I remember watching Star Wars as a girl and wishing I could be Luke Skywalker zooming off into the stars to face my destiny and fight against the Evil Empire light saber at the ready. Sadly, I saw few female role models having the same action packed adventures as the guys. Princess Leia came close as a role model, but something about that hairdo wouldn’t allow me to take her too seriously. I consoled myself by watching all those Klingon coming of age ceremonies and challenging dilemmas they dreamed up for the very masculine Worf in Star Trek: Next Generation.
Happily, this is the 21st century and there are many new female sci-fi / adventure super heroines casting women in the classic coming of age
struggle. As we head off to rerun season in the next few weeks, here are two coming of age episodes you won’t wanna miss during the coming summer months.
"Barge of the Dead" - Star Trek/Voyager: Already considered a masterpiece in an already highly acclaimed season six, this coming of age episode focuses on our favorite femme Klingon in residence, B’Elanna Torres. She faces her perceived failure as part
Klingon/part human half breed who feels like she doesn’t quite fit in with her boisterous Klingon heritage.
After an accident on her shuttle, B’Elanna finds herself in what appears to be an unconscious dream scape or is it a real place? This nether world is the Klingon Barge of the Dead for disgraced
Klingons. If the Klingons were Catholic, they’d call it purgatory. B’Elanna meets her mother on the barge, and this raises some poignant questions: Has her mother died during her time trapped in the Delta Quadrant? Is this a final mother-daughter reunion, and B’Elanna has no hope of seeing her mother alive if they find a shortcut home?
However, B’Elanna disturbingly discovers that her mother is cursed to spend eternity in this nether world due to a failure of B’Elanna’s. It is B’Elanna’s task to confront her failure and free her mother from this
eternity of misery. Her call to action is antagonized by a mother who is
not sure she won’t fail. B’Elanna’s mother wishes she’d buy a clue in
figuring it out. Roxann Dawson portrays her character the most sympathetically ever and the discovery she makes is jarring: the type of
coming of age many people do in their early 30’s… realizing the life we
"think" we’ve created may be another attempt to please or rebel against what we "think" our parent expect of us. Heavy stuff indeed. On a lighter note, notice the amazing set decor in this Klingon afterlife.
"Lifeblood" - Xena: Xena and Gabrielle take Xena’s baby Eve to meet the Amazons and initiate her into the tribe as an Amazon princess. This episode was definitely one of the better ones in season five. Our two heroines enter the amazon village to find their friend Yakut dead after a battle with some enemies. Gabrielle wants to give Eve her right of caste and initiate her into the tribe, but the spirit of Yakut returns to warn Xena that something is horribly wrong with the tribe. They have lost their spiritual way. This provides a golden opportunity to cover the history of the formation of the amazons after their husbands, brothers and boyfriends were killed by savages.
Out takes are included from the Ren Pictures project Amazon High which was not picked up for syndication, although it included some excellent actors including Danielle Cormack as Sensara and Selma Blair as their historical queen,
Cyane, and the gorgeous Karl Urban as the caveman who is befriended by the queen of the amazons. I was impressed by the scenes of the women confronting the savages and declaring their way of peace and truth in the memory of the loved one’s they lost. Finally, a Xena episode with a serious, but uplifting message and a decent story. The amazons come to realize that anyone who comes of age into their tribe does so with a sense of strength that comes from preserving their peaceful way of life, not wanton violence to dominate or humiliate.
The dance choreography was also a cut above previous amazon episodes. (For those of you who don’t watch Xena that often, where there be amazons there be dancing). Also, the plot was actually interesting instead of the tedious bathroom humor and convoluted stories we’ve been subjected to this year, a down turn from what had been an excellent series until staff turnover at the beginning of the year. So during the dog days of summer, be sure to catch "Lifeblood" and "Barge of the Dead" when it
reruns.
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"Sci-Fi
Gals Coming of Age"
