Vintage Badassery:
Veronica Mars of Veronica Mars
By Que
Unlike most other heroines on this site, Veronica Mars doesn’t literally kick ass. She is, arguably, smarter and spunkier than all of them. She has no destiny, there are no prophecies written about her, and no superhuman strength. What Veronica has is a strong will, and a talent of solving a mystery.
Had Veronica Mars gone on to season 4, we might have seen a highly trained FBI agent (as Rob Thomas pitched to the CW) wielding a gun and kicking some literal bad guy ass. However, since Dawn Ostroff felt that it was more important for the Pussycat Dolls to find a new backup ho…um…dancer, Veronica Mars was cancelled after 3 seasons. In the time slot, Ms Ostroff gifted us with, The Search For the Next Pussycat Doll. I wish I were making that up. It happened. Due to that unfortunate incident, we were never allowed to see Veronica grow into the FBI field agent she was meant to become.
With or without the FBI badge, Veronica Mars was still capable of defeating villains, solving murders, and putting away criminals. She has the resources of her father’s private eye business and wit to spare, she’s always one step ahead of her target. Veronica is brave enough step into dangerous situations armed with nothing more than her trusty taser, her Sidekick (phone), and her Backup (dog). Demure in stature, Kristen Bell plays Veronica in a way that makes you believe she is capable of holding her own against hitmen, rapists, murderers, and billionaire CEOs. What she lacks in size, she makes up resourcefulness.
Imagine Buffy without her superpowers, amp up her sarcastic humor, she’d be Veronica Mars. The difference is that Buffy’s destiny chose her. She is a hero because she was chosen to become one. When Veronica Mars’ life fell apart, she picked herself up, and chased after the people responsible. Veronica never dwelled her misfortunes, she was more concerned with finding the bastards that caused it to served a nice helping of comeuppances. It was nice to see a female character with her strength, wit, and sense of moral compass on television. Strong females don’t always need to have powers or guns to kick ass. Some just have good ole determination.
