When I’m not working diligently for BK Publishers, I blog
for a couple of film-related websites.
I’ve been given an opportunity to meld these separate worlds in a brief
article for this month’s newsletter.
Since the theme of this issue is Women, I’ve decided to give a few
examples of powerful, heroic women in Cinema.
These are characters that stood up and saved the day when their male
counterparts fell short. Enjoy!
1. Ellen Ripley
(played by Sigourney Weaver) from
the Alien Franchise
Ellen Ripley was the only crewmember of the Nostromo to
survive an alien infiltration in 1979. In
1986’s sequel Aliens, she nearly single-handedly saves the day when a squadron
of Colonia Marines is decimated by an infestation of the creatures. In 1992, Ripley saved a colony of prisoners
on a desolate penal planet and successfully prevented the nefarious Weiland
Corporation from using the alien as a biological weapon.
2. Sarah Conner
(played by Linda Hamilton) from the Terminator Franchise
While she might have seemed a bit weepy when she was first
introduced in 1984, Sarah Conner nonetheless survived a mechanized Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s ruthless attack. In the
sequel, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day,
Sarah does nothing less than save the entire world from potential nuclear
annihilation.
3. Buffy Summers
(played by Kristy Swanson and Sarah Michelle Gellar) from the film
and TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
First in a 1992 movie and then in a television series that
ran from 1997 until 2003, Buffy Summers juggles school and dating with
exterminating all manner of otherworldly beasties in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Gifted with strength and intelligence, she upends the stereotype of the
dumb-blonde to save the world on numerous occasions.
4. Sidney Prescott
(played by Neve Campbell) from the Scream Franchise
In 1996, Sidney Prescott completely shattered the “final
girl” concept common to horror movies that sees female survivors as either
victims or bimbos. Sidney manages to
summon strength and poise beyond her years as she dodges the knife-wielding
Ghostface in Scream and three subsequent
sequels.
5. Alice (played by Milla Jovovich) from the Resident Evil Franchise
When the evil Umbrella Corporation doomed the planet by
releasing a zombie-virus, they never considered that Alice would be their
undoing. Throughout Resident Evil and its four sequels (a 5th sequel, Part 6 in the franchise, is currently in
development), Alice dispatches legions of undead and genetically modified
creatures as she leads a rag-tag band of survivors on a quest for a fabled
safe-zone.
