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It's difficult to say how much those that we idolized in our youth influence our later life. For some people, it's probably more so than others. When it comes to fictional characters as role models, we tend not to think about what led to the creation of those characters as children, and I imagine very few put much stock into in their adult years. I started thinking about the role model concept because a while back I was reading an article about how boys have "heroes" (that they are supposed to emulate but never will be able to become) while girls are encouraged to have "role models" (that they could actually become and surpass). I'm not sure if I agree if that is true, but it did get me to thinking about who I idolized as a child, who I wanted to be. Mom says that the first time she asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I responded, "Ghostbuster," so take that as what you will. Looking back, I didn't really have any heroes per-say, but I did have a lot of what I would consider role models, most of them were fictional men (Gambit, Egon Spangler, Raphael from the Ninja Turtles haha!). However, there were women I aspired to be like that I believe have influenced my personality and my definition of what a role model is.
Nancy Thompson: Dream Warrior.
One of the things that terrified more than anything else as a child was Fred Krueger. I had nightmares about him from the moment I saw his picture without knowing anything else about his character. However, when I finally saw "A Nightmare on Elm Street," I was given a lot of strength and courage from the film's protagonist Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp). Though she was just a normal high school girl, terrified of circumstances literally beyond her control, she decided she was going to fight for her own survival and the survival of all the other children in Springwood. She does her homework- reading books about self-defense, creating traps, meeting her tormenter head-on in his own world where he has the advantage and pulls him into her world, making him play by her rules. She not only took back the night, but she took back her dreams. Her research not only saved her, but her notes and diaries listing Freddy's strengths and weaknesses save the kids in the sequel as well. She sacrifices herself in the third film Dream Warriors, so that her friends can survive. In the trippy A New Nightmare, Heather Langenkamp in a Being John Malkovich kind of scenario, has to become Nancy one last time to defeat the entity that has latched onto Krueger's name and the fear associated by it.
Laurie Strode: The Best Babysitter Ever.
Though I don't think my mom realized it, I watched a lot of horror movies I shouldn't have as a child. I had more fears of impossible things that blinded me to a lot of real world danger. I was more terrified that Michael Myers would come popping out of my closest than I was of getting hit by a car, which is why Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was someone I looked up to. She wasn't the goody-two-shoes kind of girl her friends thought her to be; she smoked pot and seemed a little bit more ready for adult relations than Nancy was. She defended herself as best she could from an unstoppable killing machine. Choosing to stab him repeatedly instead of running away, Laurie had to have a close physical confrontation. As the films continued, she grew bolder, learning to lure her brother into traps of her own making. Laurie went through a lot over the years. She had a daughter, gave little Jamie up for adoption (without the knowledge that she would be placed with a family in Haddonfield and go through the same torment and worse from her psycho uncle), become the headmistress of a school, took to alcoholism, had another child, and accidentally killed a man she thought was Michael, all the while still being pursued by Michael himself through all these events. Though it seems by Halloween: Resurrection that Laurie has finally succumbed to the trauma that she has endured and been institutionalized, it is realized that it's all an elaborate trap on her part to lure Michael into one final confrontation. However, fearing the mistake she made previously about killing the wrong person, Laurie tries to remove Michael's mask, and he throws her off the roof of the sanitarium. She appears to have died, but we are never shown her dead boy- merely that she falls into a very close copse of trees, much as many of Michael's deaths have appeared. I like to believe that she's still alive, still refusing to stop attempting to lead a normal life even though her brother is just a step behind her.
Dr. Amanda Waller: Better than the Goddamned Batman.
My dad had a lot of Batman comics around when I was a kid, and Amanda Waller was always one of my favourite characters. Proving that you don't have to be a protagonist to end up on my list, Dr. Waller started out as woman who escaped a crime-ridden neighbourhood after the loss of two of her children and her husband. She obtained her doctorate and began working in politics. And I can't say it any better than ComicsAlliance.com did:
"As the leader of the Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller isn't just the toughest woman in comics, she's bar-none one of the toughest characters in comics. Not only is Waller -- who has no super-powers save for utter cunning ruthlessness -- hard enough to boss around a group of hardened super-villains into going on suicide missions for the Government (which more often than not leave at least one member of the team dead), when Batman comes to shut down the operation that's pardoning super-criminals, she's one of the few characters to stand up to DC's ultimate badass in a battle of wills... and win.
Add that to the work John Ostrander did on building her as a character, showing the depth of the events that led her to be so ruthless, and you've got the centerpiece of one of the best comics ever printed."
Jessica Rabbit: Film Noir et Rouge All Over.
