Karen Gillan on Amy Pond. “She’s just a strong girl, woman, whatever. Oh, let’s just say she’s a strong female. (…) She’s not just standing around in awe of the Doctor. I guess Amy’s attitude is ‘Come on, impress me’. And she’s not going to mope around when the Doctor’s not there – she’s going to do her own thing, whether it’s fighting monsters in strange new worlds, or just getting on with her life.” (Radio Times).
Can’t say I ever got the argument that Amy was a gutted female character. There were some stupid plot things, but primarily I always got the impression that if the Doctor weren’t around, she’d go save the world her own damn self.
And in point of fact she did, once or twice.