Jaime Sommers (Bionic Woman)
Encyclopedia
Jaime Wells Sommers is a fictional character portrayed by Michelle Ryan
in Bionic Woman
, a remake of the original 1970s series The Bionic Woman
in which Lindsay Wagner
portrayed Jaime Sommers. The character was created by Kenneth Johnson based upon concepts from author Martin Caidin
's novel, Cyborg
(neither Johnson nor the now-deceased Caidin, however, receive screen credit on the 2007 remake).
, to political activists, Ethan and Madeline Jo Sommers. Both parents traveled a lot for their causes, and could be away for days or weeks at a time. When he would return home, Ethan always brought back photograph
s of his travels for Jaime, and, even at a young age, influenced Jaime's love for photography. In 1992, Jaime's sister, Becca Sommers, was born.
Jaime attended the local public school, Meskwaki High School, in Van Horne. She was a very active student; she was the forward on the school's field hockey
team, contributed to and edited the school literary magazine
, was a success on debate
squad, and participated in the photography club. She was popular among the students and a favorite of her professor
s. With neither of her parents in lucrative profession
s, Jaime helped contribute to the family by getting jobs around the neighborhood. She baby-sat
, delivered newspaper
s, and was hired as a host and waitress at a family-style restaurant
called Jelly's Eatery.
A year before Jaime was to graduate high school
, Madeline was diagnosed with malignant stage II breast cancer
. Jaime, who always believed her parents' busy life on the road prevented Madeline from getting an earlier diagnosis, quit most of her extracurricular activities
to help care for her mom. Her grades slowly began to suffer, but she managed to graduate in the top 7% of her class in 2001. She was accepted into Harvard University
, where she hoped to study Irish literature
. When her mother's condition worsened, Jaime threw aside her plans for college
to stay close to her. She continued to work, but became more and more involved as a caretaker for her mother.
In 2004, after a lengthy battle with cancer, Madeline Jo Sommers died. Immediately after the funeral
, Jaime left for the west coast
, leaving Becca behind. Upon her arrival on the west coast, Jaime quickly found herself a cramped apartment in a college town and a job working at a local bar. She enrolled in the psychology
program at the nearby college and was able to afford tuition
since she had saved up a little bit of money while taking care of her mother. In a bioethics
class she took as an elective a few semesters later, she met a highly regarded professor, Dr. Will Anthros, whom she eventually started dating.
Tracking Jaime down, Becca showed up on her doorstep in 2006 with a duffel bag of a few belongings, asking to stay with her. Jaime allowed Becca to move in, but again the need to provide for her family, this time her sister, forced Jaime to drop out of college.
Following a nearly fatal car accident, Will arranges for Jaime to receive cybernetic
implants, known as bionics
. These implants replace both her legs and her right arm, which give her superhuman strength and speed. She also has a bionic ear which allows her to hear at low volumes, at different bandwidths to most humans, and over uncommonly long distances, as well as a bionic eye that gives her 2000/20 vision and mathematical analysis of objects, their speeds, trajectories and so forth. The original version of the character did not have a bionic eye; this was a component of Steve Austin
, the protagonist of the original novel Cyborg and subsequent television series The Six Million Dollar Man
, which in turn spun off the original Bionic Woman series. Sommers' rebuilt body contains "anthrocites", a nanite-like technology that causes rapid healing of physical wounds. The fourth episode confirms that Sommers can feel pain through her bionic limbs, such as when she accidentally damages a toe after a jump.
In the original series, Rudy Wells was one of the creators of the bionics technology; in the 2007 remake of the series, Jaime Sommers has the middle name Wells.
Subsequent episodes of Bionic Woman have revealed that Sommers has additional bionic components, including a tracking system implanted in her brain that allows her supervisors to see through her bionic eye and track her location, although Sommers subsequently learns how to disable this feature at will.
The reimagined version of Sommers is recruited by a covert anti-terrorist organization and early episodes of the series have shown her training to be an agent, while trying to uncover who within the agency is actually trustworthy. Meanwhile, Sommers has to balance her life as a secret agent
with being a surrogate mother to her rebellious 15-year-old sister, whom she has taken care of since the death of their mother and abandonment by their father.
