A new month, a new series of questions!

The Question:

Which movie saga had the best heroine?

Queen Amidala/Padme Amidala from the "Star Wars" prequels

Trinity from "The Matrix"

Eowyn from "Lord of the Rings"

Princess Leia from the original "Star Wars" movies

This one's pretty easy for me. For questions like these that are uber easy for me to rank, I view these more as an exercise in how well I can play devil's advocate, and how well I can defend one against the other. Let's begin shall we...

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Queen Amidala/Padme Amidala

Can she kick butt?

Yes. She not only devised battle strategy (as juvenile as her "Episode I" plans were), but she gets right down in the trenches and does her own form of butt kicking (in Episode II). As I said, even though her battle plans are juvenile, it's a plan that ultimately worked.

Apparently, she passed on her marksmanship skills to her daughter, and knows her way around a blaster or two. Those Skywalker women have good aim.

And she certainly knows how to handle her own. While Obi Wan and Anakin were still tied up to those pillars on the cockroach world (Geonosis), Padme already had her chains unlocked, and was, "on top of things."

Any damsel in distress moments?

One minor one in Episode II. Only instead of a prince coming to her rescue, she was saved by everyone's favorite astromech droid.

Intelligence or brawn?

Intelligent? Um, yeah. She was elected the youngest Queen ever, and elected to be a senator, for a reason.

She did have a lapse of judgment in not dumping her mass-murdering boyfriend, but that's somewhat complex. Although Lucas didn't really write it this way (and there is one more movie to explain why she didn't), she probably understood Anakin's problems better than anyone, Anakin included. Although he did murder tons of people, they were the people that murdered his mom.

When it comes right down to it, she's probably the only person in the WHOLE entire saga, who completely knows what the hell is going on. She doesn't hold to this belief that Jedi's can't show emotion, she doesn't trust Palpatine, she doesn't want the clone army and appears to be the only person trying to stop its creation. I'm not going to fault her for not realizing that her husband would become the dark lord of the sith.

Fate after the movies?

Well, she dies. It's no spoiler. We know she dies, we just don't know how. She is certainly the most tragic figure of all the different heroines in the above movies.

Is she memorable?

Yes and no. For all her strengths, she's kinda bland. She doesn't have the pizzaz that her daughter has. Luke must have inherited his blandness from her. But then again, neither Luke nor Leia really knew her, but Leia seems to recall feelings and images of her.

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Eowyn

Can she kick butt?

Heck yeah, she can. She not only killed her own handful of orcs, she cut the head off a ringwreath, a feat "no man" is able to do. She doesn't want to just be the average woman of her community, she wants to prove, and prove she does, that she is just as capable of fighting for her community as anybody else. She does kick butt, but she doesn't really get as much opportunity to show that she kicks butt as the other three people.

Any damsel in distress moments?

Somewhat. During the beginning scenes of "The Two Towers," she is essentially a prisoner trapped in her own castle. It isn't until Aragorn and crew show up that she is finally able to break free of the "D.I.D" syndrome. Although it's not as pronounced, and is more complex, than most fairy tales where there's a damsel in distress, she certainly has her moments where she's completely bound by both her castle, and the "duties" her male leaders make her perform.

Intelligence, or brawn?

Mostly brawn. She doesn't do much in the form of strategy or battle planning. She's mainly there to kick butt and cut the heads off ringwreaths.

Is she memorable?

Meh. Sadly, she needed more substance in the movie to be considered memorable. She has some really great moments, but not enough to make her more memorable than anybody in the Fellowship.

Fate after the movies?

Well, I guess she up and got married. They didn't really do much in the way of explaining hers and Faromir's relationship. I guess she settles down and has some kids. So much for her awesome warrior skills.

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Trinity

Can she kick butt?

Have you *seen* the Matrix?!?!? She kicks butt all over the place. She's constantly rolling into places and f*ckin' dudes up. She's never beaten an agent, but she does know how to retreat with style. There are many kick-ass women in "The Matrix" movies, she's the best of them all.

Any damsel in distress moments?

Kinda. She doesn't get trapped anywhere, and held hostage by anyone, but she does have a moment where her fate is held in the balance by someone coming to save her. But her situation isn't your typical damsel in distress moment because she purposely put herself there on behalf of her love, Neo. Neo does make like a knight in shining glasses, and swoops in, literally, to save her.

Depending on how you interpret the movie, her rescue was the yin to her saving Neo's yang. If she had a damsel in distress moment, she also had a reverse of that situation with her princessly kiss bringing Neo's sleeping beauty back to life.

Intelligence, brawn?

Mostly brawn. She tends to shoot her way out of situations, as opposed to finding ways to think her way out of things. But she does have her moments of learning how to ride motorcycles and attack helicopters. But when it comes down to it, she'd probably rather have her pistol than anything else.

She loses *some* points on the intelligence level when she chose to hold up hers and Neo's return to the ship by telling Neo that she loved him in the subway. Couldn't she have waited all of 5 minutes?

Is she memorable?

Meh. There aren't many lines that she had that will be repeated 5 years after the fact. She certainly has many memorable moments of action. I'd say that she's pretty memorable, but not like...*see below*

Fate after the movies?

She's dead. I'm sure they erect monuments to her and Neo. She'll probably become some kind of mythological figure in Zion, for whatever that's worth. At least they'll be monuments until the peace breaks, and the sentinels come and blow it to bits.

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Princess Leia *trying to keep my SW bias at bay*

Can she kick butt?

Have you *seen* the movies. It's safe to say that they would have never made it out of the inner halls of the Death Star had it not been for her marksmanship. She can't miss. I'd bet that she hits about 90% of the stormtroopers she's aiming at.

She refuses to take a backseat to anyone, and is usually the main person in charge of whatever the rebels are doing.

Any damsel in distress moments?

I prefer to view her more of a political prisoner, than a damsel in distress. But truth be told, her damsel in distress moment is about as extreme as you can get. She's being held captive by the dark sorcerer, only to be rescued by the prince in shining (as shiny as white plastic can be) armor. Although her damsel in distress moment is somewhat pronounced, the fact that she didn't give up the location of the base on TWO separate occasions does much in the way of redemption.

Intelligence or brawn?

The great thing about Leia is that she has both. She's both a member of the Imperial Senate, and also a top leader in the Rebel Alliance. She's a politician, but she definitely knows how to handle her own on the battlefield.

Throughout all three of the movies, she's always taking charge of things and leading people out of perilous situations. She brings R2 to Yavin. She leads the rebels on Hoth. She shoots her way out of the battles on the Death Star, Hoth, and Endor. She doesn't budge under torture, or psychological warfare.

Is she memorable?

Heck yeah she is. She has so many great lines through all three of the movies, has some rockin' hair buns, and wears a metal bikini better than anyone before or after.

Fate after the movies

She goes on to lead the new formation of a new Republic, while birthing three children with Han (Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin--hey, I was a bored child in high school). Know of any other people who can carry that load????

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The final outcome

1. Leia (duh!) - For having a brilliant mind, and awesome butt kicking skills. Heck, I'd give her the top heroine award for nothing else other than her great lines and hair buns.

2. Padme Amidala - For being a more bland version of #1.

3. Trinity - She'd rank higher if she wasn't constantly in the background of most shots of the movie.

4. Eowyn - She just needed more to do for her to rank higher.

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--note--

Just be glad I didn't throw Ripley in here for her kick-ass'ery in the "Aliens" movies. Leia vs. Ripley, now that's a whole 'nother post.