Over the years, SFR movie heroines have been few and far between, but it seems to me they are becoming more common. What do you look for in and SFR movie heroine? Is it enough that she is in an SF Romance? Hey, I get pretty excited just to see such a thing on the silver screen. Should she be tough, stand by her man, serve as a role model? Here are just a few SFR movie heroines to get the discussion going.
Uhura in Star Trek Into Darkness – By far my favorite to date. Strong, smart, willing to stand up to her man and for him. Also, not afraid to have and show her emotions.
Gahmora in Guardians of the Galaxy – Loved her look and the character, but despite being an assassin and being played by the awesome Zoe Saldana, she comes across as the weakest performance in this ensemble cast. And yes, the romance suffers a bit for it. I think Starman gets the credit for most of the warm fuzzies I walked away with. Still, all in all, a good SFR heroine.
Jupiter Jones in Jupiter Ascending – I still struggle a little with dear young Jup. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and her as a heroine. She was relatable and her heart was always in the right place, but she comes across as a bit naive. It seems she puts her man in danger a lot and doesn’t think much about it. I see this a lot in SFR novels and it always rubs me a little wrong.Ultimately, I can’t really blame her for being flawed.
Leia in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – Here is a classic, but surprisingly also one I struggle with and not just because I thought she was Luke’s love interest in Star Wars. Her romance with Han seemed to develop sometime between the first two movies in this trilogy, so we never really see what makes it work. Sure, Han is a lovable scoundrel, but what makes them right for each other? Still Leia is an awesome heroine, rescuing her man in the beginning of Jedi and taming the teddy bears in the Forrest of Endor to save the day.
What do you think makes a good SFR heroine?
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Smart Girls love SciFi 
Ripley is of course, at top of my list, as in Shani from the movie version of Dune (I know, I know) and Janine in Ghostbusters, because she had to put up with those four goofs with aplomb.
LOL Loved Janine.
Ripley. Sarah Connor. Furiosa form the new Mad Max movie. Not much Romance in any of those. Zhora, the Replicant from Blade Runner. I hoping the new Star Wars movie gives us some.
I’m not seeing much romance in the Star Wars trailers, but you never know. JJ has a good record with including it well.
And I should say, I do love me some SF heroines too, I just want to also be able to celebrate heroines with a substantive romance role in SF.
Instead of the movie of Dune ;-( I’d go with Janni in the mini-series of Dune.
I have to agree with Jupiter being naïve. When you are in a strange situation, surrounded by the unknown and people who are likely enemies, who willingly puts on a dress and shoes you can’t fight/run in? She did that twice! I just saw this movie, so it is fresh in my mind and still bothering me.
The dresses are a bit much. 😉 And she lets others maneuver her around a bit too much.
It’s easier to come up with SF heroines than SFR heroines–Ripley, Sarah Conner, Lucy (in Luc Besson’s latest), and, yes, Uhura (BOTH versions). But let’s not forget Neytiri from AVATAR, who was strong, smart and, yet, protective and sexy.
LOL I almost included Neytiri but I thought it might be too much to have three of Zoe’s roles in the post!