Kick-Ass Women - The Michelles

I know this was supposed to be a WEEK of Kick-Ass Women, but I've been a little busy this week prepping for Spring Bada Bing, so I think I'm going to turn this into an ongoing series on them instead. Because, let's face it - I will never get tired of talking about them.

The next Kick-Ass Woman is actually THREE women who all impacted my view of what at a kick-ass woman could be. And they all happen to be named Michelle!

No, not Michelle Obama, even though she has charmed the entire country with her guns:

The three Michelles I want to talk about are Pfeiffer, Rodriguez, and Yeoh.

MICHELLE #1: Michelle Pfeiffer

After I saw Tim Burton's Batman, I wanted to be Vicki Vale. I don't know what it was about her I admired so much - the blond hair, the big red lips, the awkward way she handled herself around The Joker? I would draw her face over and over again, I suppose thinking I could transfer some of her power into my own body.  I couldn't see her being surpassed in my mind as a memorable female character in Batmanverse until, of course, Batman Returns rolled around.

Michelle Pfeiffer was amazing as the pitiable, weak "administrative assistant" who, at the beginning of the film, lets people walk all over her. So great, that even when she transforms into the whirligig force that is Catwoman, we don't have to squint too hard to see Selina still in there, calling the shots. Catwoman is incredibly sexy, but she wields her sexiness as an accessory. Her motivation and her appeal is her craziness, her craftiness. (After all, she did whip up her whole black vinyl outfit on her cute little pink sewing machine she had tucked away amid her stuffed animal collection.)

One of my favorite scenes is when Catwoman stops a mugger attacking a woman in a lone alleyway - the stereotypical set-up for a hero to save a damsel in distress. Catwoman instantly recognizes the opportunity for what it is, and DOES save the woman, but she also takes a dig at the woman for letting herself be vulnerable. It's an interesting parallel to her past, having been manipulated and abused at the hands of her boss, Max Shreck. Catwoman abhors the part of herself that was victimized but luckily doesn't use that as a weapon against other victims. She still has her humanity left.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lalexosgwUk]

MICHELLE #2: Michelle Rodriguez

I don't pretend to know anything about Michelle other than in her role as Anna Lucia on LOST (Although my 17-year-old cousin thinks the only movies are the Fast & The Furious movies). Anna Lucia was a damaged ex-cop who wound up amongst the unlucky pack of Tailies on the island TV show. Before the island, Anna Lucia had brought vigilante justice down on the guy who had shot her and unwittingly killed her unborn child. As soon as craziness starts happening to her little group on the island, Anna Lucia defaults into protector mode the only way she knows how -- by blurring the lines between necessary force and an excuse to shoot everything that moves. And yet, even though she lost her confidence in herself as a police officer, she's still damn good enough to recognize Goodwin for being the lying murderer that he is.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYnneXm3ppc]

I really wish they hadn't cut short her character on the show and had allowed her more time to develop. And, I also wish I looked as buff as her in a tank top.

MICHELLE #3: Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh is the only honest-to-god action star I've mentioned so far. She doesn't just play one onscreen, she IS one. She's in it, doing the action, fighting the fights, falling the falls.

I first saw her alongside Jackie in Supercop, and then in the regrettable Tomorrow Never Dies, playing probably the most competent and bad-ass of the Bond Girls in any of the movies.

But in the graceful, beautiful Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, you get to see how incredible she is in every single scene. LONG, continuous scenes that show you the range of her skills and talent and don't try to hobble it together with cuts and fancy angles.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OxQ-2gR1DU]

She's the real deal.

I'll admit it's been several years since I've seen CTHD, so I won't discuss the aspects of that particular character in terms of an action star. Michelle Yeoh is an action star that WAYYY supercedes any single role.

Those are your Michelle's for the day. Anyone else got a Michelle who's particularly bad-ass that they want to bring up?

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Kick-Ass Women - Linda Hamilton

I consider myself to be someone heavily influenced by story. When I read something, I want to believe it. When I watch something, I feel like I still linger in that world a little bit, long after the credits role. And with characters onscreen, there's always a piece or two of them that I want to absorb.

