Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, November 29, 2002
The bod squad: TV's
powerful, take-charge heroines give viewers cheesecake, positive role
models
By Steve Murray
ATLANTA -- Buffy Summers, Sydney Bristow and Helena Kyle -- they're the
hardest-working women on TV, saving the world every week from scary
monsters, global terrorists and supervillains.
Sure, UPN's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," ABC's "Alias" and the
WB's "Birds of Prey" are each grounded in a slightly different
reality (supernatural fantasy, espionage thriller, comic-book
adventure). But these are TV's soul sisters, leading secret lives and
kicking major butt . . . all the while wearing skintight clothes,
preferably made of leather, rubber or vinyl. In episodes that mix
positive female role models with curvy eye candy, these characters
deliver justice and jiggle.
"The perfect thing about this genre is, you can have your cheesecake
and eat it too," says Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture
at Syracuse University. "It's both the most politically incorrect
thing in the world, and at the same time it's very progressive."
But mute the heavy breathing -- this blend of tough and titillating
isn't exactly new.
Creator Joss Whedon's "Buffy" began in 1997 on the WB, and its cult-
level success with viewers and critics opened the door for the more
recent shows.
" 'Buffy' started the trend," says Laeta Kalogridis, executive
producer of "Birds," derived from the DC Comics series, which took
wing in October.
Whedon himself gives due to a TV heroine who pre-dated his own. "I
think "Buffy' legitimized (the genre) in a way that "Xena' didn't
really get the opportunity to," he says.
But in the '70s, when syndicated "Xena: Warrior Princess" star Lucy
Lawless was still in the sandbox, TV was already a haven for other
take-charge femmes: "Police Woman," "Wonder Woman" and "The Bionic
Woman" each showcased a take-no-prisoner version of the fairer sex.
Not to mention "Charlie's Angels," which, like "Birds of Prey," had
three.
"This trend has some of the spirit of what we were seeing then,"
Thompson says of the current batch of shows. "It's the idea that you
could both have fabulous-looking women, but at the same time respond
to the social changes of the '70s. "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams goes
back further than the '70s -- and hops over the ocean -- to name an
inspiration for his heroine. That's Diana Rigg in Britain's '60s
series "The Avengers." Her catsuit-wearing, high-kicking character's
name, Emma Peel, was something of an in-joke. It translates as "M-
appeal," or a character designed to lure male viewers.
That sums up a shrewd part of this genre's power. These shows can
attract women who like to get vicarious thrills from watching these
small-screen heroines take charge (and, did I mention, kick butt?).
But the series are also ready-made magnets for guys who couldn't care
less about the girl-power subtext.
In other words, something about these shows sizzles for everyone.
While the mix of elements may look like the recipe for a surefire
hit, TV history proves that nothing is certain. James Cameron's "Dark
Angel," about a genetically altered heroine played by ogle-worthy
Jessica Alba, was unplugged by Fox after two seasons. "Buffy" is a
niche mainstay for its network, but hasn't exactly slayed Emmy
voters. Neither it nor the two newer shows are close to being
breakout hits.
"Birds," for the record, has failed to wow the media or the masses.
The WB has chosen not to order a full season of the show after its 13
original episodes finish airing in December.
The shows' pro-female angle lets many TV critics feel safe enough to
gush about both "Buffy" and "Alias." Whedon's genius for tweaking
supernatural storylines, myths and psychology into metaphors for his
characters' rites of passage has earned "Buffy" a place not only in
online chatrooms, but in the classroom. "Fighting the Forces: What's
at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer," a published collection of more
than 20 serious academic essays about the series, is one example.
The creative brains behind "Alias," "Buffy" and "Birds" assert their
shows offer more than bustiers and battle scenes. "I wanted to create
a character I hadn't seen enough of in fiction, which was a girl who
could really take care of herself and who went through a hero's
journey," Whedon says. "Young girls felt underrepresented to me."
Abrams' previous series, "Felicity," centered on a female lead, but
the stakes were low. "It was a sweet, well-intentioned show about
romantic young people in college," he says. By contrast, Sydney
Bristow dealt with her fiancee's murder in the premiere episode
of "Alias."
"It was a question of finding a genre that allowed me to tell
emotional stories every time, with an urgency that a show like "ER'
or "The Practice' has," Abrams says. "I admire and enjoy "Buffy'
immensely, but the thing about "Alias' that excited me was not about
doing an action heroine, but rather telling the story of a woman
estranged from her father, and whose mother was out there somewhere,
missing. It was about someone going through a real crisis and trying
to make her life work."
And wearing rubber skirts and blue wigs.
For Kalogridis, "Birds of Prey's" superfemmes represent "a metaphor
for having power and control and being able to make decisions in your
life that are independent of who your boyfriend, your father or even
your mother is," she says. "It's very personal to me because I think
my generation is a transitional generation of women. We're moving
into new frontiers and territories that are different from what our
mothers had."
These shows symbolize (if in exaggerated terms) to Kalogridis
expanded opportunities for women like herself, who plunged into
preproduction of "Birds of Prey" right after giving birth last spring.
"I am running an office while breastfeeding," she says. "I can only
do that because things have changed so radically, and I hope that by
doing what I'm doing, things will change a little bit more, both
onscreen and off."
Fair enough. But all social, political or cultural analysis aside,
the attraction of these shows can come down to the basic.
Asked to sum up the appeal of her show, "Bird of Prey's" Dina Meyer
doesn't get lofty. The actress, who plays the former Batgirl, Barbara
Gordon, offers:
"Do you like to watch girls kicking (butt)? Do you like to watch
girls who are scantily clad kicking (butt)?
OK, so why ask why?
"We're in a new millennium, folks."
© Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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