A few days ago my group and I touched on characters that
were role models as we grew up. I got to thinking about women characters I
liked and why. I’ll admit, these characters also influenced my writing in so
far as female characters go.
Amanda Bonner (Kate Hepburn, Adam’s Rib)
She was smart, a snazzy dresser, a career woman, and yet she
was also married and juggled both. It wasn't all roses. She had problems to overcome, but then, so do all good characters.
Of course, Hepburn always played the
accomplished woman who was strong, smart, bucking against stereotype of her
time, but not afraid of being a woman. She let her dry wit and sense of humor
out to play. Hepburn always played my
favorite type of character, intelligent, funny, sassy, sexy, and confident.
Some of Hepburn’s leading men were favorites of mine too.
Gary Grant, suave, dashing, funny, and sexy. Or a man’s man, like Humphrey
Bogart in African Queen. But Heroes are a subject for another blog.
These old movies have fond memories for me because my mom and
I loved Hepburn and we always watched them on TV when I was a girl. I still
catch them when I can
Honey West (Anne Francis)
Oh, I watched this faithfully as a young girl. I loved Honey
West. She was everything I wanted to be when I grew up. She was physically
strong to do what she did, she had confidence galore—which was very attractive
to me at that age. Honey was a judo/karate expert and she could kick ass and take names. Honey, was a great
character because she took the labels of the time and poked holes through them.
She was the first female
private eye to ever appear on television. Plus, she had, Bruce, a very
cool cat (ocelot). As the show progressed she got tougher. Yes,
she celebrated her womanhood, used her looks to disarm the bad guys, but when
push came to shove she could hold her own. Honey knew her limitations but she
also demonstrated a quality I've always admired. If you use your brain you can
figure out most things. Honey showed that you didn't have to be mannish to be a
strong and competent woman and I liked that. She was always classy.
Ann
Marie (Marlo Thomas That Girl)
I watched it and loved the
idea that Ann was young and enthusiastic, had a goal and was willing to leave
the safety of home to achieve it. I like the fact the focus was on a young
single woman and it reflected the changing roles of women. This show was the
forerunner of two shows (and characters) I also loved—the highly successful Mary
Tyler Moore Show and Murphy Brown (I was a big fan of this one
even more than MTM)