Since I announced that this is Kick-Ass Women Week, I'm going to celebrate just a few of the female characters I consider to have been the most inspirational on me growing up. Why? Because, just like when I watched the male action heroes onscreen, I wanted to fill those shoes for a moment and be them. Without crushing fear, doubt, hesitation, or (let's face it) puny muscles. I wanted to be running, jumping, punching things. Sort of the reverse of Eddie Izzard's desire as a young lad to be an action transvestite. Instead of dressing up in feminine clothes and running around, I wanted to mimic the male counterparts, put on a tank top, show off my guns. Until I finally found some females I could drool over.

Inspiration #1 - LINDA HAMILTON

Linda Hamilton is pretty much the pinnacle of what women interested in female action heroines look up to. Although she only really existed in the form of Sarah Connor in Terminator 1 and 2, and was pretty average in Terminator 1. In Terminator 2, however, she brought it.

Terminator 2 was when Sarah Connor realized, after being tormented by a robot in the first movie, that this shit had gotten real and she was going to have to learn how to defend herself, her son, and her human race. From the MACHINES. So, naturally, she got herself locked up in a mental institution for telling the truth.

Luckily for us, being locked in a mental institution means Sarah gets to do loads and loads of chin-ups. Otherwise known as the bane of my existence when I was 11 and this movie came out. Hang on - women can DO those? And be casual about it?? After the chin-ups, Sarah treats us to some pretty sweet bad-assery as she breaks out of her cell and nearly the whole institution before her son and Arnold Schwarzenegger come along and ruin everything.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuIIcN0tUp4&feature=related]

So what if she's a little nutty, and it takes her a while to remember that her son is not old enough to be a good soldier yet? Look at those arms and look at the fear she instills in those guards. Later on in the movie she gets some guns and grenades and stuff, but this is where I fell in awe with Linda Hamilton. Just a woman, all by her lonesome, cooking up ways to be prepared for the Robot Apocalypse.

Now, don't you feel like running around barefoot and shoving people who get in your way?

How about you guys? Did Terminator 2 similarly change your life?

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What I Read When I Was Supposed to be Drawing

I mentioned that when I was at Staple! I was honored to be part of the Women in Webcomics panel with MariNaomi and Liz Prince. Ironically, we didn't talk about much about webcomics at all, but we did get swap a few tales of our experiences being comickers AND female at the same time (or as Mike Dawson/Alex Robinson put it - Ladytoonists!). I might write more about that topic later.

Most importantly, though, I also got to swipe a few of their comics.

First, I checked out Liz Prince's adorable Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed. It reminded me a little of similar relationship/comic strip style comics, but with one important distinction: it was positive. Not just positive, but unabashedly sweet and cute and reminded you of what it's like to be smitten in a totally weirdo way with someone.

After that smooshiness, I turned to Liz's Alone Forever, which I have to admit liking an eensy bit more. This one was fun, witty, sad, mean, and awesome, and a lot more relatable. You get the perfect sense of what it's like to bop around in Liz's world for a while, and her search for love is as familiar as it is fun. Again, a "relationship" type comic that's full of snark and fun, not depresso-ness. Yay!

Next up, I turned to MariNaomi's mondo memoir Kiss & Tell .

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from diving into someone's massive, personal, detailed relationship history in comic form. The book details all of Mari's private, fleeting, detailed, and thorough relationships with lovers, friends, and more over the years. I loved how surprisingly honest it was, but also how matter of fact. Even though she relates very private specifics, she does so in such a way that makes the reader feel comfortable relating to it without feeling creepy for spying. My favorite part was how she shared her experiences. This isn't an aggressive recounting, or one tinged with regret. It's a fun, voyeuristic ride that's peppered with deeper messages that catch you buy surprise. Lovely depth, I'll call it.

Awesome stuff. Guess I'll slink back to work now ...

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Musical Madness - Part 2!

Now that we've covered that the boyfriend's fave musical is Camelot, last week I showed him my favorite ...

The Pirates of Penzance! (the movie version)

I have seen this movie many, many times. And I have put "With Cat-Like Tread" on mix tapes. And my family has tried (in vain, obviously) to mimic Kevin Kline's crazy leaping dance in this clip:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1r_KUjRRxM]

Showing it to someone, though, was weird. I was suddenly really self-conscious and aware of just how long some of the songs were (especially Mabel's) and Dennis wasn't too keen on there being so much singing. He kept asking, "What is this, an opera?"

