Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious) - Fictional Woman of the Week: Carmen Cortez from the "Spy Kids" Franchise (2001, 2002, 2003, 2011)

The Spy Kids franchise is a group of movies that introduces the spy genre to kids. It's amazing how as a kid watching them, these were some of the most brilliant movies, but now watching them as an adult, they are so corny.

Anyway, that is a blog post for another time.

Carmen Cortez (Alexa Vega) is very mature for her age. When she and her little brother and eventual secret agent partner Juni (Daryl Sabara) discover their parents' secret career, they are thrown into the secret agent business themselves, family being a huge theme of the series. She and her brother embark on missions on their own, Carmen often the one wanting independence. She's well spoken, takes things seriously, and is an expert hacker. She and her brother work together and aren't afraid to acknowledge that they need each other.

The fate of the world often rests in her hands.

And yet, she's still just a kid.

She's sometimes embarrassed by her parents, fights with her brother, and develops a crush on a rival agent in the second movie. She has both a girly and tomboyish side, so therefore all different little girls can relate to her. Throughout the course of the franchise we watch her grow up. In the third movie she is somewhat irrelevant as Juni carries the story searching for her in a virtual reality game. His whole goal is to find her, so I guess she is important, but we don't really see her until the final quarter of the film. I think this is partially because at the time actress Vega was finding herself a little too old to be considered a "spy kid."

Her Outcome: Carmen appears in the fourth and so far final movie of the franchise as an experienced agent fit to train others. She and Juni reopen and become co-directors of the O.S.S. Spy Kids program.

I don't want to jinx this, but I also want to commend Alexa Vega for not becoming a child star gone bad. I highly appreciate her for this.

Well, since today is the final day of March, this is the final installment of this series this year. I hope you enjoyed my weekly posts! Thank you so much for reading. I've already been planning for next year!

Once again, Happy Women's History Month! :D