The panel for The 100 at San Diego Comic-Con offered teases of Season 4, updates on MIA characters, musings on controversial deaths, and revelations about storylines that never aired. But nothing was as important, or as well-articulated, as the response to the final question of the panel, when a fan asked the show's three female stars — Eliza Taylor, Marie Avgeropoulos, and Lindsey Morgan — how it feels to play such complex female characters.
"It is absolute honor," said Taylor, who plays fierce leader Clarke Griffin. "I cannot tell you how many times I've played the dumb, blonde, slutty best friend of some guy. I've done that for 15 years now, and the last three, I've been able to play someone smart and strong and responsible and worthy, and it honestly gets me emotional because it makes me so happy. I love that we're in a day and age now where women can be portrayed that way."
Avgeropoulos, who plays powerful warrior Octavia Blake, added to Taylor's sentiments. "I have nieces and nephews. I'm just happy that they can watch TV and look up to me doing something positive and inspiring," she said. "I don't want to name names or sell anybody down the river, but nowadays, thanks to social media ... I find a lot of young girls are looking up to the wrong kind of things. It's pretty cool that we get to play warriors or really smart mechanics or doctors. We have the best job ever."
Finally, Morgan, who plays the mechanic Avgeropoulos was referring to, Raven Reyes, brought it home. "As a woman, especially a woman of color, it's funny how Hollywood wants to put you in a box and that box is labeled 'maid' or 'pregnant' or that box is labeled 'just a girlfriend' or 'a slut,'" she said. "Women are so much more than that, and it's not even like, Oh, women are stronger these days. No. Women have always been strong; women have been capable and able and amazing at life. It's just now, Hollywood's finally catching up to the norm and waking up. I'm so grateful to be part of a show and a network and a team of writers and a creator that see the value in that and see how important it is to portray that representation for women in the world, because media touches us all. We need to see examples of empowerment, because when we see that ... it seems like that's the norm."
Well said, ladies!
