An article about the wonderful Warrior Princess, muse and inspiration for our
own boat's name, from the equally wonderful
Jennifer Sky:
.... Xena [the show], however, was also special. It was feminism at work, with female lead characters who were unapologetically powerful and sexy. During my time on the show [as the "Amazon Goddess" Amarice], on six episodes from the fourth to the fifth seasons, I kicked butt. Off screen, I was trained in numerous fighting techniques, in archery and horseback riding. On screen, I hung with a Christ figure called Eli; I had a same-sex lover and a boyfriend of a different race than mine; I threw bombs and walked along high wires. I killed so many bad guys that they began to look the same. In fact, they were the same — 20 or so stunt men and women who did the most difficult tricks and falls, making the rest of us look good.
And I did it all in a wig of wild red hair and leather short-shorts.
Xena, which ran for six years before it ended in 2001, was a show that charmed even as it taught its audience a thing or two. It never reached too far beyond its kitschy foundations: in one episode, characters were crucified; in another, we did musical numbers. But it managed to bring home thought-provoking story lines about same-sex love, about religion, about soul mates and manifest destiny. Gender was not relevant in the Xenaverse. There, a girl or a boy could be a warlord or a farmer, a bard or a sad sack needing protection....
[Read it all. PDF]
