A question off the back of that comment, as it does seem to raise other issues for me (and apologies if this is a derail, but I really am interested in how this plays out) - if the (lack of) costume in Xena is an issue, how about the giant fake breasts in Erin Brockovich? Half of the adverts for that film made great play of her breasts, but given all that she accomplished in the film (and, incidentally, in real life) does that diminish - in any way - the good aspects? I would say that it is an aspect of the person, and the character, and no matter what an individual wears they shouldn't be criticized for their clothing choices.
That's why I emphasised that it isn't a problem with the character itself so much as a problem with the trend. As an individual character I love Xena, and I love her outfit and her open, unashamed sexuality. She was a fantastic character for me growing up.
The issue isn't any individual character having a certain body type, or wearing certain clothes, or having a certain attitude to sex. The problem is that it gets used over and over and over and over again to the point that it's expected the female lead and most of the female supporting cast of a given film or TV series will be portrayed to serve the sexual needs of a presumed male-straight audience.
Like the Bechdel test, which isn't actually any sort of indicator of whether a film is feminist in it's treatment of women, or fair, or even if it's a basically good film, but which does show trends.
Especially as, with the sex thing, it's becoming more common to portray the female protagonists in work as a
Strong Female Character.
I just meant that this makes it hard for me to pick individual characters I can say are "positive", because I either have to acknowledge problematic trends portrayed by those characters or say something like "Samus, except in the most recent game" or "Spoiler, at least until her torture-porn death scene" or "Big Barda, until she got fridged off-scene". (Not film characters, but the point stands).
Still, that makes it interesting, eh?
Maybe we could define individually what we think of when we think of a positive female character? Or female characters that had a positive impact on us? Because then Xena definitely counts for me.
*edit* ooh, good points there Alessandra. I like the idea of clothing-as-a-tool. Then it gets to the point of; does the outfit/outfits used for this character work for the character? Do these clothes, worn this way, suit the personality we're told she has? Do they convey useful information? Is the overall meaning behind the outfit enhanced or damaged by the way it's worn? The Dresden Codak comic artist's tumblr explores that once in a while. I'll try and find the links.
ETA:
Here!
