Lucy Lawless - Satellite Times
Feminist Warrior

Satellite Times
August 1997

Transcribed by Ralf Franken



FEMINIST WARRIOR?

Alex J Geairns considers the huge benefifs of "Xena - Warrior Princess",  showing her charms eyery Sunday at 7pm on Sky Two, and wonders if the series isn't actually designed for kids .....

When pressed, Janet at Sky's publicity department was kind enough to send  me a huge wad of printed matter concerning their new smash hit series, featuring an Amazonian-style woman who no doubt intimidates many a man. Argue with her, and she'll have you on the floor in moments. But we ain't talking passion here, guys, you've probably been laid low by a quick step
and a side kick.

I also asked for a good selection of photographs to illustrate the feature. I was requested to define "good". Ones that show off the charms of the Warrior Princess herself, I replied. Normally, you get a wry  comment when requesting such images from ladies in publicity offices. This was a little different though - as if Xena was someone you could be  allowed to fantasize about.
What goes on? It was only when I read the documentation that accompanied the pictures that the penny dropped. You see, what I hadn't realised is that Xena, Warrior Princess, has become a feminist icon.

Excuse me? Yes, even though she's got more cleavage on display than in half a series worth of "Charlie's Angels", Xena has become a positive role model to many of her female fans. Donna Minkowitz, in the July edition of  "Ms" magazine, drew womankind's attention to not only the obvious aspects of her behaviour in the series, the ability to flatten opponents, use a
whip and/or sword to best advantage, and ride her horse Argo with great skill, but also to the underlying lifestyle that she leads.

Xena doesn't'have a boyfriend. Admittedly, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) converted her from the path of evil that she rode when the character first appeared on the parent series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys", and she sees him now and again, but that doesn't stop her taking a number of male lovers when the mood, or need, arises. Xena's also one of the first white
female characters to passionately kiss a black male on screen. His name was Marcus (played by Bobby Hosea).

It is the fact that she chooses to travel with an idealistic, outspoken and gregarious lady called Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) that leads to the other ambiguity in the character of Xena. Mix into the equation the fact that the series is set around the time of events in Ancient Greece, and the possibility arises that maybe, just maybe, Xena is bisexual.

Of course, how much should be read into events on-screen is a matter of personal perceptions and taste. I certainly didn't immediately think that this was a show that would be applauded by some feminists. What is interesting is the comparison of Xena's audience demographics with those of its parent show, Hercules. Young boys don't like watching Xena, but do
watch Hercules. Young girls watch both. Where Xena scores is that men and women aged 18 to 34 watch it in greater numbers than they do Hercules. It even does better overall in syndicated American TV ratings these days than
both "Baywatch" and "Star Trek - Deep Space Nine" - now, how's that for vital statistics?

Xena battles a selection of mythical villains and evil-doers with a mixture of strength, cunning, acrobatic agility, martial arts skills, and a variety of weapons. Her arsenal includes the chakram, a razor-sharp discus-like weapon she throws like a boomerang at her adversaries, and the "Xena Touch", a two-fingered pinch on the pressure points of the neck,
which she uses to extract information from otherwise reluctant sources. Did someone detect Vulcan heritage in her, too?

The star of the show without doubt is Lucy Lawless, destined to be 1997's pin-up of the year. Born On 29th March 1968, she's a lady who has already lived an incredible life. The fifth of seven children - five brothers and  one younger sister - her Catholic upbringing in Auckland was punctuated with the family fascination of rugby. Her father, Frank Ryan, was a former mayor of Auckland. Mother Julie always proudly describes the way little Lucy used to sing and dance on the coffee table, using a sea-shell as a pretend microphone.

In 1986, she went to Auckland University to study languages (she's now fluent in German and French, with a little knowledge of Italian) and opera, only to leave the following year to jaunt around Europe. Childhood sweetheart Garth Lawless found her and took her back to Australia (via Greece!), where they settled in Kalgoolie, near Perth. Soon after, Lucy found herself pregnant and, following a "quickie" marriage in 1988, daughter Daisy was born. The marriage was destined for trouble, as can often happen with couples that marry so young, and it broke up last year:  Her daughter is now her top priority.

Lucy's first acting break came in 1989, featuring in a New Zealand comedy revue show called "Funny Business". Appearances in shows such as "High Tide", "The Ray Bradbury Theatre" and the film "Rainbow Warrior" followed, and she even spent a few months in Vancouver studying at the William Davis Centre for Actors Study in 1991 (yes, X-Files fans, that probably is the Cigarette Smoking Man himself we're talking about).

Her association with the Hercules saga began when she was cast as Lysia, the second-in-command of a bunch of Amazonians, in the Action Pack movie "Hercules and the Amazon Women", due to be screened soon on Sky's movie
channels. Then, she appeared in two regular episodes of Hercules, "As Darkness Falls" and "Outcast' as Lyla, the wife of a centaur called Deric (I kid you not!). Soon after, she found herself as a last-minute  replacement for the role of Xena in the episode "The Warrior Princess". Her hair was dyed black, which accentuated her steel-blue eyes, and by accident the production team found themselves a star. Two more episodes of Hercules followed, "The Gauntlet' and "Unchained Heart", before the decision was taken to launch Xena in her own spin-off series, a move made  when fellow Action Pack series "Vanishing Son" suddenly got cancelled.

Though a student of yoga, Lucy has no particular training in martial arts, sword play or stunt work. However, martial arts master Douglas Wong taught her some basic Kung Fu moves, as well as fighting techniques with swords and staffs to give her a grounding for her adventures in the series. Her passion for jazz and opera came in useful when she actually does sing
in one episode - look out for it.

Like Hercules, Xena is filmed in Auckland, New Zealand, and will be continuing production into 1998 at least - its popularity being so huge. Perhaps the final word should be left to executive producer Robert Tapert, who noted "Many local TV stations in America initially refused to air our show because they thought no-one would want to see a woman hitting men. But they were wrong".

And you can see just how wrong they were by tuning in to Sky Two on Sunday nights!

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