I want you think back to your favorite science fiction film. Perhaps it is 2001: A Space Odyssey, recently named the number one pick of the genre by the American Film Institute. Surely a film worthy of this title, but also one that is astonishingly slight of female viewpoint. Rather bleak of Kubrick to create a future which lacks women.

This is not to say that there are no women in the film. There is the suspiciously absent daughter of Dr. Floyd, to whom he makes a video call. Her sole purpose is to dazzle the audience with technology; what she says is of very little importance. Of course there is Elana, a rather inconspicuous scientist, but she, too, is neglected as the men set forth in search of the monolith. Truly this is a film devoted to the conflict of man vs. man in the truest sense.

It is difficult for me to enjoy a film that is purely male. It’s not that I despise every movie that is told from a male viewpoint. Instead, the movie must work that much harder to make me appreciate it. I attribute this fact to the idea that it is the filmmaker’s conscious choice to make a film that objectifies, or worse yet negates, female characters. Filmmakers are in control of their movie, and if they truly cared how the female characters acted or were treated, they have the power to change it. But the sad truth is that most filmmakers in the science fiction genre are male. They, in turn, recognize that their audience is comprised of mostly males. It is their primitive understanding that such an audience of men is most interested in explosions, killer robots, aliens, and boobs.

Too often, when women are portrayed in science fiction, they fall into the category of distressed victim. They must be rescued, saved, lovingly protected from evil in the arms of a bold, firmly muscled man. Or they are conniving bitches, hell-bent on destroying mankind. While I have a soft spot in my heart for the female villain, my purpose today is to promote female heroines.

There are a few female characters in science fiction that I feel have broken free of the confines of a male-dominated genre. They are vibrant, by turns tough and sensitive, kicking ass and being as far from silent as they could possibly manage. These women are sexy, too, without resorting to being a moon princess or a breast-baring slave girl. And, most importantly, they are smart, outwitting man and monster alike.

Trinity – The Matrix

I would like to focus on the first film of the Matrix Trilogy because I felt that the other two did not do her character justice. She is perhaps the most dynamic of the four women outlined in this article, but that is only because our perception of the character is constantly changing. When we first encounter Trinity, she is clad from head to toe in shiny black leather and latex, her eyes cloaked in mysteriously dark shades. She is fast, agile, her hair slicked back, giving her angular face a masculine appearance.

Then, we are transported to reality, where Trinity is simply a sharp-faced woman in home-spun clothing. Her eyes, when we finally glimpse them in full view, are filled with depth and sadness, her stony demeanor melted into tenderness as she cares for her fellow crew members. I find her fascinating because she determines how she appears inside the Matrix, and she has decreed herself the queen of awesome.

Sarah Connor – Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Unlike The Matrix, the evolution of Sarah Connor takes place over the course of both movies. Yes, she begins as the helpless victim, barely outrunning the Terminator as he tries to prevent her from conceiving the man who will eventually save the world from machines. In the end, Sarah manages to overcome her fear and face her demons, destroying that which has been sent to destroy her.

When we catch up with her again, she has given birth, and has been parted from her son because the world has deemed her crazy. For the first part of the film, she nearly believes them, but a part of her still clings to the idea that what she experienced was real, and that a seven foot tall, muscular machine with an Austrian accent did, indeed, attempt to kill her.

After escaping from a mental institution, the clearly unstable Sarah is reunited with her son, and, with the help of the now-friendly Terminator, she is able to continue her mission of helping her son become the man he is destined to be. Truly a dynamic character, though the changes occur gradually.

Princess Leia – The Star Wars Trilogy

I would love to remember Leia as the opposite of what a princess should be. She is graceful, handling a laser gun with ease, and fashionable, sporting a pair of baked goods over her ears with aplomb. Wise-talking and sharp, Leia challenges authority, verbally spitting in the face of Darth Vader himself. It is her heartfelt message to Obi Wan Kenobi that sets the chain of events rolling in A New Hope.

There are times when I become angry at the way her character is exploited. The infamous metal bikini that she is forced to wear when she is chained to Jabba the Hut not only sickens me, it saddens me; this is the outfit that every woman seems to wear at conventions or costume contests when they dress up as Leia. True, she is able to choke the giant lizard with her own chain, but nobody remembers that. They’re too distracted by her sex appeal to remember that she is actually a worthy adversary. Oh, and the incestuous kisses don’t help her cause much, either.

Ellen Ripley – The Alien Quadrilogy

Where Trinity and Sarah Connor have conflicting characteristics and emotions, it appears that Lieutenant Ripley was, is, and forever will be a badass. She begins as the hardened crew member of the Nostromo, navigating deep space as second in command of a salvage team. Ripley has adopted a tough exterior; even in the future, women are still looked down upon for trying to do a “man’s work.”

But it is Ripley alone (well, aside from her cat), who survives the rogue alien that has smuggled itself aboard the Nostromo. She survives in hyper-sleep, awakening seventy years in the future to a far smoother, more advanced world. Claiming a job on the loading docks, she proves, once again, that she can survive in a world where all of the odds are against her.

And when Ripley is contacted by a group of marines to make contact with the now-inhabited planet which spawned the nightmare of the last film, there is a clear struggle in her mind. Part of her wants to turn and flee, to never return to that planet. Yet the other half of Ripley, the heroic part, wishes to save the people who have been manipulated into colonizing the planet.

Again she survives, clawing her way out of the bowels of the alien-infested planet, outrunning tough-as-nails marines left and right. When the little girl she has taken under her wing, insinuating that Ripley once had a daughter herself, slips into the egg chamber of the alien Queen, Ripley grabs a flame thrower and goes to town.

From there, the softer side of Ellen Ripley is seen far less often. Again she is frozen in time, crash-landing on a planet that inhabits a colony of criminals. Her head is shaved, she fights off a bevy of would-be rapists. Even her tryst with the colony’s doctor lacks any kind real tenderness; she is a woman with needs, and he just happens to be a pretty sexy dude.

The final film in the series, while a fun ride, adds very little to the character. For one thing, much of Ellen Ripley has been replaced with alien characteristics, as she has been reproduced as a hybrid of human and alien. The end of the film, however, does feature a touching moment between Ripley and her offspring, a somewhat humanoid walking ball of slime that utters her name before she blows it out of the goddamned airlock.

Throughout her trials, from the death of her adopted daughter Newt to the realization that she has been impregnated with an alien embryo, Ripley remains strong. She has moments of weakness, as with all realistic characters, but she never lets them overcome her. Survival is the name of her game, and she manages to do so admirably; she remains one of the greatest female characters in science fiction.