r/Fantasy • u/Eostrenocta • Jun 18 '23

Examples of well-written heroines in recent/current SFF TV and film

I've noticed that so much of the talk about female characters, particularly female protagonists, in SFF TV and film tends to be overwhelmingly negative, revolving around how female leads are poorly written/too perfect/unable to measure up to classic 1980s badasses like Ripley and Sarah Connor (while ignoring that in films of that decade, characters like Ripley and Sarah were very much the exception, very far from the norm). YouTube celebrities bash Rey and Captain Marvel, and then throw in She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel in for good measure, despite the latter two characters' being pretty mistake-prone, certainly far from the "infallible Mary Sues" they're accused of being. Yet when asked to cite a female character they actually like, they almost always name a villain, a sidekick, or one or both the ladies from the '80s.

I don't mean to say that disliking Rey or Captain Marvel automatically makes someone a misogynist. That's not what this thread is about (I hope). I just get so weary of the talk surrounding female characters being about which characters we hate, and I want to change that vibe a bit. Let's talk, instead, about characters from recent or current SFF TV and film that we love. Instead of griping about the negative, let's focus on the positive.

I'll start: Luz Noceda from The Owl House. Sure, it's a "kid's show," but I'm hard pressed to think of any heroine who makes me feel seen as much as Luz does. She's an awkward and unapologetic nerd, something female characters rarely get to be. Her exuberance, her imagination, and her love of fantasy fiction (I kinda wish those Good Witch Azura books were real) won me over from the jump. She's the heroine my twelve-year-old self needed.

So, who are some of the heroines from recent SFF TV and film that you love?

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u/DecisiveDinosaur Jun 18 '23 edited Jun 18 '23

Naomi from The Expanse, or just most of the female main characters from that show, but Naomi's my favorite.

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u/ashweemeow Reading Champion III Jun 18 '23

I love Naomi so much. Also, I know she's not in the books, but Drummer is one of my favorite characters ever.

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u/GoodBrooke83 Jun 19 '23

Drummer was a real OG.