the wild wood

filed under: A star wars

$andromeda3116: akindofpoetry: Can we talk about Zoe Washburne for a second?From the day I got an account on LiveJournal, all of seven years ago, I was told what an amazing show Firefly was. People used to insist that I give it a try. They would praise its clever dialogue, textually sing some silly song about a man called Jayne, and tell me repeatedly what beautiful and multi-dimensional characters it had. “You’ll love it,” they’d say. “Seriously, it’s a show about pirate cowboys in outer space who live and work together and who, in spite of their hardship, ultimately form a family. Plus, epic gun fights and even more epic one-liners!”I was skeptical at first because, let’s face it, the words “pirate cowboys in outer space” don’t conjure up the most flattering image to someone who has no experience with the show. But I liked Joss Whedon’s work and I’d discovered that I was quite the Nathan Fillion fangirl, so with nothing to lose, I figured I might as well appease some friends. I have never been more grateful to a show in my life. And, more specifically, I have never been more grateful to a television character than I am to Zoe. Here’s the thing I really love about her: you can’t box Zoe. It’s easy to slap the “warrior woman” label on her and call it a day, but to do so would be to greatly undermine the depth of her character. Yes, Zoe’s tough and she’s sure as hell a fighter. She survived being on the losing side of a war, observing atrocities therein (in War Stories, she talks about her comrades being tricked into eating apples full of tiny pressure-sensitive explosive grenades — can you even imagine?), and watching hundreds of her fellow Browncoats fall one by one. She’s handy as fuck with a gun and she’s got some pretty snazzy action rolls to go with her sharpshooting. She’s savvy (the only one smart enough to bring a bullet proof vest to a shady business deal) and resourceful and all around a complete force in the heat of battle.But that’s only one fraction of her character. Zoe is warm and she cares about the people around her. During the Battle of Du-Khang, Zoe took time out in the middle of exchanging fire to teach an inexperienced Private how to survive after she saved his neck from an imminent attack. She calmly talked River down when River hid in a crawl space because Book let his hair out. While she was initially amused by Mal’s misfortune at having accidentally married Saffron, it immediately turned to concern for the other woman when she felt Mal might be taking advantage of her naivete. When Book was shot, she patched him up and used gentle (if a touch morbid) humor to lift his spirits. Zoe is very much the mother of the Serenity crew, watching out for them and encouraging them and patiently doing her best to keep them out of trouble, which is such a refreshing change from the typical “warrior woman” mold you see on TV. Speaking of being maternal, Zoe actively wants to be a mommy some day. She wants kids, and she says so in Heart of Gold (“I ain’t so afraid of losing something that I ain’t gonna try to have it. You and I would make one beautiful baby. And I want to meet that child one day. Period.”) It’s her husband, Wash, the goofy, pacifistic one who seems like an ideal father candidate who isn’t so into the idea. I love that Zoe was allowed to be an uncompromising badass and still desire a family. Not only that, but if you watch her throughout the series, it is so apparent that she’d be stellar in both roles, so it is in no way an out of character ambition.I think because Zoe is very quiet, strategic, thoughtful, and stoic in times of necessity, people forget how full of life she really is, too. She laughs heartily, often. She makes hilarious quips and has fantastic banter with the other characters (primarily Mal who is, in many ways, her foil.) She can be downright playful, as highlighted in the beginning of Our Mrs. Reynolds. She unapologetically loves sex (“Sir? I’d like you to take the helm, please. I need this man to tear all my clothes off”) and being a little bit sexy (“If I’m gonna wear a dress, I want something with some slink.”) She’s loyal to her captain and devoted to her husband, but she’s not afraid to tell either one when they’re wrong (“You fought with Captain Reynolds in the war?” “Fought with a lot of people in the war.” “And your husband?” “Fight with him sometimes, too.”) Zoe is a beautifully drawn, fully realized person. She’s complex and relatable, but also larger than life in a very inspiring way.It so happens that Zoe Washburne is the single most beloved character I’ve had the immense joy of discovering… I really do think television (and books and film) need more Zoes. It is so rare to find a woman on television — especially a woman of color! — who can’t be pinned down by a single identifier, and who is allowed to be both a lover and fighter; a thinker and a feeler. Who experiences loss but still carries on and gives back and who doesn’t just live but is so very, palpably alive. This, everything. Zoe is one of my favorite characters, ever.$

andromeda3116:

akindofpoetry:

Can we talk about Zoe Washburne for a second?

