Though we adore men individually, we agree that as a group, they're rather stupid...

It is time to discuss the totally fantastic woman that is Winifred Banks.

And...yes. I'm choosing to talk about her as if she is a real person.

For those of you who don't recall the superb Mrs. Banks, she was the mom in Mary Poppins. You know, the one with blonde hair and an absent-minded streak? This lady:

Even though I know her character is basically used to poke fun at the women's suffrage movement (oh, look at the silly British housewife, isn't it nice that she has this "votes for women" thing as a hobby? how cute), I cannot help but completely adore her.

I mean, this is someone who when confronted with cannon fire which shakes her entire house, shouts, "Posts everyone!" and proceeds to hold back the piano as it attempts to roll across her floor. This is someone who takes everything in stride-- from her ridiculously grumpy husband, to the nanny who floats into the front garden and proceeds to be casually magic, to a house full of dancing chimney sweeps (towards the end of this clip? like, around 6:50-- yeah, if my house every suddenly fills with dancing chimney sweeps, I hope to deal with it half as well as our lovely Mrs. Banks does):

Basically, I find it delightful that she's so laid back about the impossible things that happen to her over the course of a two hour, forty minute film. I can't not love her. And if you can manage to hate her-- or even be apathetic towards her?-- I don't want to hear about it, because it will just make me SAD.

And, to top it all off, she firmly believes in her crusade for women's votes, even if the filmmakers kind of...didn't? Basically, she is a WONDROUS HUMAN BEING.

Even though she doesn't exist.