Lisbeth Salander - As Cool As It Gets!

I just finished watching the final movie of the Millennium Triology, "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest."  I watched the first and second movies, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," and, "The Girl Who Played With Fire," last week. 

As for the "unputdownable" books, written by the late Stieg Larsson, I've read "The Girl With Dragon Tattoo," and I am half-way through "The Girl Who Play with Fire."  I have to admit, I wish I had read all three books, then watched the videos, but I just couldn't wait.  The books are great, but so are the movies - an unusual thing.  As we all know, most books are usually superior to the movie version, but in this case, while the books are fantastic, so are the movies, and what made them so fantastic is the best protagonist I've seen in a long time - Lisbeth Salander.

Lisbeth, played so perfectly in the film by Swedish actress, Noomi Rapace, is a natural redhead, who dyes her hair black, she has multiple piercings, and dresses in black - black leather that is, and on her feet are black Converse sneakers or hip, black boots (just like 16-year-old Kevan Flood, one of the characters in my story, WIND).  Lisbeth is physically strong, but tiny; she's the size of a child, and as thin as a whip, the books say.  She rides a motorcycle, she boxes, wields a tazer, and is as agile as a cat.

Lisbeth is a 28-year-old computer hacker, employed by a security firm in Stockholm, Sweden.  She is a survivor of horrific abuse as a child, and adult, and has a severe distrust of people, mainly men.  She's an introvert; she's more of a listener, than a talker, which is probably why she is so intuitive.  She has a eidetic(photographic) memory; she can recall memories, images and sounds with stunning clarity.  She's the best there is at hacking into other people's computers and laptops, and uncovering covert information that would otherwise never have seen the light of day.

However, I think the trait I love most about Lisbeth is her comfort in her own skin.  She's angry yes, but her anger is justified, and aimed in the right direction - punishing the bad guys, when conventional law enforcement is stymied.  Lisbeth Salander knows who she is, and if you don't like her, that's just too bad.

Move over, Xena, Cat Woman, Batgirl, Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Laura Croft, and even Buffy Summers - Lisbeth Salander is as cool as it gets!

What do you think of Lisbeth?