Colombiana = A Heir to Kill Bill

ENTERTAINMENT - If you loved Kill Bill (I adored both Kill Bill films)you're probably going to enjoy this one:

Colombiana: Zoe Saldana plays a young woman who, after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogotá, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the monster responsible for her parents' death.

It doesn't say it in the trailer, but they also hint that he raped her.

Films where women are physically or metaphorically raped and then go on a killing spree (essentially because they've been traumatized) are really kind of a warning to never underestimate the vengeance of a woman.

Hell hath no fury like a vengeful woman.

"Revenge is a dish best served cold."

Fantasy Authors at Work

ENTERTAINMENT - Is fantasy just something for men?

No, evidently not. Not when you consider fantasy authors like Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin and J.K. Rowling, just for starters. There is also Marion Zimmer Bradley, Margaret Weis and many more.

As male fantasy authors go there is Robert E. Howard, George R.R. Martin, Tolkien, Guy Gabriel Kay, Troy Denning, Tracy Hickman, David Eddings, Dave Duncan and many others.

The major difference between male and female fantasy authors however seems to be the number of films / TV shows based off their work. Male authors have way more movies and TV shows... Conan, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and so forth.

For female fantasy authors its a very short list... Harry Potter.

And I don't think it is any lack of quality of the imagination of the authors. ie. Anne McCaffrey's "Dragon Riders of Pern" would make a great film if given an opportunity. Same goes with the Dragonlance Trilogy, co-written by both Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

When it comes to being a fantasy author you really have to measure success by whether its made into a film.

Which begs the question, would it be beneficial for female fantasy authors to publish their works under a male pseudonym just so they're taken more seriously?

Maybe. But I think personal charisma and the likeability of characters makes a huge difference. Harry Potter, Conan and characters like Frodo / Gandalf deserve to be recognized in film... but again you may have noticed many of them are male characters.

Could we assume this is because more men read fantasy in the first place? Maybe. Its difficult to say the exact reason.