(And, Ms. Kaling, if you’re reading this, I think you’re equally as amazing! Oh, and do you need any more writer’s assistants?)

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Last year, Tig Notaro became instantly famous in the comedy world, Twittersphere and blogosphere after a once in a lifetime stand up act at Largo. Did I mention that she was a standup comedian? No? Okay, she’s a standup comedian and a favorite of Louis C.K. and Conan, as well as people who are way more knowledgeable about standup than I am. She took the world and the audience by surprise when she came out that day to perform her standup act but instead delivered the most heartfelt, funny, tragic and moving set. Her opening line: “Good Evening! Hello. I have cancer, how are you?” Tig had been diagnosed that week with breast cancer in both breasts. After her mother passed away. After she was hospitalized with a life-threatening virus. After a bad breakup. All in the same year.

That night, she went onstage in the middle of all of her turmoil, her emotional pain and confusion, and delivered one of the greatest standup acts anyone will have had the pleasure to see or hear. She also started her healing process. She wasn’t sad and weepy, or self-pitying. She was direct and frank and funny. I’ve been lucky enough to hear this set- my friend and I downloaded it from iTunes one afternoon and we were blown away (BLOWN AWAY) by her honesty, frankness, sarcasm, and, yes, pain. She turned her pain and personal tumult into something real and human. She says during the set that often comedians use the formula “Tragedy + Time = Comedy” when writing. She didn’t have any time, but she had tragedy, and her frankness created the comedy for her. Sometimes it helps to just laugh, too.

Since then, Tig has been open with people about remaining present in your daily life (in her own sarcastic way, which makes it even better). We never know when we’ll have something taken away from us, we never know when it’ll all be over, we never know when tragedy may strike. It’s important to remain present and appreciate our lives, our health, our families while we have them.

Being present is something we all take for granted every single day, every single hour, every single minute. We are not a present species. We plan ahead, we hope and dream for things to come, we worry about what’s going on the next day, we worry about mistakes we’ve made in the past. But are we ever present? I know that I’m not. I think ahead, I wonder about what will happen, I think about my future… I do a lot of this. But I try to remember to think and appreciate great moments as they happen. I don’t want those moments that are life changing to pass me by, I want to grab them by the horns and hold on to them so they are cemented in my memory. Granted, we don’t always know which moments are going to change our lives. Some of them come out of nowhere, the good and the bad, but once they are there and are ones you can easily recognize as something that is big and huge and crazy, take those ones in and put them away.

Tig’s special, now available for download thanks to Louis C.K. who convinced her to release it, helped me remember that. I listened to it when it was released in the middle of my own bad year. It made me realize that my year wasn’t as bad as hers, though I’m sure many people could say that. It made me realize that perhaps I was being melodramatic, that I had so many things to be grateful for, to appreciate. It also made me realize the mark of a true artist. She turned her pain into something real and tangible for others to comprehend and absorb and relate to.

I have listened to more of her comedy since that day, and call myself a fan of hers. You can call me a band wagon fan all you want and I won’t deny it. I’ve immensely enjoyed her interviews since Tig Notaro: Live was released, in which she’s been even more open and forthcoming about her diagnosis, treatment and remission. Even more so, I’ve enjoyed her reminders to stay present in life. Even if that means answering a text with a funny cat picture during a national television interview.

Do yourselves a favor if you haven’t already and download Tig’s special, Tig Notaro: Live (but check yourself for the correct pronunciation before you say it out loud) from iTunes. Please actually pay for this one- the proceeds ($5) go to cancer research, guys! While you’re listening, thank her biggest fan Louis C.K. for not only convincing her to release it, but for also tweeting about the set after he had seen it.

Then, think about all the things you can do to help yourself remain present in your life, or share your tips for doing so with us, so we can help ourselves, too!

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Comic book adaptations do so well, it seems like every character is getting his light in the sun. I will count myself among the skeptical masses when it was announced that Thor would get his own movie. Thor? Really? However, I loved it. And continue to love it, and can’t wait for the sequel (and thank you, Kenneth Branagh, for bringing us muscle-toned Hemsworth in all his glory). I will also admit that I’m more invested than a lot of people, and girls, when it comes to superhero films because my grandfather raised me on comic books as soon as I could read. Superman is my favorite (I know, I know, but I love him) and I’m eagerly awaiting his newest adaptation, Man of Steel! I’ve enjoyed most of the comic book adaptations that we’ve been graced with by the movie powers that be.

But, there’s still something amiss. There haven’t really been adaptations for any of the female superheroes that grace the illustrated page. You’ll say, “But wait, Shannon, what about Catwoman and Elektra?” To which I will respond, “Those were adaptations, yes, but they weren’t given the same seriousness and due the male counterparts receive on a daily basis.” And Elektra and Catwoman? Really, DC? I love me some Jennifer Garner and Halle Berry, so no disrespect, but those movies were wrong from the get go (the barely there costumes and barely there plots). Elektra could have been AMAZING!

Catwoman is a whole other story, because Catwoman deserves her own movie (or series of films). No matter which Catwoman origin story you prefer, the character is an enigma and could hold her own in a blockbuster. Christopher Nolan’s Catwoman as portrayed by Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises added depth and humor and a sly femininity to the film. I’d watch a whole movie based on that character and that version of Ms. Kyle all day. The cat-burglar/villain/love interest/sometimes good guy, I love it! Tim Burton had even developed and started pre-production on his own Catwoman film during his Batman hey-day, but the studio didn’t believe it would sell, that it was too dark and that no one would care about Catwoman. It was shelved and he was fired. I say, bring it back! Work with Nolan so it’s not campy but realistic, and EVERYONE would go see it.

