Jezebel 
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New York, 11:38 PM
Sun Nov 29
18 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/22/09
Also what's so bad about writing lines for males and then turning the character female. Starbuck in the new Battlestar Galactica?????? #jamescameron
10/22/09
'Cause I liked all her* movies.
*Point Break, Strange Days #jamescameron
10/23/09
And of course 'Strange Days' was written by Cameron.
10/23/09
10/22/09
But I'll be the first to acknowledge that I don't like that my bar has become that low. #jamescameron
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Cameron made her a badass. #jamescameron
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10/22/09
Written for a man.^ #jamescameron
10/22/09
Claudette on "The Shield" was written as a guy, and I absolutely adored her! #jamescameron
10/22/09
I think, when you're talking about action movies, people usually make the mistake of writing women as a cliche of a "strong" woman and not a person who is strong and happens to be a woman. It's one of the reasons I like Sarah Connor's progression from the first film to the second. And also why I do like Ripley in Aliens. You don't have to deny the feminine to write a great character...but not a lot of writers seem to know that.
I find it interesting that Sci-Fi is one of the few genre's that still has better and more varied female characters than most other genre's. From Ripley to Connor, Buffy to Xena, Roslin to Starbuck, River to Kaylee...and now Olivia on Fringe. I don't turn to much that's mainstream for diverse female characters, really. I go to genre fictions like sci-fi and horror. They're not perfect, but I'll take them over romcoms. #jamescameron
10/22/09
10/22/09
This is actually really good advice. You wouldn't believe how many young *female* writers I meet who say they don't know how to write women, because they are used to female characters being, like he says, handbags. When almost all the female characters you read and see are horrifically written, it's really easy to think you can't write them, especially when they only exist in terms of the male hero. Writing a male hero and then just changing the names often *doesn't change the story at all* and gives the world an interesting woman character (unless it was just badly written to begin with. Which often, it is.)
And that is, famously, how Ripley came into being.
10/22/09
10/22/09
"Hey, Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?"
"No. Have you?"
And for that, I will forgive him a lot. #jamescameron
10/22/09
Think about that.
I guess all us Jezebels are just not as good as men. #jamescameron
10/22/09
10/22/09
You can take a lot of things away from the gender issues portrayed in Aliens, but the notion that women are inferior to men is not one of them. #jamescameron
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10/22/09
And she says it in retort to Hudson, after his comment, which is gendered. Her's actually isn't. She says "No, have you?" in response to being asked if she's ever been mistaken for a man. I suppose you could assume she means that he's weak like a woman, but I don't get that from it at all. More like he's sub-human, not feminine. His character is routinely shown as incompetent and stupid, not womanly. And considering that there are 4 women in a movie, all on par with the men in terms of strength, capability, and intelligence...I don't think that comparison holds up.
Plus, a film can have those kinds of comments or even jokes without condoning them. It doesn't mean the movie is saying women are weak. #jamescameron
10/22/09
Mostly because the suits see a film as a product. #jamescameron
10/22/09
And for all of you that argue Ripley is Ridley Scotts creation, let us remember that he paraded Sigourney Weaver around braless and pantsless. Hardly the most liberating of decisions. #jamescameron
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