Yeah, seriously: look at her. She's just awesome, and gorgeous, and totally badass. Tolkien was wonderful, but he didn't quite get women and violence. He didn't get that women aren't peaceful healers by nature. Eowyn, out of the blue, throws away her warrior persona to become a healer? What is that all about? Tauriel is cool, beautiful,a and she saves the lives of a pile of male characters and never apologises for being awesome. Yeah, sure, being a "strong woman" isn't enough to make a character, but it doesn't hurt. Again, look at Buffy if you don't believe me. Tauriel has all the complicated character dimensions I've spoken at length about before, and she can also take out five giant spiders in less than two minutes. She has the skill set essential to just about any character in Middle Earth, she has the ability to affect change, and she has power both emotional and physical. And, having been the little girl who wanted to play Lord of the Rings with her brother and had to pretend to be a boy because there were no cool girls (ahem), that is something the world of Middle Earth sorely needed. Like this article? Agree about Tauriel? Let us know in the comments section below.
Rebecca Kulik lives in Iowa, reads an obsence amount, watches way too much television, and occasionally studies for her BA in History. Come by her personal pop culture blog at tyrannyofthepetticoat.wordpress.com and her reading blog at journalofimaginarypeople.wordpress.com.
