100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #64
64. Rebecca "Becky" Bloomwood Brandon, as seen in The Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella and the film Confessions of a Shopaholic, portrayed by Isla Fisher
I have a great appreciation for the books that the publishing industry pejoratively labels "chick lit." Because these books oftentimes feature women who are trying to navigate relationships, body image issues, and difficulty with jobs, books like this often get written off as silly, especially books like Sophie Kinsella's. Now, don't get me wrong: these books are not "the great American novels," but they are funny, entertaining, and are able to showcase the relationships characters have with friends, siblings, lovers, and bosses in a way that women can relate to, often more than they can relate to characters in traditional literary fiction.
When we meet Becky Bloomwood in Confessions of a Shopaholic, Becky is living with her best friend Suze, writing for a financial magazine despite no interest in it whatsoever, and she is racking up huge debts on her credit cards. It is an ongoing theme throughout the series that Becky is terrible with money, usually getting herself in outlandish situations and predicaments as a result. But while the books are named after Becky's addiction to shopping, that isn't necessarily what they're about; the books revolve around Becky's relationships with her parents (overly involved, downright helicopter-like even though she's in her twenties), her best friends (Suze and later Suze's husband Tarquin, as well as their three children), her recently discovered half-sister (Jess), Becky's boyfriend turned husband (Luke), and Becky's daughter Minnie. They address the balance between work and family, necessary evils of family relationships (Luke's biological mother is quite the trip), and what it means to be a good mother and the mommy wars. Of course, they do this all in a hysterically funny way, which makes it all the better.
What I love about Becky is she genuinely always has her heart in the right place. Yes, she's kind of a flake and gets herself into ridiculous situations in attempts to hide or fix her shopping problems, but she also wants the best for everyone. She freaks out about other people's perceptions of her daughter because she wants to be the best mother she can be, and the idea she might be doing something wrong deeply bothers her; she panics over the affair she's certain Luke is having with her obstetrician because she deeply loves her husband and hates the idea of being without him. All that Becky does comes from a place of genuine caring, and, while the execution may be off, it comes from a sweet place.
So often only a certain type of character is praised, and characters like Becky - vain, superficial, over-the-top - get written off without a moment's consideration. And while Becky is those things, she's also so much more once you scratch the surface. If only one type of woman is ever praised, it completely eliminates the 10,000 other types of women, and it also says that an interest in things like fashion makes a woman less intellectual or interesting than a woman who likes more "serious" pursuits.
Becky proves you can be both superficial and have substance, and that is wonderfully kick-ass.
WARNING: The movie is not an accurate representation of the books, the characters, or pretty much anything more than a movie with characters who have the same names.
I have a great appreciation for the books that the publishing industry pejoratively labels "chick lit." Because these books oftentimes feature women who are trying to navigate relationships, body image issues, and difficulty with jobs, books like this often get written off as silly, especially books like Sophie Kinsella's. Now, don't get me wrong: these books are not "the great American novels," but they are funny, entertaining, and are able to showcase the relationships characters have with friends, siblings, lovers, and bosses in a way that women can relate to, often more than they can relate to characters in traditional literary fiction.
When we meet Becky Bloomwood in Confessions of a Shopaholic, Becky is living with her best friend Suze, writing for a financial magazine despite no interest in it whatsoever, and she is racking up huge debts on her credit cards. It is an ongoing theme throughout the series that Becky is terrible with money, usually getting herself in outlandish situations and predicaments as a result. But while the books are named after Becky's addiction to shopping, that isn't necessarily what they're about; the books revolve around Becky's relationships with her parents (overly involved, downright helicopter-like even though she's in her twenties), her best friends (Suze and later Suze's husband Tarquin, as well as their three children), her recently discovered half-sister (Jess), Becky's boyfriend turned husband (Luke), and Becky's daughter Minnie. They address the balance between work and family, necessary evils of family relationships (Luke's biological mother is quite the trip), and what it means to be a good mother and the mommy wars. Of course, they do this all in a hysterically funny way, which makes it all the better.
What I love about Becky is she genuinely always has her heart in the right place. Yes, she's kind of a flake and gets herself into ridiculous situations in attempts to hide or fix her shopping problems, but she also wants the best for everyone. She freaks out about other people's perceptions of her daughter because she wants to be the best mother she can be, and the idea she might be doing something wrong deeply bothers her; she panics over the affair she's certain Luke is having with her obstetrician because she deeply loves her husband and hates the idea of being without him. All that Becky does comes from a place of genuine caring, and, while the execution may be off, it comes from a sweet place.
So often only a certain type of character is praised, and characters like Becky - vain, superficial, over-the-top - get written off without a moment's consideration. And while Becky is those things, she's also so much more once you scratch the surface. If only one type of woman is ever praised, it completely eliminates the 10,000 other types of women, and it also says that an interest in things like fashion makes a woman less intellectual or interesting than a woman who likes more "serious" pursuits.
Becky proves you can be both superficial and have substance, and that is wonderfully kick-ass.
WARNING: The movie is not an accurate representation of the books, the characters, or pretty much anything more than a movie with characters who have the same names.