, but they had stopped sending men to the moon then and a women in space wasn't yet a consideration. I am sure I still have a few of those Asimov novels around too, especially the Foundation Trilogy, and I am loathe to admit that I am STILL too sentimental to throw away my slide rule... LOL
Keep dreaming and reaching for the stars. :)
Space Camp!!!
Agh! I had the cardboard standee of Space Camp in my bedroom not long after the movie came out on video (yes "video," not DVD... it was the 80's). I kept it for faaaaaaaar too long, but it was such an amazing accessory to my Young Astronauts of Canada Cabbage Patch Kid (TM)(R)(C)(whatever). :)
Ten years old with a crush on Kate Capshaw... *sigh*
Voyager
seriously
Space Camp at Space Camp
YES. YAY. I DON"T KNOW HOW TO ADEQUATELY EXPRESS MYSELF.
When I was born, I decided I wanted to be a cowboy and fight in the "silver" war. But then I discovered, a few years later, that I might get shot by a cannon. So I decided to pursue a far less dangerous career: being an astronaut. I actually worked strenuously up to my freshman year of college to try to enter the air force and eventually become a pilot on a space shuttle. Some unfortunate mitigating circumstances happened, and now I'm a happy theatre major instead... But for a long time in my life, space was my dream.
But back in the day, with much coercing and scrounging and saving, I managed to make it to Space Camp in California. Of course this was largely influenced by watching Space Camp. And of course at Space Camp we watched Space Camp.
The counselors hated it- the movie and the camp, really- with passion. But I rode an MAT (the three concentric circles spinning in different directions), and piloted a mock Challenger and basically had the best time of my whole life, ever.
Anyway. Wow. Memories.
Part of me-- a huge part-- can't imagine not someday making it to the stars
Yay for women in space.
You are certainly not the only one.
Oh. And Lea Thompson, from Space Camp. Closer to my age, then... had a huge crush on her forever, before I even knew what that tingly feeling was...
I'm not a huge fan of
Classic ...
yay space!
Space and all that
Space and Sexy Chics!
Ok...I completely concur with Space Camp! My dad took me after I finished Grade Two; big treat. Spurning the Capshaw shaped fire which was only fanned by her turn in A Girl Thing. But let's not forget the unbelivably cute Lea Thompson and ultra 80s coop Kelly Preston. I soooo wanted to be Kathryn Faley...then in later years I soooo.....
Now for a few other...
2. Carrie Anne Moss - Red Planet (she can save me any day of the week)
3. Angela Basset - Supernova (check it out if you haven't seen it yet, a bit cheeky in parts but a solid film, plus there's a pinch of Robin Tunney)
4. Katee Sackhoff - Battlestar Galactica (need I say more) &
5. Sigourney Weaver - That's Lieutenant to the rest of us Earthlings!
Dude, Starship Troopers was
Miss Piggy
Pigs in Spaaaace. Strong, sassy, great legs. What more could a girl want?
Be alert. The world needs more lerts.
Count me in for the Nerd-gasms!
I adore shuttle launches, and watch them online live when I can. Hell, you know the astronomy that Jodie Foster did in 'Contact'? Not SETI, but the radio astronomy? I did that through into graduate school.
And while I am now finishing my doctorate in sociology, I still keep my foot in astronomy work, and think space exploration really is the ultimate and most incredible goal for our species.
But I am with captainsam here, 'Starship Troopers' was ALL ABOUT Dina Meyer as Dizzy! *swoon* Denise Richards? Pffft.
And I LOVE that you mentioned Kate Capshaw in 'Space Camp'. Damn, but I had a crush on her character in that film (though I did want to shoot that damn robot).
Now, I did love Sigorney in the Alien films, but we must not forget 'Vasquez' the Space Marine in the second, Aliens, film ... muscles, big guns, and a sheen of sweat! *drool*
As to other women in space films that I have adored ... well, honestly, given I am a scifi nerd (nerds unite!) there really are too many to count.
Would it be too weird if I mentioned a book character? Namely 'Honor Harrington' by David Weber? I never bought her as straight EVER. And always imagined a young Lucy Lawless in the part. Her in the Royal Navy of the Star Kingdom uniform! *faints away*
Kira Nerys
Of note...
To my knowledge, the original book of "Starship Troopers", by acclaimed sf novelist, Robert Heinlein, was NOT accused of being fascistic, it was the movie that took that criticism...In fact, not much of what the book is, is actually in the movie. How could you not notice the stormtrooper-style uniforms of the young soldiers...The fact that the main characters all came from South America; yet, were all blonde-haired and blue-eyed???
Still, Dina Meyer did ROCK! ;)
And, how could you leave out a young Carrie Fisher in the flowing gown and packing a blaster in the original "Star Wars"??? :O
And not seeing "Battlestar Galactica"...No excuse! Shame, shame, shame...
Next...
Starship Troopers
To my knowledge, the original book of "Starship Troopers", by acclaimed sf novelist, Robert Heinlein, was NOT accused of being fascistic
Are you kidding? There were critics calling it that almost from the day it was published. Writer Michael Moorcock labelled it 'Starship Stormtroopers', for instance. It was these criticisms that informed the movie. For some of the history of this stuff the wikipedia entry is not a bad place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers
rachel ticotin
Count me in
Ooh, Sci -Fi, a genre near
Ooh, Sci -Fi, a genre near and dear to my heart. A big cheer for the ladies of Trek, Star Wars and Firefly, as already mentioned.
For new mentions of strong, sexy ladies in space, from the Stargate franchise - Amanda Tapping who played Major Samantha Carter of SG1 and from Stargate Atlantis- Torri Higgens as Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Rachel Littrel as one of the sexiest aliens ever, Teyla Emmagan - who both happen to be leaders of their opposing communities. They're some fantastic, strong women in space fiction.
And Claudia Black who has played both Aeryn Sun on Farscape and Vala Mal Doran on Stargate SG1. Claudia was probably the only reason I tuned into Farscape and her Vala kept me with SG1 when I was ready to give it up.
OMGs, How could I forget...
Yes...Amanda Tapping is soooo amazing! Good catch! And now; Tapping is in SGA!
And, for me...I always tuned into "Farscape" for Gigi Edgely's Chianna...She made grey so hot! ;)
Next...
Servalan & Sarah Jane Smith!
Jaqueline Pearce as the evil Servalan in Blakes Seven....
and of course, Elisabeth Sladen as the oh-so-good Sarah Jane Smith on Doctor Who...
OK, they're not movies, but they were in space!
Not Only But Also
Contact
I simply love Jodie Foster’s performance in Contact, not just for the fact I enjoy sci-fi movies and literature, but also because Jodie is a such a great actress. This movie is so meaningful to me, I mean this is not just another loaded and exploding with ridiculous and predictable special effects in your face sci-fi movie, but one that makes you think about the endless possibilities of what if there was contact with another intelligent life being in this universe, how will they communicate with us, what kind of message will they sent us and finally what we will react and do in case this ever happened. I was born in Puerto Rico, and I have visited the Arecibo Observatory and let me tell you this is one of the most wonderful places on Earth for an astronomy lover like me.
Nerd Alert, Part II
Janeway and Seven are by far my favs, but hands down the hottest alien was Ro Laren from TNG.