Girls In Entertainment - Brodie Guest Post

Today I have the wonderfully delightful Brodie from Eleusinian Mysteries stopping by the blog to discuss some of her favourite female characters from entertainment.

Be sure to check follow Brodie on Twitter, she's awesome!

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Hello wonderful readers of A Glass of Wine! I must applaud Kathy for this brilliant idea of celebrating the amazing females in entertainment. We ladies are quite an awesome species :D It was hard to narrow my list down to a few, given how wide and varied the selection of captivating woman there is to choose from; woman who shine for their brravery, their humour, their heart or their brains. I've chosen just a few random favourites below, and I'd love to hear if your agree with me!

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter): I think most of us instantly think of Hermione as one of the best females in literature. This strikingly intelligent girl was an inspiration to so many of us who grew up reading Harry Potter. She wasn't the most popular or commercially beautiful, and she struggled to accept what she could not define by rules and logic and books, but never did she give up on what was important, and she proved to be one of the most loyal friends you could ask for. Her heart was impossibly huge and she never stopped fighting for her beliefs, no matter how fruitful they seemed (S.P.E.W, anyone?).

Nastasya (Immortal Beloved trilogy): Nastasya is an immortal who's lived a very long, very colourful life. She's done bad things, hit the lowest of lows and given up on herself so many times over the centuries. For someone so old, she can still be immature (aren't we all?), but she's so easy to relate to because of how realistic she is. She masks her emotions with wit and sarcasm, and she constantly runs away when things get tough, but slowly she begins to change. She's not what we classify a typical hero, she doesn't suddenly lead a revolution, kill the big bad villain or overthrow a corrupt government - she does something that is perhaps far more challenging: walking the road to redemption, struggling to learn how to be a better person. It certainly doesn't happen overnight, but that's a good thing because her entertaining and often inappropriate thoughts are so fun to read!

Nikita/Alex/Amanda (Nikita): For those who have yet to catch an episode of one of the best shows on tv, Nikita is a spy-fi, action-packed assassin series that airs Friday on the CW. I am a HUGE fan. The male characters have their moments to shine, but it's really the females who own this show. Nikita is the leading lady, Alex started out as her protegee, and both can kick ass with the best of the men. They each come from dark pasts, with a combined mix of childhood trauma, drug addiction, sex slavery and plenty of betrayals. There's a lot of emotional damage, but I love that they never play the role of the victim. They're still battling their own demons, but never give up fighting the good fight, risking their own lives to take down the enemy and save innocent people. 

Amanda on the other hand, is a master at manipulation and messing with people psychologically. She's really an evil genius and I have to mention her because (especially in season 3) while you're screaming at her for all the awful things she does to your favourite characters, you can't help but admire how magnificent she is at pulling it off. She's complex and scary, with motives that are twisted yet understandable for her and hidden vulnerabilities that give balance to her downright psychotic nature. 

Mara Dyer (The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer):   

She's one of the more fascinating characters in fiction because you never know what to believe with her. It's not that she deceives the reader on purpose - she knows as much as we do about her incredibly intriguing and frustratingly mysterious situation. There's both a frightening strength and fragile vulnerability to Mara that sucks you right into her story as both you and her try to decipher the cryptic and strange clues to uncovering her identity. We LOVE Noah Shaw, and he has his own mysterious persona, but it's Mara who is the most captivating enigma of the story.

Every girl in Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: 

Regardless of first impressions, you find yourself rooting for each of the cliched and eclectic personalities from these stranded teen beauty queens. They are full of stereotypes (on purpose) and are at first seemingly defined by their labels of sexuality, disability, intelligence or race. I chose this entire cast of girls because a) they're exasperatingly hilarious and b) they show that underneath the labels we so often give to woman, every girl has their own hidden insecurities, dreams and passions. Girls who struggle with their identity, crave acceptance or battle with religion or sexuality. They each began to find their own potential on a downright CRAZY journey that is laugh-out-loud funny to read and they'll all have you cheering "GIRL POWER" by the end.

There are so many more incredible females in fiction who I love: impulsive, sarcastic and confident Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy), dreamy and free-spirited Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter), Aria (Under the Never Sky), Kira (Partials), Tris (Divergent), Karou and Zuzanna (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) or both Stephanie Perkins' leading ladies - Anna and Lola.... the list is endless. We tend to be more vocal about the swoony males, but it's high time we shone love on our own gender. Whether it's the girls who empower us, girls make a stand in the world and lead an army, or girls who are just deliciously exciting to watch/read about with their humour, twisted morals or vibrant personalities.