I was laying on a table in the doctor's office today, preparing for a nerve-wracking procedure to diagnose a problem with my wrist and I suddenly had a mini freak out. Then I thought to myself, What Would Sarah Connor Do?
So I grabbed the doctor by the shirt and got all up in his face and said, "Don't you dare fuck this up. This is my shooting hand."
I love Sarah Connor. She is my all time favorite character - mostly from Terminator 2, but there's something to be said for her turn in the first film as well.
Just the other day we all had that awesome discussion about women as big weepy weaklings, and I think Sarah Connor is a perfect example of how to do a female victim properly. She starts the story running, scared, confused, but not stupid. And by the end of the story she's gained the courage to fight with her own two hands. She realizes she has to be strong for her son.
And then she not only got strong, she got so awesomely badass that she could probably have defeated a bear at an arm wrestling contest. These days it seems like the action hero women are all spaghetti arms and in need of sandwiches, but Linda Hamilton was all muscle. When she picked up that big ass gun I believed she could carry it around.
Talk about a character arc.
She's my fictional hero. I wish we had more characters like her.
She is a great character. One of my all time favorite female characters, right up there with Buffy.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling most actresses don't want to get muscular arms. Or studio suits discourage them from lifting too many weights. Jessica Biel looked great, and believable, in Blade 3. She can't act worth a shit but she could kick a lot of ass.
Yeah, it's criminal that she never even got the honour of a proper on-screen death. Just written away into oblivion. She deserved better.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your take on Ellen Ripley in Aliens? I think the movie was ultimately targeted for the Lifetime TV channel. All the men are peeing their pants and the only other female marine starts out as bad ass but then crumbles. Bill Paxton's character was over the top with fear to the point of annoying. Ripley is the only character that can slap all the whiny bitches in their collective faces and tell them to pull up their skirts and follow her.
ReplyDeleteSARAH CONNOR IS FREAKIN' AWESOME.
ReplyDeleteYou get 100,000 points for being a SC fan.
John:
ReplyDeleteseriously, WTF? Alien was targeted for Lifetime channel? Just because it stars a strong woman who's defending her life and her spaceship crew?
man, fuck you.
Ripley's a great character, but for some reason I've never felt as close to her as I do to Sarah. Perhaps that's because Ripley started off already in a world run by men and her character was meant to be a man, whereas Sarah started off a little more vulnerable and grew in aggression over time.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is no way that movie would ever be on Lifetime.
And don't you dare talk shit about Bill Paxton. Bill Paxton is always awesome. ALWAYS.
DIMA
ReplyDeleteChill. Nobody likes a zealot.
She's great, but did she lose something as she changed? Sacrifice is character; I'm just saying.
ReplyDeleteDamn, he better not fuck up your shooting hand! Did he hafta go change his pants before his next patient???
Oh man, I just read your post about where you are in your writing with your studio...it's like a parallel life to mine! I mean, a little different...but the pushing forward on your own...I get it.
ReplyDeleteThe difference between Ripley and Sarah Connor is Sarah Connor is actually likable. Seriously. From the word go, you're rooting for her. Ripley, on the other hand, comes off as abrasive from the very opening of the first Alien film. Hey, she's a GREAT character. Sarah Connor is simply more likable and, hence, probably more easy to relate to.
ReplyDeleteRemember the first time you saw T2 and Sarah appears on the screen... those guns
ReplyDeleteand all i could think was
oh.
hell.
yes.
sarah connor is the best.