Why Strong Independent Women Rule...

Since I was a wee lad of 14 , I've always had found strong independent women inherently attractive. I blame Sigourney Weaver.



On Christmas day of 1989, I received a VHS copy of Aliens as a present. I had seen the movie on like CBS or HBO, but it was a scene here and a scene there. My parents were pretty much the authoritarian types who really watched the intake of TV their kids had, and if there was too much profanity or a hint of sexual activity or innuendo it was blocked.

ANYWAYS, viewing habits aside, I got this copy of ALIENS on Christmas and immediately I admired Weaver's character of Ripley in that movie. She was pretty strong and yet feminine, handled herself and took charge when needed .Of course the script called for it midway, after the space marines were dominated by the slimy aliens in the bowels of the colony station that of course would doom the planet because the cardboard one note character space marines used live ammunition on an unseen enemy rupturing the cooling system of essentially a nuclear reactor. The little details such as her not being boxed in to a traditional female character archetype, such as sitting idle and concerned while the male hero goes and performs his perfunctory heroics in the last act, or be the perennial lady in peril that motivates an antihero to step his character up. The penultimate scene when Ripley rescues the young girl,Newt, from the nursery and Ripley is armed in true Reagan era style to the teeth and then some? That was the clincher. She was strong and yet maternal. The character was completely cool and just put to waste vaunted cinematic heroes.

I knew in that formative age that even though Ripley was a character, and it may had been a shrewd ploy to get women to go see essentially a B grade science fiction movie, the qualities that Weaver gave to her character would something that I would look for in female companions. A sense of independence. Knowing what they wanted and not taking any crap from anyone. That's an extremely attractive and beautiful quality a person, male or female can have.

Too often I witness people develop a sick dependency on a significant other or close friend. Almost vampiric in nature or sycophantic depending on the dependency. A person molds and shapes their worldview and perspective on the basis of what this elevated idol has or says, completely forgoing any independent thought in the process. Their self worth dissolves into something microscopic, and when the toxic relationship ends, as they are wont to do, the person feels less than the sum of their parts. They invested so much time and energy into someone with such intensity, sometimes cutting ties with close friends, family, or loved ones in the process, the person is completely lost.

I say that to keep myself aware of the easy pitfalls that come in life when someone can appear on the surface the answer to the unanswerable riddle, the end of your life sentence, and how much time you invest in them. I would rather try and retain my wits and independence to me. I seek the company of like minded individuals who don't necessarily just turn to mush at the utterance of a few well placed vapid compliments. Life is beautiful as a whole, warts and all, despite our insistence of wearing rose colored glasses and wrap ourselves in the conventional banalities expressed in hallmark cards and kitten posters.

Thanks for reading