Early episodes have revealed assorted information: Will Anthros, whose father invented bionics, is apparently shot to death by Sarah Corvus, a renegade and the first Bionic Woman. After his funeral in the second episode, Jaime Sommers discovers he had kept a secret dossier on her dating back two years which contained her IQ test results, photos and personal history. In the series' fourth episode, Sommers discovers that her bionic systems have a maximum five-year life span. She is also for the first time shown experiencing bionic-hand tremors similar to that exhibited by Corvus, whose first-generation bionics are shown to be slowly failing, affecting her physical and mental health (these plot elements are similar to that which affected the original version of Jaime in her introductory episodes). The fourth episode also reveals that Jaime is afraid of flying.
In an echo of Steve Austin's voiced concern in the pilot TV movie for The Six Million Dollar Man, Jaime is depicted as refusing to kill, at one point refusing an order to perform an assassination by sniper rifle and finding an alternative. In one episode, however, she encourages her partner, Antonio, to take a kill shot to neutralize a target.
novel Cyborg
was published by Martin Caidin
. The book was later adapted into a television movie in 1973, and later into a television series from 1974–1978, with the title The Six Million Dollar Man. A multi-episode arc of the show introduced the character of Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner
), a woman who received bionic implants after a fatal accident much like Steve Austin
in The Six Million Dollar Man (Sommers was a new character created for television; she did not originate in Caidin's novels and thus was considered the creation of writer Kenneth Johnson). The episode arc received very high ratings which led the producers to create a spin-off
series produced by Johnson, with Lindsay Wagner reprising the role of Jaime Sommers as the star of the show. Although Caidin was not involved in the creation of the character, the fact the spin-off series used his concept of bionics as well as featured several characters that Caidin did create, he received a credit on the series.
The re-imagined series Bionic Woman
, conceived and produced by David Eick
, alters the character of the bionic woman, starring Michelle Ryan
as a re-imagined and more contemporary Jaime Sommers. Neither Johnson, nor Caidin receive screen credit in this version.
, described by Time magazine
as "the most appealing argument for feminism" in 1977, as well as a "latter day Wonder Woman
," referring to the DC Comics
superhero
ine. The Bionic Woman had been of an era where "The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment
) movement was very much alive," according to the new series' producer, David Eick
. "Bionic Woman was the first television show where the…female was not the wife of or the girlfriend of or the mother of the guy." Despite these accolades, others note the inherent contradiction among the feminist characters of the 70s, such as Jaime Sommers, Lynda Carter
's Wonder Woman
and the Charlie's Angels
—that these women are objectified
by men in order to relay a "lipgloss feminist
" message.
The new incarnation has been criticized by television analysts as more of a gender-stereotypes portrayal than the original, citing that Sommers is no longer an independent careerwoman (tennis pro and teacher) but rather a college dropout and bartender, who despite being described as having a very high IQ
is otherwise in no position to be the "ultimate women's lib
heroine" the original had been. Lindsay Wagner, the original Bionic Woman, described the new series as "dark and broody and violent." Describing the new Jaime, Michelle Ryan comments that "She is a strong, feisty female character… She has a vulnerability to her. She's very warm and compassionate. I think she has high morals. She always questions things. She says, 'We're the good guys, and I don't think that's right." Ryan continues describing the character, adding "She's a real tomboy as well. She's real. I think she's very grounded, and she has a good heart, but she also has an edge to her as well."
Parallels are drawn between the new Jaime and her 90s female action hero
predecessors, some commentators remarking on a likeness to Buffy Summers
, protagonist of supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the sense that she has been unwillingly given a superhuman burden. This also extends to the relationship between Jaime and her foil
and antagonist
, her tragic nemesis
Sarah Corvus, which has been described by reviewers as sharing similarities with the Buffy/Faith
dynamic in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Other commentators mention that the relationship between Jaime and the Bionics program director Jonas Bledsoe parallels that of Buffy and her mentor Giles
, much as the Berkut Group serves similar functions within the storyline as the Watcher's Council
does in Buffy: that of patriarchal oppressors.
Michelle Ryan
Michelle Claire Ryan is an English actress.She is best known for portraying the role of Zoe Slater on BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 2007, she starred in the short lived American television series Bionic Woman...
in Bionic Woman
Bionic Woman (2007 TV series)
Bionic Woman is an American science fiction television drama created by David Eick, under NBC Universal Television Group, GEP Productions and David Eick Productions that aired in 2007...
