Friendship Friday

For today's Friday special, I'd like to take a cue from a recent Mary Sue post and focus on TV/film portrayals of female friendships.

With many TV shows and movies centering men, and portraying women primarily in relation to men, it seems rare to see not just two female characters who talk about something other than a man, but also rare to see two who genuinely seem to be friends.

Sometimes, a woman can be a main character but, like poor Smurfette, she must be surrounded by male characters (see also, Scully, The X-Files). Sometimes, she can smart, but her closest female friend must be shallow, distant, and narcissistic (Liz Lemon, 30 Rock).  Or, if she is a legit leader, she treats those closest to her like shit, thus ensuring she doesn't actually have real friends, female or otherwise (Selina, Veep).  Other times, she is a main character, but she primarily relates to men on the show - with other women serving as villains, as not fully-developed, or as rivals to a male love interest (Olivia, Fringe - see also the show's crappy treatment of Astrid).

While I may still (or maybe have) shipped some of the following pairings, I would agree with Courtney Holmes at The Mary Sue that platonic relationships can be just as important as romantic ones - and that such portrayals are also important.  They show that (a) women exist as more than sexual beings (or not sexual beings at all), and (b) they also exist as subjects in their own and each other's lives rather than as mere objects and supporting characters in men's.

Some of my favorite friendship portrayals include:

• Buffy/Willow (also mentioned at The Mary Sue);

• Jackie/Zoey (Nurse Jackie);

• Rowan/Bel (The Steerswoman book series);

• Doris Murphy/Mae Mordabito (A League of Their Own);

• Indra/Octavia (The 100);

• Meredith/Christina (Grey's Anatomy);

• Bo/Kenzi (Lost Girl);

• Taystee/Poussey (Orange is the New Black; also a previous Femslash Friday, but in canon they're platonic friends only)

• Thelma/Louise (obvs);

• Alicia/Kalinda (The Good Wife; also a potential upcoming Femslash Friday, to be honest);

• Lorelai/Sookie (Gilmore Girls);

• Jenny/Kitty  (Jenny's Wedding) - ha ha, kidding!

And, in honor of today's post, I give you an ode to business lady lunch specials with your bestie, via BFFs Romy and Michelle:

Who else?