In praise of strong women

Watching BSG last night, I couldn't help but be fascinated with Mary McDonnell's portrayal of Laura Roslin. Here's a woman who has the political responsibility of the colonies (and the survival of the human race!) weighing on her shoulders, and yet she still finds a way to be compelling, compassionate, funny, flirty, strong and intelligent. (Compare that to Adama's leadership style. While he also conveys the stoic and strong and often has to make the tough calls, he rarely lets his guard down around anyone, except Saul occasionally and those "stolen moments" on New Caprica). Plus, Roslin knows how to expediently find the nearest airlock for those who cross her.

Isn't this a bit sexy?

That, and seeing The Exorcism of Emily Rose last week, got me thinking about portrayals of "strong women" on TV and film. Sadly, women are usually portrayed as the victim, the hot babe or the slut, and there seems to be a dearth of roles that don't necessarily fit one of those characterizations while still being sexy. I'm thinking more of characters and actresses that wouldn't necessarily be at the top of an FHM list, nor rely on the traditional conception/perception of their "attractiveness" as an integral part of the role. For example, Lara Croft is supposed to be a very smart, very tough, very capable adventurer, but she's played by Angelina and there's just no getting around the fact that she's an exotic total babe. Or Buffy Summers, who was one of the best written and best acted female lead characters on TV, and was also a serious ass-kicker. Or Sydney Bristow. Great characters, but there's still a more "overt" (for lack of a better word) aspect of their sex appeal.

Here are some examples that bring to mind what I'm talking about:

Mary McDonnell as Laura Roslin
Laura Linney as Janet Venable in Primal Fear (tough as nails, a good litigator, razor sharp bob and a chain smoker. How hot is that? Or really, just about anything Laura Linney plays. She's just exceptionally good -- as I mentioned earlier about Emily Rose).
Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter
Amy Acker as Fred Burkle
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Conner
Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully
Annette Benning as Elise Kraft/Sharon Bridger in The Siege
Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark
Emily Deschanel as Temperance "Bones" Brennan
Holly Hunter as MJ Monahan in Copycat
Gina Torres as Zoe Washburn
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley
Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Lee Johnson

A little heavy on the "genre" roles, I know. Is that just my geeky sensibilities, or do there just seem to be more of these types of characters in this realm? I'm sure I'm missing some obvious choices, but nonetheless, it's nice to see.