From the day I got an account on LiveJournal, all of seven years ago, I was told what an amazing show Firefly was. People used to insist that I give it a try. They would praise its clever dialogue, textually sing some silly song about a man called Jayne, and tell me repeatedly what beautiful and multi-dimensional characters it had. “You’ll love it,” they’d say. “Seriously, it’s a show about pirate cowboys in outer space who live and work together and who, in spite of their hardship, ultimately form a family. Plus, epic gun fights and even more epic one-liners!”

I was skeptical at first because, let’s face it, the words “pirate cowboys in outer space” don’t conjure up the most flattering image to someone who has no experience with the show. But I liked Joss Whedon’s work and I’d discovered that I was quite the Nathan Fillion fangirl, so with nothing to lose, I figured I might as well appease some friends.

I have never been more grateful to a show in my life. And, more specifically, I have never been more grateful to a television character than I am to Zoe.

Here’s the thing I really love about her: you can’t box Zoe. It’s easy to slap the “warrior woman” label on her and call it a day, but to do so would be to greatly undermine the depth of her character. Yes, Zoe’s tough and she’s sure as hell a fighter. She survived being on the losing side of a war, observing atrocities therein (in War Stories, she talks about her comrades being tricked into eating apples full of tiny pressure-sensitive explosive grenades — can you even imagine?), and watching hundreds of her fellow Browncoats fall one by one. She’s handy as fuck with a gun and she’s got some pretty snazzy action rolls to go with her sharpshooting. She’s savvy (the only one smart enough to bring a bullet proof vest to a shady business deal) and resourceful and all around a complete force in the heat of battle.

But that’s only one fraction of her character. Zoe is warm and she cares about the people around her. During the Battle of Du-Khang, Zoe took time out in the middle of exchanging fire to teach an inexperienced Private how to survive after she saved his neck from an imminent attack. She calmly talked River down when River hid in a crawl space because Book let his hair out. While she was initially amused by Mal’s misfortune at having accidentally married Saffron, it immediately turned to concern for the other woman when she felt Mal might be taking advantage of her naivete. When Book was shot, she patched him up and used gentle (if a touch morbid) humor to lift his spirits. Zoe is very much the mother of the Serenity crew, watching out for them and encouraging them and patiently doing her best to keep them out of trouble, which is such a refreshing change from the typical “warrior woman” mold you see on TV.

Speaking of being maternal, Zoe actively wants to be a mommy some day. She wants kids, and she says so in Heart of Gold (“I ain’t so afraid of losing something that I ain’t gonna try to have it. You and I would make one beautiful baby. And I want to meet that child one day. Period.”) It’s her husband, Wash, the goofy, pacifistic one who seems like an ideal father candidate who isn’t so into the idea. I love that Zoe was allowed to be an uncompromising badass and still desire a family. Not only that, but if you watch her throughout the series, it is so apparent that she’d be stellar in both roles, so it is in no way an out of character ambition.

I think because Zoe is very quiet, strategic, thoughtful, and stoic in times of necessity, people forget how full of life she really is, too. She laughs heartily, often. She makes hilarious quips and has fantastic banter with the other characters (primarily Mal who is, in many ways, her foil.) She can be downright playful, as highlighted in the beginning of Our Mrs. Reynolds. She unapologetically loves sex (“Sir? I’d like you to take the helm, please. I need this man to tear all my clothes off”) and being a little bit sexy (“If I’m gonna wear a dress, I want something with some slink.”) She’s loyal to her captain and devoted to her husband, but she’s not afraid to tell either one when they’re wrong (“You fought with Captain Reynolds in the war?” “Fought with a lot of people in the war.” “And your husband?” “Fight with him sometimes, too.”) Zoe is a beautifully drawn, fully realized person. She’s complex and relatable, but also larger than life in a very inspiring way.

It so happens that Zoe Washburne is the single most beloved character I’ve had the immense joy of discovering… I really do think television (and books and film) need more Zoes. It is so rare to find a woman on television — especially a woman of color! — who can’t be pinned down by a single identifier, and who is allowed to be both a lover and fighter; a thinker and a feeler. Who experiences loss but still carries on and gives back and who doesn’t just live but is so very, palpably alive.

This, everything. Zoe is one of my favorite characters, ever.