Strong Female Characters: Podcast review

Last edited November 2019

Originally Written for Women Creating Social Change course at The University of Oklahoma

SYFY Wire Fangrrls’ podcast Strong Female Characters offers weekly discussions by Cher Martinetti, Preeti Chibber, and Courtney Enlow, who offer a feminist analysis on a variety of topics in popular and geek culture. Their goal is to “celebrate the countless badass women in geek culture through funny, witty, and unfiltered deep dives into the nerdverse” (SYFY). This podcast offers a female perspective on a traditionally male-dominated genre that is refreshing and uplifting while also informative. 

Each weekly episode is generally structured as a conversation around a given topic that the women share their perspectives on. One recent episode was a tribute to Carrie Fisher where Preeti and Enlow discussed how Carrie Fisher’s life impacted their lives as well as pop culture as a whole. Another episode, titled “The one with Harry Potter, sassy magic boy”, not only  involves Preeti trying to convince Cher to read the Harry Potter series, but they also talk about the problematic representation of Bruce Lee in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Even if you aren’t familiar with every movie, TV show, book, etc. that is referenced in an episode, the conversations between Cher, Preeti, and Courtney are so natural and fun that it’s not hard to follow along. In fact, this podcast has given me so many new things to start reading and watching. In other podcasts, when hosts veer ‘off topic’ a bit it can get tangential and boring, but with this podcast I feel like I’m listening to a group of friends chatting in a coffee shop and any stray from the ‘topic’ feels natural and conversational.

One of my favorite things that this podcast has done is their “Forgotten Women of Genre” series. Originally created in 2019 for Women’s History Month, “Forgotten Women of Genre” tells the stories of women who helped shape aspects of geek culture but were pushed to the margins of history by the patriarchy and not given the credit they deserved. Women featured in the original month long run include Maria Lucas - George Lucas’s ex-wife and creative partner who was instrumental in making the version of Star Wars: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977) that we know and love today, Hannah Beachler- production designer for Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018), Nicole Perlman- writer of the very first script for Guardians of the Galaxy (James Gunn, 2014) that a lot of James Gunn’s version is based on, and so many others. Around Labor Day weekend 2019, “Forgotten Women of Genre” became its own podcast and during the week of Halloween featured a week-long look into forgotten women in horror. This series is more informational than its host, Strong Female Characters, in that there is one person reading a script rather than multiple people having a conversation, but it is still just as compelling to listen to. I’ve learned more about important women in film history from this podcast than I have from any of my film studies classes in my almost 3 ½ years of college. It is obvious that so much research was done to accurately tell the stories of these women in the short 10-15 minutes that these episodes average, and every time I listen I feel inspired to advocate for the work of the women featured on this podcast. I want to look into the work of women that I am not as familiar with as well as revisit the work I am familiar with, with the ability to look at it through a new lens.  This series features scripts written by other Syfy Fangrrls writers along with Preeti, Cher, and Courtney and it is clear that all of the women that work on this series are passionate about what they do.

These women aren’t afraid to call out anything that’s problematic in science fiction, fantasy, horror, or pop culture and their honesty is one of the many things that keeps me coming back to the podcast every week after binge-listening to it this summer. I would wholeheartedly recommend this podcast to any and everyone, even if you aren’t a diehard nerd and only a casual fan. They are able to balance fun and serious topics in a way that is incredibly engaging and leaves the listener wanting so much more. Strong Female Characters offers nerds and film fans like me, who don’t always feel seen or heard in traditional (white male-dominated) discourse, a place to feel safe and valid in our critiques of geek culture. The ability to critique something that you enjoy isn’t being overly sensitive, it shows that you love something so much that you want it to be the best version of itself that it can be, and the women of Strong Female Characters prove that in their critiques of the nerdverse.

* Excerpts from this piece read on “The One With Baby Yoda” episode of Strong Female Characters November 20, 2019

Episodes Referenced

“The One Where We Celebrate Carrie Fisher” Strong Female Characters from SYFY Wire Fangrrls, 15 October 2019

“The one with Harry Potter, sassy magic boy” Strong Female Characters from SYFY Wire Fangrrls, 13 August 2019

“Forgotten Women of Genre: Nicole Perlman” Strong Female Characters from SYFY Wire Fangrrls, 13 March 2019

“Forgotten Women of Genre: Hannah Beachler” Strong Female Characters from SYFY Wire Fangrrls, 11 March 2019

 “Forgotten Women of Genre: Marcia Lucas” Strong Female Characters from SYFY Wire Fangrrls, 2 March 2019

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