..and your opinion on the actual topic is??
It's in my posts, but if you insist: No, the writers weren't "closet sexists." There was a lot of
incompetent writing on VOY, including wild inconsistencies in how Janeway was written.
Because she was the first woman captain to lead a show, the timing of this writing blagh-ness was unfortunate, but that's it. Regardless of what the final product was like (and I certainly do my share of criticizing said final product), I don't think anyone involved wasn't trying their best to create strong, likable female characters, even if they didn't always succeed.
Except for the catsuit. No quarter given for the catsuit.
I did.
I said "most" not "all".
Fair enough.
And my point was... you could actually only name about five 'leading' characters- not just characters you liked. This is because strong women in leading roles are vanishingly rare. Which is why Janeway stands out as one of them.
I agree that strong leading woman are rare - much too rare, in fact.
I consider 9 out of 10 of them leading characters, Hit Girl being the only one that doesn't fit that bill. Again, you're headed into subjective land when you try to define "leading". Unless you want to define that term precisely and to set the goal posts so that your argument is undefeatable, go ahead - I just see no point in playing the subjective game.
Now waaaaaiiit a second... isn't the captain "the leading character" in Trek? Isn't that ALWAYS the case? Yes, TNG, DS9, and VOY are all ensembles. But if you had to pick one character who is "the lead character", if not the "main" character in a storytelling sense, wouldn't it be the captain? In EVERY Trek show?
There's "leading"; i.e. anyone who is part of the primary cast, and then there's "leading", meaning THE primary character. And using the second definition, only Ripley, Dunham, Scully, Buffy, and Xena qualify. Zoe isn't the "lead" on Firefly, Mal is. Leia isn't the "lead" in Star Wars, Luke is. etc etc.
I see what you are saying
Bishop,and I still don't think comparing Janeway to an inevitably subjective list of other good female characters is going to result in anything except an argument about who is better than who, but there is a generally accepted definition of "leading role" or "leading character" as the single most main character if you have to pick one (there are
some ensembles that truly don't have one single lead character, but Trek has never been that if you ask me; as I said above, it's always the captain).
Janeway wasn't the lead character. Not in the same way Kirk was or Xena, Michael Knight or that dipshit kid from Smallville. The show didj't revolve around her. It was an ensemble series with a revolving focus which would routinely eclipse Mulgrew completely. The only reason Kate got top billings is because kathy was in charge.
It wasn't the Janeway Show.
Did Kate get paid that much more than the rest?
I dunno... it kinda became "Star Trek: Janeway and Seven (and also the Doctor)" in the later seasons. Which, mind you, wasn't really a
good thing, just sayin'.