I'm probably going to get hissed and booed for this, but I wanted to be Jessica Rabbit when I was a kid so badly. Not because she is beautiful, not because she's a talented singer, not because men trip over themselves for her, but because she can take care of herself and her husband. From the outset, Jessica tells Eddie Valiant that she's "not bad; [she's] just drawn that way." Jessica is a cartoon; she knows that she's a construct, a male fantasy gone overboard. The wonderful thing about the world of Roger Rabbit is that once a cartoon character is created, the creator loses all control and the character takes on a life of his/her/its own. Jessica can't help what she looks like, can't control how human men view her, but she's in total control of herself and her actions (and she doesn't dumb herself down or take shit from men trying to paw at her). To the human men, Roger Rabbit is very lucky to have such a busty bride, but to the cartoon characters, Jessica is the lucky one to have Roger, who she loves because he makes her laugh rather than his fame or fortune. It has nothing to do with appearance and everything to do with perception. What's funny is that if a real woman had Jessica's proportions she would never be able to walk- her feet are too tiny, her waist nonexistent, her shoulders, bust and hips too broad for her frame. Jessica outwardly represents how ridiculous some males' expectations of female perfection are, but her personality and behavior turn those expectations on their head. Sure, Jessica uses her looks to her advantage when she needs to, but she also is a woman who is unflappably capable and even willing to put herself in danger and do anything it takes for the sake of the person, er, rabbit she loves.
Honorable Mentions:
- Rogue from the X-Men: Without an ability to touch, Rogue is still a very loving and caring person, which shows in her actions and her personality. She's been through a lot, lost a lot, but she's still a goddamned hero.
- April O'Neill from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Journalistic integrity and an affinity for art-related turtles. Can't go wrong with a person willing to hop into a filthy sewer to get her story!
- Catwoman: Selina Kyle's been bad, good, and everywhere in-between. She does things on her own terms. Just as Buffy is built upon the stereotype of the PYT in horror movies, you could say that a bit of her character is based on the lonely crazy cat lady stereotype, turning it into a woman who is just a good a superhero as she is a supervillain. She's a single mother, retaining her grace and dignity through all manner of bad situations.
- Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid: Yes, I know she sings one of the most unfeminist songs in the whole of Disney, but even as a kid I thought it was rather tongue-in-cheek to get Ariel to do what she wanted. After all, is Ursula really the type of character who believes females should sit down and shut up? Hell no... though she probably does believe that body language is important. And yes, I did name Spike's girlfriend in my London Calling series after her. Haha!
Real Life Mentions:
- My mom, even though she drives me absolutely batshit insane most of the time.
- Divine: When I was a kid, I thought Divine was a real lady. When I grew up, I realized I was right. :D
Nancy Thompson: Dream Warrior.
One of the things that terrified more than anything else as a child was Fred Krueger. I had nightmares about him from the moment I saw his picture without knowing anything else about his character. However, when I finally saw "A Nightmare on Elm Street," I was given a lot of strength and courage from the film's protagonist Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp). Though she was just a normal high school girl, terrified of circumstances literally beyond her control, she decided she was going to fight for her own survival and the survival of all the other children in Springwood. She does her homework- reading books about self-defense, creating traps, meeting her tormenter head-on in his own world where he has the advantage and pulls him into her world, making him play by her rules. She not only took back the night, but she took back her dreams. Her research not only saved her, but her notes and diaries listing Freddy's strengths and weaknesses save the kids in the sequel as well. She sacrifices herself in the third film Dream Warriors, so that her friends can survive. In the trippy A New Nightmare, Heather Langenkamp in a Being John Malkovich kind of scenario, has to become Nancy one last time to defeat the entity that has latched onto Krueger's name and the fear associated by it.
Laurie Strode: The Best Babysitter Ever.
Though I don't think my mom realized it, I watched a lot of horror movies I shouldn't have as a child. I had more fears of impossible things that blinded me to a lot of real world danger. I was more terrified that Michael Myers would come popping out of my closest than I was of getting hit by a car, which is why Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) was someone I looked up to. She wasn't the goody-two-shoes kind of girl her friends thought her to be; she smoked pot and seemed a little bit more ready for adult relations than Nancy was. She defended herself as best she could from an unstoppable killing machine. Choosing to stab him repeatedly instead of running away, Laurie had to have a close physical confrontation. As the films continued, she grew bolder, learning to lure her brother into traps of her own making. Laurie went through a lot over the years. She had a daughter, gave little Jamie up for adoption (without the knowledge that she would be placed with a family in Haddonfield and go through the same torment and worse from her psycho uncle), become the headmistress of a school, took to alcoholism, had another child, and accidentally killed a man she thought was Michael, all the while still being pursued by Michael himself through all these events. Though it seems by Halloween: Resurrection that Laurie has finally succumbed to the trauma that she has endured and been institutionalized, it is realized that it's all an elaborate trap on her part to lure Michael into one final confrontation. However, fearing the mistake she made previously about killing the wrong person, Laurie tries to remove Michael's mask, and he throws her off the roof of the sanitarium. She appears to have died, but we are never shown her dead boy- merely that she falls into a very close copse of trees, much as many of Michael's deaths have appeared. I like to believe that she's still alive, still refusing to stop attempting to lead a normal life even though her brother is just a step behind her.
