Lisabeth Salander: The new superhero

Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” trilogy is quite the modern woman, as explained in Sam Ostrowski’s Jan. 9 column.

In fact, she is the only reason I continued to read the trilogy over the summer — I had to know more about her.

Characters like Salander are exactly as Ostrowski describes: A modern mythology.
 
She’s on par with other modern myths, such as the likes of Superman, Spider-Man, Batman or even James Bond.

What’s more, we could use more of her type in books and movies. Salander takes feminist ideals to the extreme, just as male superheroes practice traditionally masculine ones.

Salander takes no nonsense, uses her mind intelligently, controls her sexuality and seeks revenge.

Superhero men are strong, attractive, clever and comfortable with their authority. Salander and the comic book superheroes are both intended to fulfill a fantasy.

No one is actually expected to live like Salander or a superhero. She wears her fringe culture affiliation like a spandex suit and cape. It keeps her safe.

No one questions her because of the way she dresses herself, and no one questions a hero’s right to fight criminals once they see him in his suit. This allows her to go out and do her work uninterrupted.

I don’t want to watch more stories about toned down “do-good mothers” any more than men want to see a story about a cubicle-dwelling middleman.

I crave the fantasy of a genuine woman superhero, living out her life that’s as unreal as any James Bond plotline. Salander is the first of that kind.

­— Erin Boland