Kick-Ass Fictional Ladies: Princess Bubblegum

Well well well, we haven't done one of these in a while.  Recently the Ladies did a little research into our own Meyers-Briggs types. You have to pay for the real test but here is a free online assessment to take for funsies. Once we had our types, of course the next logical/fun step was to look at various fandoms and see what fictional characters shared our types. (There are tons of these out there, pick any fandom, Google and enjoy.) I'll spare you some of mine lest you think I am a total sociopath (I'm looking at you Supernatural MBTI chart), but this exercise did remind me of a character I have often felt a connection to and who may not get as much attention in the pantheon of kick-ass fictional ladies.

Who is she?

Bonnibel “Bonnie” Bubblegum is the current ruler and creator of the The Candy Kingdom of Ooo. Despite being made of candy (she’s a candy elemental) she is not sweet. In fact, that's one of the things I love about her. Along with being a ruler, Princess Bubblegum (PB) is also a scientist, and inventor with a curious mind and desire to fix stuff, even if it doesn't always need fixing.

In fact, her strong belief in logic and science are central to who she is and how she operates. To her, magic is misunderstood science and science is the guiding force for everything. That can be a tough stance to hold when one of her friends is literally a magic dog, but she persists, constantly performing experiments and striving to innovate.  In fact, she created her subjects, the Candy People, who are lovable, if not totally goofy.  While she doesn't necessarily see them as her children in a traditional sense, the responsibility she feels towards them is real.  She seeks to better the inhabitants of the Candy Kingdom through knowledge, holding science fairs to try to educate her people while encouraging them to be individuals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RMzLwCaH3w

What makes her Kick Ass?

PB is driven by logic, not emotion and this is something much more rare for female characters, especially characters who skew towards good. Perhaps this is because logic is often seen as cold and calculating, characteristics that are traditionally assigned to villains. Often female characters portrayed as the ones with feeling in an all male group. But as Adventure Time has a more diverse cast of characters, we can have a pretty pink princess who would rather wear a lab coat and focus on her experiments, go on adventures, and mind her responsibility, with little discussion of how those things make her feel.

PB can be very single-minded and when she is in that zone and she sometimes has to be reminded that there are people who want more from her.  Her best pal Marceline the Vampire Queen is often her tutor for these deeper social graces and the show seems to be developing them into best friends, if not more (I'm not getting into shipping - that's another post). While her controlling nature can get her into trouble, most importantly, she's a fixer.  If you have a problem, yo, she will solve it, or at least try everything possible. She is a genuine helper who is most engaged when she has something to solve or be curious about. Her actions don't always result in success; she once turned all the Candy People into zombies, and let's not even talk about Lemongrab.

Why I like her:

If you haven't watched Adventure Time, this is my plug. It's weird and it's goofy, but it's one of those shows that works on multiple levels.  It's also about growing up, figuring out how to make your way, and how sometimes all that can feel really lonely, literally and figuratively.  That stuff is pretty ageless. And if you decide to take this on, start at the beginning and work your way through.  There is a larger story that unfolds, and main character Finn's story is only one part of it.  The more I watched how PB developed as a character, the more I liked her and felt a connection.  She has a lot of responsibility, she has to make hard choices, she has to do things that make people not like her.  But she has also has people around her who care, she has developed deep friendships, and these are the things that help balance her, remind her of the world outside her head.

PS - MBTI or any other suggestions we make are all meant to be for fun. Please don't take an internet quiz and then structure your life around that. Really, we just thought it was funny to see who was like Tywin Lannister and who was like Ron Weasley.