I firmly believe the party line on superheroine films is that studios never believed they would sell. They haven’t seemed to have faith that men would go see a movie about a woman kicking ass. That women would be interested, that anyone outside the fanboy realm would care. To be fair, the adaptations they have chosen to produce and distribute have proved their point. Self-fulfilling prophecy, much?  But 2013 is a different time. Women are kicking ass EVERYWHERE – on television, in larger blockbusters with men or on their own. The Hunger Games was the third largest grossing film of 2012. Its lead is a kick ass girl, and men and women and fanboys all lined up to see it. And keep seeing it. Black Widow was featured in both Iron Man 2 and The Avengers and tore up the screen! Heck, even Brave, Pixar’s first film featuring a strong female lead, cracked the top 10 for highest gross in 2012.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that the way movies are changing these days and the amount of stories that focus on women, the amount of women who love going to movies and the way stories are being told seems to leave the door open for more female-centric plotlines. Plus, a movie’s success is starting to boil down to how strong the characters are, no matter their sex. Katniss works for everyone because she is a strong lead – it doesn’t matter that she’s a girl. Catwoman worked in The Dark Knight Rises because she added a strong foil/antagonist to Batman and they played off each other well.

With all of the female superheroes around, why haven’t studios decided to forge ahead in to the new century and have a go? Why hasn’t Wonder Woman ever, EVER, been on screen? The invisible plane seemed to be an issue for a while, but Joss Whedon clearly knew what he was doing with the invisible air craft carrier in The Avengers, so that’s a moot point (and a shout out). The lame costume? Can totally be updated and still be sexy for the boys/studio heads. The lasso of truth? I’m still down with it. Wonder Woman is such an iconic character in American lore, it’s a shame she doesn’t get any respect. David E. Kelley tried to get a television series going, but was shot down after pilot season. Joss Whedon has been trying to get Wonder Woman on screen for years, and hasn’t been able to do so. He would be the PERFECT director for a Wonder Woman project because he has written some of the strongest women to exist in media (Buffy!) and he understands how truly kick ass a woman can really be, while still in a sexy, form-fitting costume to appease the men (ScarJo as Black Widow, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill). Dude just gets it.

Both Storm, and Jean Grey have huge X-Men followings, and Kitty Pride is another fan favorite. A movie about the three of them would be awesome, let alone a single film on any. I’d love a Storm back story, Storm is awesome! Jean Grey/The Phoenix is another story that would be awesome on screen, especially with the dual personality aspect. Batwoman has a HUGE following and would tie in some current life events, considering her proposal to her girlfriend in some of the most recent issues of the current comic series. And I don’t know about you, but I’d love a movie featuring Black Widow and her Russian assassin/turned S.H.E..I.L.D employee past.

As a comic book fangirl, I would love to see any of these movies. As a girl, I would love to see any of these movies. As a movie fan, I would love to see any of these movies. You get the idea. I know a lot of women and girls and fanboys out there feel the same way. I hope that Katniss Everdeen is leading the way and breaking through the heroine glass ceiling.

What do you guys think? What super heroines would you love to see fly on the big screen?

Featured image via Movie Beauty

The post Where Are All The Super Ladies?: Why Studios Need To Get Behind Female Superheroes appeared first on HelloGiggles.

Who knows? I’ve been writing a current series on who my spirit animal is, and it’s hard to pick just one. When I really come down to think about it, I’m not exactly sure who or what my spirit animal is. There are many characters who embody traits I see in myself, or hope to acquire at some day. If I’m being totally honest, I think my spirit animal is some sort of combination between Bridget Jones/Liz Lemon/Lizzie Bennett.

Some people just know who their spirit animal is. And sometimes it’s easy to know- like when you connect with a certain character in a movie or TV show SO much! You just see yourself in them on screen or on the page. Things they say, how they react, how they dress, who they are is totally you. Isn’t it great when that happens?

I totally live a majority of my life in the land of fiction, be it literature, television or movies, so most of the strong connections I feel to another spirit are characters. And the running joke is that it’s easy to fall in love with fictional characters, which is just the worst form of unrequited love, am I right?

But, your spirit animal totally doesn’t have to be a fictional character, but a real, living, person! I know that I would LOVE to embody any of the fierceness of Beyonce. Or Michelle Obama. Or Alison Mosshart (of the band The Kills).  Or even Ke$ha. Seriously.

Plus, throw in the idea of a Patronus from Harry Potter, and it gets even more confusing! Like, I don’t even know what form my Patronus would take- I love so many different animals!

Then, there’s the idea of the internet meme as spirit animal. I’m looking at you, Grumpy Cat!

I can’t even begin to talk about the different cultural aspects of spirit animals, either, because there’s so much out there that I’m not familiar with that can also be taken into account.

So, how do you know who or what your spirit animal is?

• Someone (character or real life person) who you really just feel is you
• Someone (character or real life person) who says exactly what you would say in any given situation
• Someone (character or real life person) who acts exactly how you would in any given situation
• Someone you just totally get
• Someone you aspire to be, and feel like you’re enough alike that you could get there
• An animal you feel you resemble (I’m pretty sure mine would be a bear. Or a cat.)

There’s no real right or wrong, y’all. It’s all about going with your gut, your instinct. And who says you only have to have one spirit animal? Or your spirit animal can’t change? Or can’t be a combination?

Who (or what) are some of your spirit animals?

Featured image via ShutterStock

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