Originally posted by NearlyCircular
I've said a lot of this before, so I aplogize up front for repeating myself. As a 50+ woman, I've watched a lot of tv shows over the years, and am usually most drawn to shows which showcase female characters who I can identify with in some way. Since I'm not a mom or a model or a single girl looking for sex in the city
, I haven't seen a lot of dramas that I really, really liked. There have been soooo many shows over the years with guys who are action heroes or detectives or sports stars, etc., but almost none where the women got to do the same "cool" things as the guys, or actually save the guy instead of having to be saved.
Along comes SG-1. I'm like many of you in that I didn't really like the movie all that much, and didn't get to watch SG-1 until it came along in syndication on a local station. I was hooked from the first show I saw, because of Sam. You've all listed the wonderful attributes she has, so I won't go into those, but I will mention some of the other things that made me identify with her more than any other sci fi female over the years. She exists in the same time we do, dresses in roughly the same way we do, and acts the way women I know do.
I also want to say something about RDA, and his role in helping to create the wonderful character Samantha Carter. I'm not a huge RDA fan, but I do give him tons of credit for being incredibly generous in sharing the screentime and the heroic duties in the show. As the star and exec. producer, he could have very easily insisted that Jack be the MAN, be the hero every time, that his face be the closing shot every episode, and make the other 3 characters be minor satellites revolving around his noble self. But instead, Jack became a somewhat reluctant hero, and the other 3 were allowed to have their own story arcs and even get to save the day as often as Jack himself. It was so refreshing to see, especially when it meant that a woman, gasp!, got to do heroic things as well as the men.
For 8 seasons, the balance was there: four team members, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each contributing something every episode, complementing each other, not always agreeing, but supporting each other. I think it's the first time I've seen a tv show where a woman character was allowed to be an equal member of an action team like that.
NC
, I haven't seen a lot of dramas that I really, really liked. There have been soooo many shows over the years with guys who are action heroes or detectives or sports stars, etc., but almost none where the women got to do the same "cool" things as the guys, or actually save the guy instead of having to be saved. Along comes SG-1. I'm like many of you in that I didn't really like the movie all that much, and didn't get to watch SG-1 until it came along in syndication on a local station. I was hooked from the first show I saw, because of Sam. You've all listed the wonderful attributes she has, so I won't go into those, but I will mention some of the other things that made me identify with her more than any other sci fi female over the years. She exists in the same time we do, dresses in roughly the same way we do, and acts the way women I know do.
I also want to say something about RDA, and his role in helping to create the wonderful character Samantha Carter. I'm not a huge RDA fan, but I do give him tons of credit for being incredibly generous in sharing the screentime and the heroic duties in the show. As the star and exec. producer, he could have very easily insisted that Jack be the MAN, be the hero every time, that his face be the closing shot every episode, and make the other 3 characters be minor satellites revolving around his noble self. But instead, Jack became a somewhat reluctant hero, and the other 3 were allowed to have their own story arcs and even get to save the day as often as Jack himself. It was so refreshing to see, especially when it meant that a woman, gasp!, got to do heroic things as well as the men.
For 8 seasons, the balance was there: four team members, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each contributing something every episode, complementing each other, not always agreeing, but supporting each other. I think it's the first time I've seen a tv show where a woman character was allowed to be an equal member of an action team like that.
NC
My exams are going better than expected. Translation is my strong point, and I was able to finish my trans exam in under an hour
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