SDCC: Women Who Kick Ass!

Sigourney Weaver, Eliza Dushku, Zoe Saldana, and Elizabeth Mitchell. What do all these names have in common? They’re all women who kick a lot of ass! And I was super pumped to be at this panel during Comic-Con 2009. All of these women have set good examples for women everywhere by playing strong female roles in movies or TV shows, and done quite nicely showing Hollywood that women have what it takes to “run with the big dogs” and basically kick a lot ass along the way.

It was Sigourney Weaver’s role as Ellen Ripley in the Alien movie series that’s really drawn a lot of attention. That character made the American Film Institute’s list as the 8th greatest hero in American Cinema history. Weaver also stated during the panel that MTV called her the second biggest badass character, after Clint Eastwood. Then she said, “But you know what, I think she could take him.” And that’s why we all love Weaver and why she was perfect for that ass kicking role.

Elizabeth Mitchell then discussed how she plays her character on Lost. She said, “Liars are usually the best when they think they are telling the truth. So I always go towards what I believe to be the essential truth.” She talked a little bit about how she plays characters with stories filled with “pain, and hardships, and terrible things” because they are more fun to play. So you see Hollywood, not all women want to play the love interest to the main character. Some women want some meat and excitement to their roles. When asked if she was coming back for another season of Lost she replied that it all really depends on some things and that it’s a cliffhanger. Dum dum dum!

Zoe Saldana was next to speak about her role as Nyota Uhura in the new Star Trek flick. Now she is an amazing woman. She gained much respect from me from some of the things she was saying on the panel. Apparently, Elizabeth Mitchell fell in love with her as well. She had to be reminded several times of what the question was because she was so engrossed with what Saldana said. Saldana stated, “There are very different angles on which I view Uhura. As far as her as a person on the Enterprise, there’s no such thing as discrimination because it’s the 23rd Century, so they’re all equal and they’re all respected by their tasks. I felt that Uhura deserved no less than for me to honor that and the normalcy of what it’s like to not only to be the only woman but to be respected and not have to compromise your humor, your sex appeal, your femininity. That was that aspect I kind of wanted to touch up on. The other one was, being an American woman of color, to be able to play a character that symbolizes strength and inspires so many people, a woman that my mother wanted to be when she was a little girl, is nothing but a very humbling experience for me.” When asked about what will happen with Star Trek in the future she replied, “The writers are coming up with very interesting ideas, and I couldn’t be more excited. Everyone knows how secretive J.J. can be so I don’t even know what is going to happen. I can’t tell you anything.” Awww, nuts. No spoilers here.

So then it was Eliza Dushku’s turn to speak. Who, by the way, corrected the questioner on how to pronounce Joss Whedon’s name. Then the questioner informed her that he had a slight speech impediment. Awkward train woo-woo! I loved it. Anyway, Dushku talked about how Echo, her character on Dollhouse, is the product of all these personalities imprinted on one person over time. The moderator commented that it must be exhausting to play a different character each time. She replied, “I asked Joss to make me the most kick ass, multidimensional character he had ever written and…he delivered.”

Next the women talked a little bit about what it’s like to be a woman in Hollywood and some of the obstacles they run into. Saldana made this remark about the relationship between women and men in the business: “If we continue to see this as a battle, then it will become something that will take so much from who we are. Everything starts with education. Instead of me fighting with a room full of men on why I should wear pants to do an action scene where I’m running and jumping across buildings instead of wearing a skirt and hoochie boots, through education we can put them in our shoes. Sometimes you have to fight these little battles. We are fighting to become better writers. We are fighting to become better producers and to teach how a woman should be treated.” Everyone got a kick out of that, because you know she is speaking from experience. I can just see her now, trying to jump across a 10 foot gap between buildings in 6 inch boots and a tight skirt that will barely let her move her legs. I may be going out on a limb here, but I don’t think she’d make it.

The only thing that really disappointed me was when the moderator asked the question “What male roles would you like to play yourself?” and no one could come up with an answer. They even came back to it at the end of the panel and still no one said anything. I wanted someone to say something. They could have said Bert and Ernie and I would have loved it and thought that it was brilliant. But no, nothing was said. Janet Montgomery (Wrong Turn 3) gave me a great answer but we’ll get to that later.

The ass kicking women were a little baffled when it came to the question of why Wonder Woman didn’t have a movie yet, since Spider-Man, Batman, and even Green Lantern all have movies. Dushku mentioned that maybe the stakes were set too high and Saldana answered with maybe they haven’t found the right writer to capture who Wonder Woman really is and the complexity of the character.

So, has the status of women and their roles gotten any better over time? Dushku said it depends on who you worked with and who you know. That’s why she went back to Whedon for her current role. Weaver talked about how actors have to look at the long term outcome and not at what the producers want. Which, she said, “always seems to be someone 5’2”, blonde, and blue eyed. Society is changing much more quickly than Hollywood understands. There is much more opportunities in television for women. It seems to keep up with the times a lot better. I think the sky is open.” If Weaver believes it, then I do too. Saldana discussed how evolution is happening, but “maybe we could quicken up the pace a little bit.” She also hoped that in the future, there wouldn’t have to be meetings with the writers just to discuss why she really needs her character to not sleep with the lead guy just because she digs him.

When discussing the age of women Mitchell explained that she has gotten better roles now after the age of 30, than before. “They are much more interesting and juicier. I got described as sexy for the first time in my life at the age of 38.” So maybe there is hope for women in the business and especially women in their “less younger years” as the moderator put it.

Now we have a little more insight into what it’s like to be female in a predominantly male business. I hope Hollywood catches on soon and starts writing a few more roles for women other than the girlfriend or mom. I want to see some ASS KICKING HEROINES!

This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!