Top Five Sci-Fi Moms!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Some still think that Science Fiction is a guys’ game. And while there are a lot of daddy issues to be found, let’s celebrate the moms of science Fiction!
#1 – The list must start with the actual mother of science fiction herself: Mary Shelly. Her 1818 novel Frankenstein, Or The Modern Prometheus. The monster may have had issues with Dr. Victor Frankenstein, but we can all agree his mother changed the fiction’s landscape forever.
Mary Shelly portrait by Richard Rothwell
#2 – It can’t be easy to be the Chief Medical Officer on the Federation’s Enterprise. Add a precocious teen to the mix and single mom Doctor Beverley Crusher has a very full plate. Actress Gates McFadden was a great member of Star Trek: The Next Generation ensemble cast, and she and Wil Wheaton to this day tweet each other as Space Mom and Space Son.
Chief Medical Officer and Space Mom – Doctor Beverley Crusher
#3 – Sometimes a mother must make sacrifices and no sci fi mom shows this better than Sarah Connor, especially in 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Linda Hamilton) and in the 2008-2009 television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Lena Headey). The 19 year old from the first movie had taken herself, and her son, off the grid to learn basic skills like electronic encryption, how to handle guns, and how to break out of a mental institute, while preparing for the robot apocalypse.
#4 – Other times, it takes a while for a mom to accept her daughter’s lifestyle choice, especially if she vanishes without a trace. To be fair, Doctor Who‘s relaunch in 2005 meant that Jackie Tyler’s (played by Camille Coduri) introduction to the Doctor wasn’t the greatest, what with being attacked by shop window dummies and spending a year putting up flyers for a lost Rose. But she eventually came around, not only accepted the Doctor, but even providing solutions when Rose couldn’t. Her arc continues when she crossing to a parallel universe where she learns to wield large guns at daleks. Here’s to Jackie Tyler!
Off Beat solutions by Jackie Tyler!
#5 – There was a battle for the most recent spot on the list, but while I adore the not so fun time travel paradoxes of Continuum, we don’t see a lot of Keira’s parenting skills. Being trapped over sixty years in her past, our present, means that for the first two seasons Keira Cameron’s (played by Rachel Nichols) main goal is to figure out a way back to her family in the future. One of the main tensions of the show is her worry about if her actions now will change her future then. But another show that features moms is 2013’s Orphan Black. I’m not sure if the perfect soccer mom’s clone Alison or grifter’s clone Sarah (both played by Tatiana Maslany) are in the best spot to prove their maternal skills. But Sarah’s goal is to make sure her daughter is safe, by whatever means necessary.
Happy Mother’s Day – and if you have a favourite sci-fi mom – why not comment and let me know! (pst the feature image is by James Riggins)