Dr. Amanda Waller: Better than the Goddamned Batman.
My dad had a lot of Batman comics around when I was a kid, and Amanda Waller was always one of my favourite characters. Proving that you don't have to be a protagonist to end up on my list, Dr. Waller started out as woman who escaped a crime-ridden neighbourhood after the loss of two of her children and her husband. She obtained her doctorate and began working in politics. And I can't say it any better than ComicsAlliance.com did:
"As the leader of the Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller isn't just the toughest woman in comics, she's bar-none one of the toughest characters in comics. Not only is Waller -- who has no super-powers save for utter cunning ruthlessness -- hard enough to boss around a group of hardened super-villains into going on suicide missions for the Government (which more often than not leave at least one member of the team dead), when Batman comes to shut down the operation that's pardoning super-criminals, she's one of the few characters to stand up to DC's ultimate badass in a battle of wills... and win.
Add that to the work John Ostrander did on building her as a character, showing the depth of the events that led her to be so ruthless, and you've got the centerpiece of one of the best comics ever printed."
Jessica Rabbit: Film Noir et Rouge All Over.
I'm probably going to get hissed and booed for this, but I wanted to be Jessica Rabbit when I was a kid so badly. Not because she is beautiful, not because she's a talented singer, not because men trip over themselves for her, but because she can take care of herself and her husband. From the outset, Jessica tells Eddie Valiant that she's "not bad; [she's] just drawn that way." Jessica is a cartoon; she knows that she's a construct, a male fantasy gone overboard. The wonderful thing about the world of Roger Rabbit is that once a cartoon character is created, the creator loses all control and the character takes on a life of his/her/its own. Jessica can't help what she looks like, can't control how human men view her, but she's in total control of herself and her actions (and she doesn't dumb herself down or take shit from men trying to paw at her). To the human men, Roger Rabbit is very lucky to have such a busty bride, but to the cartoon characters, Jessica is the lucky one to have Roger, who she loves because he makes her laugh rather than his fame or fortune. It has nothing to do with appearance and everything to do with perception. What's funny is that if a real woman had Jessica's proportions she would never be able to walk- her feet are too tiny, her waist nonexistent, her shoulders, bust and hips too broad for her frame. Jessica outwardly represents how ridiculous some males' expectations of female perfection are, but her personality and behavior turn those expectations on their head. Sure, Jessica uses her looks to her advantage when she needs to, but she also is a woman who is unflappably capable and even willing to put herself in danger and do anything it takes for the sake of the person, er, rabbit she loves.
Honorable Mentions:
- Rogue from the X-Men: Without an ability to touch, Rogue is still a very loving and caring person, which shows in her actions and her personality. She's been through a lot, lost a lot, but she's still a goddamned hero.
- April O'Neill from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Journalistic integrity and an affinity for art-related turtles. Can't go wrong with a person willing to hop into a filthy sewer to get her story!
- Catwoman: Selina Kyle's been bad, good, and everywhere in-between. She does things on her own terms. Just as Buffy is built upon the stereotype of the PYT in horror movies, you could say that a bit of her character is based on the lonely crazy cat lady stereotype, turning it into a woman who is just a good a superhero as she is a supervillain. She's a single mother, retaining her grace and dignity through all manner of bad situations.
- Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid: Yes, I know she sings one of the most unfeminist songs in the whole of Disney, but even as a kid I thought it was rather tongue-in-cheek to get Ariel to do what she wanted. After all, is Ursula really the type of character who believes females should sit down and shut up? Hell no... though she probably does believe that body language is important. And yes, I did name Spike's girlfriend in my London Calling series after her. Haha!
Real Life Mentions:
- My mom, even though she drives me absolutely batshit insane most of the time.
- Divine: When I was a kid, I thought Divine was a real lady. When I grew up, I realized I was right. :D
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