100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #50
50. Payson Keeler, as seen on Make It or Break It, portrayed by Ayla Kell
So I have a great love of all (well, most) things aimed at teenage girls. I love YA lit, I know most of the lyrics to Justin Bieber songs (stop judging me), and I probably spend more time watching the CW and ABC Family than a woman of 26 should. Now, part of this is because I just think adolescence is an interesting time period storytelling-wise because everything feels so life and death; another part of it is I used to work exclusively with teenage girls and it's helpful to know what they like so you have something to talk about to get them to loosen up. I also have a sister who is 10 years younger than I am, as well as about 23 younger female cousins, and so it's just helpful to know what they're watching/listening to/reading. Now, the downside of my loving all of these non-age appropriate things is I frequently turn into the Incredible Hulk because so many of the characters put forth for teenage girls are terrible. I mean, they are straight, up-and-up, "I can't believe this got published/put on the air" terrible. We're talking girls who put up with relationships which are obviously abusive and hold it up as true love, girls who do nothing but slut shame and judge, girls who have no wants or desires beyond having a boyfriend. I generally enter into new shows with extreme trepidation and keep my expectations low. That is why I was pleasantly surprised by Payson on Make It or Break It.
Make It or Break It is set at the fictional Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Facility (aka the Rock) and follows four girls who are training to go to the Olympics. Now, not all of the characters are great and there are certainly problematic elements and just plain ridiculous storylines, but Payson Keeler was consistently one of the best characters (and I am not counting the 8-episode "last season" in this assessment because those last 8 episodes were so ridiculous and just not what this show was about, it's better forgotten.)
Payson is a 16-year-old elite gymnast who has always been the best in the gym and in the junior Olympics world. From a firmly middle-class family (unlike Kaylie or Lauren), Payson is aware of the sacrifices her parents and younger sister have had to make for her dream, including moving to Colorado from Minnesota and her father having to remain in Minnesota in order to work. Payson is what is known as a "power gymnast;" she does the most extreme moves and everyone knows she is the best. But after spending months injected cortisone into her back rather than give it time to rest (and thereby losing valuable training time), Payson falls off the uneven bars and breaks her back, an injury that should be a career ender. Instead, after rehab and months spent in a back brace, Payson must start from the ground up as an "artistic gymnast," a gymnast who relies more on artistry than the hard moves she did before; a long-running string throughout the show is Payson's poor self-esteem in everything which is not gymnastics. She develops an extremely close relationship with Sasha Belov, her coach, and he helps to show her not only what she's capable of but advocates for her at every turn. Of course, like every teenage girl, Payson begins to mistake his genuine interest in her career and life as romantic interest, which leads to an awkward kiss, a firing from the Rock, and months of guilt on Payson's part. Even when Sasha returns, Payson is never quite able to shake others' memories of her indescretion with her coach, which is entirely out of character for Payson. Unlike the other girls in the gym, Payson's first priority is always gymnastics; she does not let boys distract her from her goal, which has always been the Olympics.
What makes Payson such a great character is, at the end of the day, Payson's first priority is Payson. That isn't to say she's self-centered or unsympathetic because she isn't; Payson is always the first person to help anyone. But Payson is not willing sacrifice who she is and what she wants for anyone else, even if that means she doesn't have the "traditional" teenage experience. Payson is focused, determined, and oftentimes completely baffled by her teammates indulgences in what she views as meaningless distractions which get in the way of their Olympic dreams. Payson frequently stresses to the girls that they should be focusing on their dreams, not boys or gossip, and she truly believes it.
And that is a type of kick-ass which more teenage girls need to be exposed to.
So I have a great love of all (well, most) things aimed at teenage girls. I love YA lit, I know most of the lyrics to Justin Bieber songs (stop judging me), and I probably spend more time watching the CW and ABC Family than a woman of 26 should. Now, part of this is because I just think adolescence is an interesting time period storytelling-wise because everything feels so life and death; another part of it is I used to work exclusively with teenage girls and it's helpful to know what they like so you have something to talk about to get them to loosen up. I also have a sister who is 10 years younger than I am, as well as about 23 younger female cousins, and so it's just helpful to know what they're watching/listening to/reading. Now, the downside of my loving all of these non-age appropriate things is I frequently turn into the Incredible Hulk because so many of the characters put forth for teenage girls are terrible. I mean, they are straight, up-and-up, "I can't believe this got published/put on the air" terrible. We're talking girls who put up with relationships which are obviously abusive and hold it up as true love, girls who do nothing but slut shame and judge, girls who have no wants or desires beyond having a boyfriend. I generally enter into new shows with extreme trepidation and keep my expectations low. That is why I was pleasantly surprised by Payson on Make It or Break It.
Make It or Break It is set at the fictional Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Training Facility (aka the Rock) and follows four girls who are training to go to the Olympics. Now, not all of the characters are great and there are certainly problematic elements and just plain ridiculous storylines, but Payson Keeler was consistently one of the best characters (and I am not counting the 8-episode "last season" in this assessment because those last 8 episodes were so ridiculous and just not what this show was about, it's better forgotten.)
Payson is a 16-year-old elite gymnast who has always been the best in the gym and in the junior Olympics world. From a firmly middle-class family (unlike Kaylie or Lauren), Payson is aware of the sacrifices her parents and younger sister have had to make for her dream, including moving to Colorado from Minnesota and her father having to remain in Minnesota in order to work. Payson is what is known as a "power gymnast;" she does the most extreme moves and everyone knows she is the best. But after spending months injected cortisone into her back rather than give it time to rest (and thereby losing valuable training time), Payson falls off the uneven bars and breaks her back, an injury that should be a career ender. Instead, after rehab and months spent in a back brace, Payson must start from the ground up as an "artistic gymnast," a gymnast who relies more on artistry than the hard moves she did before; a long-running string throughout the show is Payson's poor self-esteem in everything which is not gymnastics. She develops an extremely close relationship with Sasha Belov, her coach, and he helps to show her not only what she's capable of but advocates for her at every turn. Of course, like every teenage girl, Payson begins to mistake his genuine interest in her career and life as romantic interest, which leads to an awkward kiss, a firing from the Rock, and months of guilt on Payson's part. Even when Sasha returns, Payson is never quite able to shake others' memories of her indescretion with her coach, which is entirely out of character for Payson. Unlike the other girls in the gym, Payson's first priority is always gymnastics; she does not let boys distract her from her goal, which has always been the Olympics.
What makes Payson such a great character is, at the end of the day, Payson's first priority is Payson. That isn't to say she's self-centered or unsympathetic because she isn't; Payson is always the first person to help anyone. But Payson is not willing sacrifice who she is and what she wants for anyone else, even if that means she doesn't have the "traditional" teenage experience. Payson is focused, determined, and oftentimes completely baffled by her teammates indulgences in what she views as meaningless distractions which get in the way of their Olympic dreams. Payson frequently stresses to the girls that they should be focusing on their dreams, not boys or gossip, and she truly believes it.
And that is a type of kick-ass which more teenage girls need to be exposed to.