kickass moms in media!

[kaydeefalls]

Alright, party people, I emerge from the aether seeking some inspiration. I've got a vague kernel of a vid idea, and I need your help! Could you give me suggestions of badass moms/wives in media fandoms? Sci-fi/fantasy/action genres, preferably. And while my preference is mothers, wives / girlfriends are also awesome.

I'm trying to show the perspective of women who are normally pigeonholed into the "wife" or "mother" role who actually get some agency of their own. Along the lines of Molly Weasley (HP), Abbey Bartlett (West Wing), Dana Scully (X-Files). Main or supporting characters welcome. Preferably those who do not exist solely to be fridged (a la Amanda Greyson in the Star Trek reboot) since I've already made THAT vid, although since media sucks when it comes to women, I'll gladly take characters who at least get SOME agency of their own before they're killed off for the sake of the dude's angst (i.e. Freya in Thor).

And yeah, Ripley in Aliens 2 totally counts.

Any and all suggestions welcome! I'm so far out of fandom right now, I have no idea wtf is going on in media these days, but I'm trying here. And thanks in advance!

Comments

[jjhunter]

Eliza in Hamilton! There should be some good footage in the PBS documentary about Hamilton.

[tassosss]

Sarah Connor! Movies or The Sarah Connor Chronicles. While she's a bad-ass terminating machine with John at her side, she still has lots of mom moments with him.

Luxwana Troi! Star Trek: TNG whose relationship with Deanna is one of my faves.

You could probably make a case for the Many Mothers in Mad Max Fury Road, since it's implied that it's a village raising kind of situation, but there's no one woman who's specifically a mom with a specific child there.

Sarah Manning, Alison Hendrex, and Mrs. S from Orphan Black! Three moms, two generations, none of them fridged.

Aeryn Sun from Farscape! She becomes a mom in the PK Wars mini-series and her baby is basically born in combat.

Might not be the right tone, but the lead character in Arrival is a mom.

Teyla from SGA, though I stopped watching around her awful pregnancy plot so I don't remember if we ever see her actually being a mom much.

[musesfool]

Sarah Connor!

Ellen Harvelle?

...all of the others I can think of are from mainstream dramas (Gilmore Girls, Jane the Virgin, the Good Wife) rather than genre.

[newredshoes]

Olivia Dunham!

And I mean, I assume you've already thought of Zoe Washburne.

Others, hmm: Our LotR gals, Arwen and Eowyn? Lena Basilone from The Pacific? Peggy Carter? Pepper Potts? Jane Foster? Jean Grey? Tank Girl? (She's got a boyfriend who's fridged in the beginning of the film.)

[theladyscribe]

Sydney Bristow's mother (whose name escapes me currently) from Alias? Sydney herself is both a badass and a mom in the last season as well (though maybe not what you're going for).

Claire from Lost, and I think there was another character who had a kid on the show but was also a badass (Juliet I think?).

Chuck's sister Ellie from Chuck!

[purplefringe]

Oooh! Ok:

-Joyce Summers!! She is super important
-Jackie Tyler from Doctor Who
-Sarah Jane Smith? She adopts a son in her series
-Keiko O'Brien in DS9
-Kasidy Yates also in DS9, who becomes Jake's stepmum

[tree_and_leaf]

I caveat this by saying I've not seen the Dresden Files TV series, and it may take a different angle on her, but Charity Carpenter turns out to be incredibly badass in the books (she's a bit of a Molly Weasley type, as she initially appears to be a conservative stay at home mum who worries a lot. Which she is, but there's also a lot else going on).

Amy in Doctor Who?

[tvillingar]

I've always been partial to Marion Ravenwood. So maybe she didn't want to keep that bar between snow and nowhere but she sure kicked ass and drank men under the table.

Also, Roz (points to icon) is my alter ego. I'm pretty much an office snail at this point in my life.

[tvillingar]

Whoops, I meant to comment this post directly.

[via_ostiense]

El from white collar. In s2 or s3, she's kidnapped, but escapes on her own, and there's another episode where she (correctly) thinks her neighbors are criminals and faces them down.

[msilverstar]

My brain immediately goes to Zoë Washburn.

And Martha Jones who saves the world and says goodbye on her own terms.

Oh! Leia Organa!

I will think more upon this, and look forward to the video kindof a lot

[kaydeefalls]

She's actually the character that sparked this idea! :) And there's not NEARLY enough footage of her (or any of the female characters, actually) in the documentary, sigh.

[kaydeefalls]

Oooh, Mad Max, good idea.

Damn, I haven't seen most of these shows. Great suggestions...now I just need to spend a month watching the canons.

[kaydeefalls]

So I'm hearing that I should actually watch Sarah Connor Chronicles at some point...

[kaydeefalls]

I've definitely considered all the Marvel girlfriends for sure! :)

[kaydeefalls]

I forget sometimes just how MANY geeky shows I know about through fandom osmosis but have never actually watched. Hmmm.

[kaydeefalls]

JOYCE.

[kaydeefalls]

Yeah, I've never seen (or read) Dresden Files either. I should check it out.

[kaydeefalls]

Yay El! I've seen a few eps, but most of my knowledge of the show comes from crossover fics.

[kaydeefalls]

♥

[tree_and_leaf]

They aren't perfect (and the lead character has his irritating qualities), but I think they're a lot of fun.

[giandujakiss]

Xena - there are action sequences while Lucy Lawless was pregnant.

Samantha Waters from Profiler - FBI agent, status as a mom was a big part of the show.

Mrs King from Scarecrow & Mrs. King - same as above, the conceit of the show was that a middle class housewife had the basic skills to be a superspy

Phryne Fisher? Not a mom but a mom-figure to Jane.

The Bride from Kill Bill

George Sand in Impromptu

Sam from Bewitched, if you want to go back that far.

Susan Gray from Bletchley Circle

[marinarusalka]

Detective Carter from Person of Interest was a kickass single mom.