TV shows/films where gender stereotypes are being positively challenged...?

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DH and I have become rather fond of the TV show Bones loosely based on Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan books. It's fairly standard escapist, crime investigation fare in many respects, but it occurred to me that the show's characters do challenge a number of gender stereotypes in a positive way.

Dr Brennan, the main character is a science genius (forensic anthropologist) with a strong penchant for using logic and evidence in her investigations and personal life

Booth, her male FBI sidekick is a macho man in many respects, but this is often challenged. He's the main character who deals with parenting issues and is much more lead by his emotions than Brennan.

The lab boss (in the most recent seasons) is a brilliant female pathologist.
The lab computer/technology expert is also female. She has an enthusiastic and varied sex life, but no apologies are made for this.
The no-nonsense judge is also female.
The "emotions specialist" is a young man in his twenties.

The victims tend to be evenly split between men and women, horrific sex crimes against women are seldom featured.
Brennan rescues Booth from as many dangerous situations as he does her.

And possibly most importantly, the story lines often include the airing of interesting gender-based dilemmas and conflicts. And they don't necessarily resolve in a stereotypical way, either.

I'm not claiming the show is perfect, but it does a lot better than many others of its genre do.

Any other shows or films that have struck you as including an encouraging amount of positive gender characterisations?

True enough, Sardine

Going in the other direction, I recently re-watched Billy Elliot and found some very interesting things there about male stereotypes. Of course, that's the central premise of the film, but there are other things going on, like Billy's slightly effeminate gay friend and how he's treated etc. And the toughness of Julie Walters character when confronted by the male posturing of Billy's male family members.

...is that the one with a female prostitute as a main character, or am I misremembering what others have told me about it...?

Yes it is, which I accept is contentious, she is a "Companion" a woman who sells sexual services with some ceremony after a long haul of apprenticeship and training and who has absolute choice over who she does and does not "service". The Companion's Guild is shown as very powerfull. The main male character calls her "whore" and it's a big bone of contention between them along with a heap of UST. Interestingly in one episode she hires the crew to help a friend who is a madam of a classic whorehouse with women that she calls "whores".

Most people love it or hate it. I'm a lover myself, an unreconstructed mercenary male character called Jayne Cobb helps but that's my basest side talking .

There was a film to do with firefly wasn't there? I think I saw that but despite the fact it should have been right up my street I didn't really go for it.

Maybe I need to the the series on a boxset.

ooooh what about servelan in blakes 7? she was fab
My mum liked that no matter what the situation or where she was she always had a fabulous cocktail dress on

The film version was called "Serenity" and though it was great from my POV to have something after the unspeakable powers that be at FOX cancelled the series (may their hemorrhoids develop their own gravitational field) it wasn't a patch on the series.

Anyone mentioned Ashes to Ashes yet?

DH thinks he may have boxset of firefox knocking around somewhere. Hooray!!!!

Trying to think of some other progs on at the mo which are good. Rather than reminiscing about 80s shows!

firefox?
firefly

I've been considering the intellegent but not beautiful question, what about the character of Daisy from Spaced? also Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds. I am struggling to think of others.

Servelan, yes! Excellent short hair-cut, I emulated that when I was nine! Servelan was my nickname at primary school for a bit, I didn't mind at all.

I quite enjoyed Serenity on the whole.

You've probably noticed the thread about The West Wing going on - that had some terrific female characters in it.

I'm struggling to think of any as I don't watch a huge amount of TV. "Call the Midwife" recently was good because most of the characters were female. My boys both love "The Sarah Jane Adventures" which I think is great. You don't often find a middle aged woman as the main character in a children's programme.

Garcia gets on my nerves
Ditto the goth woman in NCIS
Too contrived

Criminal Minds is the worst of that type of prog for the crimes inevitably being women and children violated and killed in the most horrible ways. I have given up on it.
NCIS is dire too.

for anyone not old enough familiar with blakes 7

She was great actually.

I love Bones and I love Warehouse 13, some very strong female characters in that too.
Stargate SG1 is my favourite ever Scifi series though, Samantha Carter is one of the best female characters imo .

I like The walking dead but the women in it are a bit weak and in need of male protection but I suppose it is realistic .

sam carter is super

I like the Doctor in Stargate too, Janet Fraiser, smart, attractive, assertive, proffesional but very normal.

I appreciate that Garcia is irritating, especially since she is a computer wizz ditto Abby in NCIS. Everything that is right about Janet Fraiser is wrong in these two.

Nothing wrong with quirky but it's nice when it isn't just the tech heads.

I also hate the way the goth woman flirts with the old chap who's in charge. I mean, come on

They are too try-hard quirky. To glossily quirky. Garcia is too much of everything IYSWIM. It doesn't feel natural.

I'm loving The Good Wife on More4- anyone watch that? Despite the title, her 'husband' hardly features in it anymore. She's a hotshot lawyer now, the senior partner at the firm is a woman, and as for feisty lesbian investigator Kalinda...

Not seen that one, maybe will give it a whirl

I stopped watching criminal minds when they dropped two female characters for a season. Although I also noticed that it was very rare for two female characters to talk to each other (admittedly true of a lot of programs but not 'how I met your mother')

Love Bones but Cam always looks like she has been sewn into her lab coat. I never even had a lab coat that wasn't at least three sizes too big.

I love Bones, but I agree about the women being very much of the thin-is-pretty type (especially Cam).

I did give them big points (and Emily Deschanel specifically) for filming the actress's pregnancy as a pregnancy for the character, because it looked so different from the neat-bump-no-other-changes look you usually see on pregnant characters.

I don't think Grey's Anatomy is especially brilliant but I do think Christina is an interesting character.

I think Castle is quite good - female boss (both team boss and the head of the department), and the dynamic between Castle and Beckett is that Castle is the more in touch with emotions and more inclined to be the communicator, and Beckett is more emotionally private and kick-ass. I also like the relationship Castle has with his mother and his daughter, that it shows parenting as not being a gendered activity (if that makes sense).

I must admit that I did say to DH that I thought either she was really pg or they had done a bloody good job as she got bigger all over, her face, her boobs got bigger, she really looked pregnant. Now I know why

Re: CSI

The reason why Catherine wasn't promoted to lead character, was Marg Helgenberger was planning to leave CSI during that season, hence why they brought Lawrence Fishburne in. Show bosses didn't think any of the other characters were quite at the level to 'step up' and be the lead character. I got the impression that had Marg Helgenberger been signed up for the whole series, she would have been lead character.

Of course, they did eventually manage to convince Marg Helgenberger to stay on for a bit longer thought, for that series and the next.

Now that Lawrence Fishburne has left, they've brought Ted Danson in, because Marg Helgenberger is really leaving this time. She's only in a few episodes of the upcoming series. Ted Danson is actually very good in serious roles.

Can anyone think of any TV shows/films where men are portrayed in traditional female roles, and it was done in a positive way? I can't and that bothers me.