, a remake of the original 1970s series The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman
The Bionic Woman is an American television series starring Lindsay Wagner that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin off from The Six Million Dollar Man. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydiving accident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman ...
in which Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
portrayed Jaime Sommers. The character was created by Kenneth Johnson based upon concepts from author Martin Caidin
Martin Caidin
Martin Caidin was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation.Caidin wrote more than 50 books, including Samurai!, Black Thursday, Thunderbolt!, Fork-Tailed Devil: The P-38, Zero!, The Ragged, Rugged Warriors, A Torch to the Enemy and many other works of military history...
's novel, Cyborg
Cyborg (novel)
Cyborg is the title of a science fiction/secret agent novel by Martin Caidin which was first published in 1972. The novel also included elements of speculative fiction, and was adapted as the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and also inspired its spin-off, The Bionic Woman.-Plot...
(neither Johnson nor the now-deceased Caidin, however, receive screen credit on the 2007 remake).
Fictional character history
The new version of the character is a San Francisco bartender. She was born in Van Horne, IowaVan Horne, Iowa
Van Horne is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 716 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Van Horne is located at ....
, to political activists, Ethan and Madeline Jo Sommers. Both parents traveled a lot for their causes, and could be away for days or weeks at a time. When he would return home, Ethan always brought back photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s of his travels for Jaime, and, even at a young age, influenced Jaime's love for photography. In 1992, Jaime's sister, Becca Sommers, was born.
Jaime attended the local public school, Meskwaki High School, in Van Horne. She was a very active student; she was the forward on the school's field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
team, contributed to and edited the school literary magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, was a success on debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
squad, and participated in the photography club. She was popular among the students and a favorite of her professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
s. With neither of her parents in lucrative profession
Profession
A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....
s, Jaime helped contribute to the family by getting jobs around the neighborhood. She baby-sat
Babysitting
Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.-General:...
, delivered newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, and was hired as a host and waitress at a family-style restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
called Jelly's Eatery.
A year before Jaime was to graduate high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, Madeline was diagnosed with malignant stage II breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. Jaime, who always believed her parents' busy life on the road prevented Madeline from getting an earlier diagnosis, quit most of her extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activity
Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education...
to help care for her mom. Her grades slowly began to suffer, but she managed to graduate in the top 7% of her class in 2001. She was accepted into Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where she hoped to study Irish literature
Irish literature
For a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages.-The beginning of writing in Irish:...
. When her mother's condition worsened, Jaime threw aside her plans for college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
to stay close to her. She continued to work, but became more and more involved as a caretaker for her mother.
In 2004, after a lengthy battle with cancer, Madeline Jo Sommers died. Immediately after the funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
, Jaime left for the west coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, leaving Becca behind. Upon her arrival on the west coast, Jaime quickly found herself a cramped apartment in a college town and a job working at a local bar. She enrolled in the psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
program at the nearby college and was able to afford tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
since she had saved up a little bit of money while taking care of her mother. In a bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
class she took as an elective a few semesters later, she met a highly regarded professor, Dr. Will Anthros, whom she eventually started dating.
Tracking Jaime down, Becca showed up on her doorstep in 2006 with a duffel bag of a few belongings, asking to stay with her. Jaime allowed Becca to move in, but again the need to provide for her family, this time her sister, forced Jaime to drop out of college.
Following a nearly fatal car accident, Will arranges for Jaime to receive cybernetic
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
implants, known as bionics
Bionics
Bionics is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.The word bionic was coined by Jack E...
. These implants replace both her legs and her right arm, which give her superhuman strength and speed. She also has a bionic ear which allows her to hear at low volumes, at different bandwidths to most humans, and over uncommonly long distances, as well as a bionic eye that gives her 2000/20 vision and mathematical analysis of objects, their speeds, trajectories and so forth. The original version of the character did not have a bionic eye; this was a component of Steve Austin
Steve Austin (fictional character)
Steve Austin is a fictional character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg, who later became a 1970s television icon as portrayed by Lee Majors in the 1974-1978 series The Six Million Dollar Man.-Background:...
