Wednesday, December 4, 2013

J.J Abrams understands the other half

One of the reasons (and perhaps the only reason) I am intrigued with J.J. Abrams helming Star Wars is the fact he writes strong female characters. If you like Star Wars, you have read the books or at least the Wiki about what happens in Star Wars mythology post Return of the Jedi. Without spoiling too much, it is Leia who ends up saving the universe. Who knows if the plot of the new Star Wars movie will follow the established plotlines, but with J.J. Abrams in charge it does give me A New Hope (yeah, sometimes I can't help myself).

Most people don't remember or haven't watched J.J. Abrams' Alias. It was a tv show on ABC with Jennifer Garner starring as Sydney Bristow who is a covert operative. Sydney then finds out she comes from a family of covert operatives. Her dad is spy, her mom was an undercover USSR spy who married her dad for cover but her dad truly loved her mom. There is a whole complicated mythology which is only fitting for the person behind Lost. I just realized why I probably didn't get into Lost: I was disappointed by the ending of Alias and basically refused to be sucked into another J.J. Abrams series. But Sydney Bristow is an amazing female character: complicated, can definitely kick-ass, devastated by betrayal yet always unyielding in her moral fortitude. If you are a fan of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, one of the best things about his interpretation is the presence of Uhura. A background character is the original Star Trek, she is a main character who is heavily involved in the J.J. Abrams version. One of the main reasons the Star Trek reboot is great is because of the new Uhura.

A person who doesn't get the female psyche? Christopher Nolan. If you watched his Batman trilogy, the character of Rachel is pretty much a mess. And somehow he was able make Catwoman to be just a cat-burglar. His main saving grace is Christian Bale's interpretation of Batman. It is absolutely perfect. However, Batman needs his Catwoman and Nolan's interpretation fell far short.

Anyways, I've been looking for a Christmas present for my godson and apparently he is still too young for Lego Star Wars. So I guess he will be getting something else. However, I am excited to take him to Star Wars episode 7 (in 2015!! time will fly by) because I know J.J. Abrams will ensure the presence of strong female characters. The more think about it, the more excited I become. The countdown to a whole new Star Wars starts now.

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