The movie makes some sense but not really. A band of sweet-natured, gullible pirates have to give up their youngest member, Frederic, on his 21st birthday (when he's old enough to opt out of his pirate servitude). He promptly starts looking for chicks. Unfortunately, his nursemaid Ruth, who's also lived with the pirates this whole time, has been deemed WAY TOO OLD for hotsie totsie Frederic. Instead, he'd rather climb up a hill and lust after the first group of maidens he happens upon. (Don't worry about Ruth - she gets upgraded to a pirate, too)

Then there's a lot of confusion, a lot of tricking of the pirates with big hearts, and then my favorite part - when Frederic hears he's been born on Leap Day.

So get this - instead of being 21, he's just 5! Love it. The best part is, Frederic TOTALLY BUYS this as valid, and re-joins the pirates. Then some other stuff happens, but ultimately there's a lot of fight/singing. Which is the best kind of singing.

This musical (besides being my fave) is perfect to watch this leap year. G'wan, put on some spandex pants, make your hair really curly, and hunker down to see Kevin Kline and his amazing legs. Oh, and a bunch of people singing REALLY FAST.

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Musical Madness

Recently my boyfriend and I decided to share our favorite musicals with one another. I'm not exactly sure how this came about, but it's an awesome idea. I haven't seen too many musicals in my life, and fewer still that I've been mad about, but I was willing to try out his pick:

I'm pretty familiar with the general love triangle between the three, but I haven't seen too many good examples (my past run-ins with King Arthur merely include First Knight, King Arthur, and random episodes of Gargoyles). I'm pleased to report this one was fantastic. Funny, beautiful, romantic, and tragic all rolled into one. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite sure why Guinevere would choose Lancelot over Arthur but ... oh well.

One thing I was totally smitten with was the look of the film:

I think Design Sponge definitely needs to do a Living In on this movie ...

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Ding ding!

Sorry I've been so quiet over here - now I'm waaayyyyy over here on the west coast for the rest of this week! I'm super excited to be attending the HOW Interactive Design conference in San Francisco - giving me a chance to brush up on these CSS skillz I'm slowly accumulating. In the meantime, I picked up Jeffrey Eugenides' latest book that I'm already enamored with - The Marriage Plot. I adored Virgin Suicides (as evidenced by my comic version here) but never read all of Middlesex. If any of you out there haven't read any of his books, they're a wonderful, heady blend of prose and imagery to completely immerse yourself in.

I also can't wait to pick up Mindy Kaling's new book - quick, I need more plane trips in my future so I can finally reeeead!

Wait ...

Comics I'm Chewing On ... #1

Having been to a few comic conventions this year, I've been able to pick up lots of super new books by some absurdly talented writers and artists. And since I mainly only get to read in bite sizes, during breakfast each morning, it tends to take me a looooong time to finish each book. Lately though, I've been able to get through a few in a timely enough manner that I actually remember what I read, so I thought I'd mention what I thought of them. This'll be the first in a mini-series of reviews of all the good stuff I'm gobbling up lately.

Gingerbread Girl 

by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover

I knew zilch about this book going in, but wanted it purely based on Colleen's gorgeous, mischeviously sexy art. She has this way of creating characters who are simultaneously fun and inviting while being up to no good, which works perfectly for Annah, the main character of the book.

It begins with Annah's story and the way she tells it, but then branches off in fun and unexpected ways to continue the thread through the eyes of anyone who crosses her path.

Anyone remember that movie Fallen with Denzel Washington in it, where this serial killer keeps jumping around and possessing one person's body after another? (Spoiler Alert: He may or may not also possess a cat by the end of the movie - LOL).

That's kind of what happens here - as Annah bops around in her own little world, her story is suddenly inhaled by each person she passes along her journey and they become compelled to continue where the last bystander left off. The story itself is a little bit mystery, a little bit romance, and a little bit fantasy - Annah's out looking for her missing sister, who has almost become a different version of herself altogether. Along the way she struggles with her own identity, how she comes across to others, and how she intends to be from now on. The reader gets to try to piece everything together along with her and her various narrators.

Clearly the subject matter of duality fascinates me (see random post obsessing about my own duality here) and this book takes you on a wending, swirly, fun path to discovery, and you really don't know what you're going to find at the end of it all. In the meantime, you'll have such a fun, flirty read along the way!