, the protagonist of the original novel Cyborg and subsequent television series The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
, which in turn spun off the original Bionic Woman series. Sommers' rebuilt body contains "anthrocites", a nanite-like technology that causes rapid healing of physical wounds. The fourth episode confirms that Sommers can feel pain through her bionic limbs, such as when she accidentally damages a toe after a jump.
In the original series, Rudy Wells was one of the creators of the bionics technology; in the 2007 remake of the series, Jaime Sommers has the middle name Wells.
Subsequent episodes of Bionic Woman have revealed that Sommers has additional bionic components, including a tracking system implanted in her brain that allows her supervisors to see through her bionic eye and track her location, although Sommers subsequently learns how to disable this feature at will.
The reimagined version of Sommers is recruited by a covert anti-terrorist organization and early episodes of the series have shown her training to be an agent, while trying to uncover who within the agency is actually trustworthy. Meanwhile, Sommers has to balance her life as a secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
with being a surrogate mother to her rebellious 15-year-old sister, whom she has taken care of since the death of their mother and abandonment by their father.
Early episodes have revealed assorted information: Will Anthros, whose father invented bionics, is apparently shot to death by Sarah Corvus, a renegade and the first Bionic Woman. After his funeral in the second episode, Jaime Sommers discovers he had kept a secret dossier on her dating back two years which contained her IQ test results, photos and personal history. In the series' fourth episode, Sommers discovers that her bionic systems have a maximum five-year life span. She is also for the first time shown experiencing bionic-hand tremors similar to that exhibited by Corvus, whose first-generation bionics are shown to be slowly failing, affecting her physical and mental health (these plot elements are similar to that which affected the original version of Jaime in her introductory episodes). The fourth episode also reveals that Jaime is afraid of flying.
In an echo of Steve Austin's voiced concern in the pilot TV movie for The Six Million Dollar Man, Jaime is depicted as refusing to kill, at one point refusing an order to perform an assassination by sniper rifle and finding an alternative. In one episode, however, she encourages her partner, Antonio, to take a kill shot to neutralize a target.
Origin of the Character
In 1972 the speculative fictionSpeculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
novel Cyborg
Cyborg (novel)
Cyborg is the title of a science fiction/secret agent novel by Martin Caidin which was first published in 1972. The novel also included elements of speculative fiction, and was adapted as the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and also inspired its spin-off, The Bionic Woman.-Plot...
was published by Martin Caidin
Martin Caidin
Martin Caidin was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation.Caidin wrote more than 50 books, including Samurai!, Black Thursday, Thunderbolt!, Fork-Tailed Devil: The P-38, Zero!, The Ragged, Rugged Warriors, A Torch to the Enemy and many other works of military history...
. The book was later adapted into a television movie in 1973, and later into a television series from 1974–1978, with the title The Six Million Dollar Man. A multi-episode arc of the show introduced the character of Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
), a woman who received bionic implants after a fatal accident much like Steve Austin
Steve Austin (fictional character)
Steve Austin is a fictional character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg, who later became a 1970s television icon as portrayed by Lee Majors in the 1974-1978 series The Six Million Dollar Man.-Background:...
in The Six Million Dollar Man (Sommers was a new character created for television; she did not originate in Caidin's novels and thus was considered the creation of writer Kenneth Johnson). The episode arc received very high ratings which led the producers to create a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series produced by Johnson, with Lindsay Wagner reprising the role of Jaime Sommers as the star of the show. Although Caidin was not involved in the creation of the character, the fact the spin-off series used his concept of bionics as well as featured several characters that Caidin did create, he received a credit on the series.
The re-imagined series Bionic Woman
Bionic Woman
Bionic Woman may refer to:* The Bionic Woman, a television series that aired from 1976 to 1978 on ABC and NBC** Jaime Sommers , the main character* Bionic Woman , a 2007 remake of the series on NBC...
, conceived and produced by David Eick
David Eick
David Eick is an American producer and writer, best known as the Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica, of which he also wrote several episodes with Ronald D. Moore, as well as the re-imagined version of Bionic Woman...
, alters the character of the bionic woman, starring Michelle Ryan
Michelle Ryan
Michelle Claire Ryan is an English actress.She is best known for portraying the role of Zoe Slater on BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 2007, she starred in the short lived American television series Bionic Woman...
as a re-imagined and more contemporary Jaime Sommers. Neither Johnson, nor Caidin receive screen credit in this version.
