Danger Gal Maybes. We’ll See.
For this week’s Danger Gal profile, we’re going to take a look at three female characters from upcoming movies who have been re-imagined from their previous incarnations in comic books. The jury is obviously still out about whether these ladies will qualify as Danger Gals or if the writers/directors/producers fall short of creating interesting female characters.
First up as a potential Danger Gal is Trixie portrayed by Christina Ricci in the upcoming re-imagining of Speed Racer. At the Tribeca Film Festival, Ricci has actually considered her character Trixie from a feminist point of view and said:
“Trixie is Speed’s childhood sweetheart. He’s his best friend and confidant; his partner in crime. In some ways, she’s the feminist ideal model. She’s as girly as she wants to be, she’s into her hair and outfits and makeup … she has a special outfit for each activity, but at the same time she’s into all the things the boys are. She’s never judged or given the irritating title of ‘tomboy’ and that’s important for young women. Young women tend to watch the reaction of men around older women and they see if someone’s judged, positively or negatively, in too strong a way. Young women shy away from making those kinds of decisions.”
In the cartoon, Trixie did little more than moan and yell “Speed!” a lot, so I’m really looking forward to how they might have developed the character. Rebecca Murray mentions that Trixie is “an outgoing young woman who’s equally unafraid of dressing girlie and kicking a little butt” and quotes Ricci as saying:
“It was really fun. It’s fun to play someone who’s a little bit cartoonish. They dressed me up like a doll, but then they let me go and fight people and race cars and fly a helicopter so it was fun…It was really fun and it was something that I loved because that really is the sort of ultimate feminist thing where you can be as girlie as you want to be, but you’re still as capable and as able to do everything that the boys can do. But I still want more.”
Trixie evidently isn’t just the girlfriend of Speed Racer, but an important member of the Racer family’s racing team. Sadly, some of the stunts Ricci enjoyed doing ended being cut. Still, I’m hoping for a positive re-imaging of Trixie.
Next up is Shana ‘Scarlett’ O’Hara from the new G.I. Joe movie and portrayed by Rachel Nichols. I’ve mentioned Scarlet before, and liked what I read about her in the G.I. Joe character guide:
…Scarlett had a natural affinity for the ancient fighting arts and was only fifteen when she was awarded a black belt. Scarlett and her sister Siobhan never got along well, and they drifted apart as they got older. After joining the Army, Scarlett received a varied education, attending Covert Ops School, Marine Sniper School, Special Air Service School and the Marine Tae Kwon Do symposium. Scarlett has participated in many martial arts tournaments and is also qualified as an Army hand-to-hand combat trainer. She is proficient in various weaponry, including the XK-1 power crossbow and many martial arts weapons such as throwing stars, garrote and ka-bar.
When I first saw these promo movie photos, I have to say I wasn’t enthusiastic about her costume as it compared to Duke’s and Ripcord’s, but looking at her comic book attire I can kind of see the inspiration. Still, her suit has all sorts of “armor” over the breasts, none between them (like where your heart is in the middle of your chest) and her backside implies a thong. Considering costumes only, I’m more interested to see what Cover Girl’s character is like.
Lastly, is the character from a movie we know the least about in this group. The Gatchaman movie is animated, just like it’s predecessors and will be based on the original Japanese version of the story rather than the Americanized Battle of the Planets and G-Force versions. Still, those latter two versions are how I came to know the character of Jun (Princess/Agatha June). Wikipedia has an informative table explaining how the different versions relate to each other.
Jun/June/Aggie has a slightly different kind of character in all of the versions of the series, and each version has different levels of how the male characters treat her as well as how seriously her skills are taken overall. Absolute Anime describes her as the following:
Jun was discovered by Dr. Nambu in an orphanage, and, after insisting he take Jinpei along as well, was trained with the others as a Science Ninja. She is a highly capable fighter, able to handle a number of Galactors without blinking an eye, and is an expert with explosives and electronics as well. Occasionally, however, her actions cause her to get into a pickle that requires the rest of the team to come in to rescue her (though she’s far from the only one).
Here’s to hoping the new movie continues with the forward-thinking aspects of Jun’s character and dispenses with the paternalism that sometimes showed itself in the original series.
Then my hubby, and avid Star Wars figure collector (you are surprised by this?), pointed out to me the new 
The new 
Then 