Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Guest Blogging At Dear Author About Extraordinary Heroines

Today at Dear Author, I'm blogging about extraordinary heroines in romance (and by extension, science fiction romance). In light of the fact that Hollywood has been highly reluctant to green light a WONDER WOMAN film of any kind, I've been wondering if there's a connection between that and the disappointingly low number of memorable, extraordinary heroines in romance. Is it just Hollywood studio executives that aren't ready for Wonder Woman caliber heroines, or are consumers in general reluctant to embrace them as well? And if so, why?

Interestingly, Joss Whedon is quoted as saying “But I don’t necessarily think we need a Wonder Woman movie per se. We need more female heroes. We need ‘wonder women’ movies.”

Hmm. Sounds like an entertaining idea, doubly so if one transports the idea of “wonder women” to romance heroines. So why don’t we encounter them more often? And of the ones that exist, why are their abilities told rather than shown in some cases (at least compared to the extraordinary romance heroes who get plenty of on-stage action)? Are they not extraordinary enough? Heck, no, of course they are. But are they too extraordinary? Does their very existence threaten the concept of the fantasy male lover?


I invite you to visit and share your thoughts on this topic.

Joyfully yours,

Heather