Critical reaction
The original Jaime Sommers was considered a feminist iconIcon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
, described by Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
as "the most appealing argument for feminism" in 1977, as well as a "latter day Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
," referring to the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
ine. The Bionic Woman had been of an era where "The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment
Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...
) movement was very much alive," according to the new series' producer, David Eick
David Eick
David Eick is an American producer and writer, best known as the Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica, of which he also wrote several episodes with Ronald D. Moore, as well as the re-imagined version of Bionic Woman...
. "Bionic Woman was the first television show where the…female was not the wife of or the girlfriend of or the mother of the guy." Despite these accolades, others note the inherent contradiction among the feminist characters of the 70s, such as Jaime Sommers, Lynda Carter
Lynda Carter
Lynda Jean Carter is an American actress and singer, best known for being Miss World USA and as the star of the 1970s television series The New Original Wonder Woman and The New Adventures of Wonder Woman ....
's Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
and the Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels
Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...
—that these women are objectified
Sexual objectification
Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument towards one's sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification or who is sexually attractive...
by men in order to relay a "lipgloss feminist
Lipstick feminism
Lipstick feminism is a variety of Third-wave feminism that philosophically reclaims the sexual power of women, in response to the social and cultural backlash of the ideologically radical varieties of Second-wave feminism of the 1960s and the 1970s...
" message.
The new incarnation has been criticized by television analysts as more of a gender-stereotypes portrayal than the original, citing that Sommers is no longer an independent careerwoman (tennis pro and teacher) but rather a college dropout and bartender, who despite being described as having a very high IQ
Intelligence quotient
An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. When modern IQ tests are constructed, the mean score within an age group is set to 100 and the standard deviation to 15...
is otherwise in no position to be the "ultimate women's lib
Feminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
heroine" the original had been. Lindsay Wagner, the original Bionic Woman, described the new series as "dark and broody and violent." Describing the new Jaime, Michelle Ryan comments that "She is a strong, feisty female character… She has a vulnerability to her. She's very warm and compassionate. I think she has high morals. She always questions things. She says, 'We're the good guys, and I don't think that's right." Ryan continues describing the character, adding "She's a real tomboy as well. She's real. I think she's very grounded, and she has a good heart, but she also has an edge to her as well."
Parallels are drawn between the new Jaime and her 90s female action hero
Action hero
An action hero is a character, usually a protagonist, in an action-adventure novel, film, television show, or game.-Further reading:*Osgerby, Bill, Anna Gough-Yates, and Marianne Wells. Action TV : Tough-Guys, Smooth Operators and Foxy Chicks. London: Routledge, 2001.*Tasker, Yvonne. Action and...
predecessors, some commentators remarking on a likeness to Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
, protagonist of supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in the sense that she has been unwillingly given a superhuman burden. This also extends to the relationship between Jaime and her foil
Foil (literature)
In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of another character....
and antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, her tragic nemesis
Archenemy
An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy .- Etymology :The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated...
Sarah Corvus, which has been described by reviewers as sharing similarities with the Buffy/Faith
Faith Lehane
Faith is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Played by actress Eliza Dushku in the TV series and by Whitney Thompson in the motion comic series, Faith was introduced in the third season of Buffy and was a focus of that season's...
dynamic in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Other commentators mention that the relationship between Jaime and the Bionics program director Jonas Bledsoe parallels that of Buffy and her mentor Giles
Rupert Giles
Rupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure...
, much as the Berkut Group serves similar functions within the storyline as the Watcher's Council
Watcher (Buffyverse)
In the fictional Buffyverse established by the television series Buffy and Angel, a Watcher is a member of a secret organization, the Watchers' Council, which seeks to prepare the Slayer to fight demonic forces.-Description:...
does in Buffy: that of patriarchal oppressors.
External links
- Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) and Jaime Sommers (Michelle Ryan) at the Bionic WikiaWikiaWikia is a free web hosting service for wikis . It is normally free of charge for readers and editors, deriving most of its income from advertising, and publishes all user-provided text under copyleft licenses. Wikia hosts several hundred thousand wikis using the open-source wiki software MediaWiki...
projects.