Agent Carter
So, Agent Carter, one of the most anticipated new shows for most of the people I know, started this week. I have...somewhat mixed feelings about it? Or rather, I got EXTREME enjoyment out of watching it, but also have to sigh a lot about the ways it's chosen to limit itself. A few disclaimers:
1. I have seen all the MCU movies saving Guardians of the Galaxy and own a couple on DVD, but have no investment in them. I'm fine with rewatching any of them, but would only rewatch a couple without it being a group watch chosen by someone else. I have never seen any of Agents of SHIELD, and haven't heard anything about it that makes me think I should, despite my extreme fondness for Ming Na Wen.
2. WWII era ladyspies yes please.
3. I have adored Hayley Atwell since before I even knew there was going to be a Captain America movie.
So, anyway, Agent Carter takes place in 1946. Peggy now lives in the US and is an agent for the SSR, but is treated like a secretary by her fellow agents. Howard Stark, her friend from the war, is in hiding after being accused of selling weapons to enemies of the US, and asks Peggy to find weapons that were stolen from him, and loans her his butler, Jarvis, to assist her.
Having read some interviews by the creators, I knew the they were deliberately creating a feminist narrative, but also that they were creating a very specific, limited, feminist narrative, and not looking very far outside of that narrative. That narrative is the most common "girl power" narrative, and that's the narrative of the lone (white) woman in a sexist man's world. One of the earliest scenes in the pilot is one where Peggy, dressed in blue and red (the colors are closer to the Union Jack than the American flag, but clearly meant to make us think of Captain America's uniform) is walking down the street. She's the only woman on the street, and is all but swallowed up by a sea of white men in dark business suits and hats. It's striking, effective, and very much establishes what the show intends to be.
Things under the cut mostly aren't particularly spoilery except for certain scenes and thematic elements, but here's a cut anyway.
Please feel free to correct me on anything that i'm factually wrong about. It's been a few days, and one of those days included considerable car-related stress.
When Peggy's male coworkers treat her as a secretary and imply she's a slut because she was associated with two famous men in the war, we're meant to be outraged, and we are. When a male coworker, Sousa (a disabled veteran who also faces prejudice from his ablebodied coworkers because of his disabilities), defends her, we're meant to go 'Oh good, a male character I don't have to hate!" but also agree with Peggy when she says that he shouldn't do that because it only encourages them, and because she can fights her own battles. We do.
When Peggy's roommate, Colleen, comes home from work exhausted because another skilled female employee was fired to make room for unskilled employees who Colleen has to train, we're supposed to be upset not only because qualified women are losing their jobs to unqualified men on the basis of gender alone, but because we, like Peggy and Colleen, realize that Colleen, too, will most likely be unemployed once she's taught the men enough to be competent. We are.
When we have scenes of Peggy being the competent spy with action scenes and disguises and clever schemes to get herself out of jams, while Jarvis waits in the car and wishes she would trust him more, we're meant to both delight in their witty and sarcastic exchanges, and cheer at the gender reversal. We do.
When Angie, a waitress at the diner Peggy frequents, is insulted and sexually harassed by a male customer because she sat down to talk to Peggy while on duty we're meant to be outraged at the injustice and misogyny of his behavior. Not because Angie shouldn't be reprimanded, but because his behavior is rude, privileged, sexist, and completely uncalled for. We are.
And so forth. And we have the desired reactions not because the show is heavyhanded (though it is) but because the show is right, and it's good at doing what it sets out to do. Except the show is also wrong, because it presents the problems Peggy, Colleen and Angie face as being problems of the past, when, in fact, they still exist, often as as less-blatant microaggressions. Which is where the limitedness of the show and it's version of feminism comes in. The "lone (white) woman struggling to get ahead in a world of men" works in part because it is still pertinent today, but it's also one of the most common forms of feminist narratives, if not the most common. Setting aside the spy hijinks, the story it tells about women is the ONLY story US media acknowledges exists for women (or anyone but white men) after WWII. And it's not a narrative that needs to be set aside to collect dust, but it's only one aspect of the problems people faced after the war, and Agent Carter constructs itself in a way that deliberately erases most of those other aspects, and ignores a lot of opportunities for the "lone woman" bit.
Some critical readings of the show have criticized it for not having any other women besides Peggy. This is not true. A glance at wikipedia's cast page reveals that 2 of the non-Peggy women will be in future episodes, and that there are more coming. The problems with non-Peggy women is primarily in the workplace. You see, there ARE other women at the SSR, but they are only seen for a few brief seconds when Peggy first arrives at work in the pilot, and aren't mentioned again in the next 85 minutes of the first 2 episodes. We can assume Peggy knows and has at least casual relationships with these women, but we don't see them. We don't hear about them. This is one of those "wasted opportunities" things because...why isn't Peggy utilizing them when she's trying to learn things her male coworkers are keeping from her? Why isn't she getting the assistance of the "unnoticed" people in her workplace for lesser things that would be noticed if she did them, but not another? Were these women also spies in the war? Who are they? An addition, with one exception, EVERY SINGLE PERSON Peggy encounters in her spywork and sneaking around is male. And again, wasted opportunities there.
The one exception is also one of two POC in the two episodes who has a role of any note (the other is a Native American butler who I don't believe had any lines. The only other POC I recall on screen were singers at a club.), and that's an antagonist whose only memorability lies in the fact that he's the only POC with a role that affects the plot. And I don't mean there aren't any major POC characters otherwise, I mean that, even in the background, even for extras, this is an almost exclusively white 1946 America. POC veterans had much harder times getting jobs than white veterans did. WOC lost their wartime jobs even faster than white women did, and had much more dire prospects ahead of them at that point. Asian Americans were trying to piece their lives back together after being persecuted and imprisoned camps in the US for the crime of being Asian, and were released with their lives in tatters. Immigrants came to America with little or nothing to create new lives among people trying to get their old ones back. (That Peggy herself is an immigrant who is only employed because of her wartime work is completely glossed over. The same is true of Sousa-an unappreciated desk job with douchey coworkers is something many disabled veterans would have done quite a bit to have, but Sousa currently appears to be the only disabled veteran in New York.) None of these people exist. They aren't supporting characters. They aren't even extras adding a dose of reality to the background. They're never mentioned at all. There are no signs designating whether or not people of certain nationalities or ethnicities are welcome in a place of business. They're just gone, they, and their struggles, completely erased on every level.
(If the Howling Commandos show up, which I think they're supposed to, this should at least help with some of the above to a degree.)
But these things aren't accidental. The show may be a campy romp, but it's an intelligently written one, and the writers know what they're doing. What they've chosen to do (which, is, effectively "Feminist Girl Power 101"), they do well, and entertain the audience in doing so. They know most people are tuning in to see Hayley Atwell as a competent and intelligent spy who gets action scenes, and they more than deliver. But they've also chosen NOT to do other things, and that's not ok, particularly when it partly sells itself about depicted the struggle of a disadvantaged group during the time period.
One thing that I couldn't fit in above and that's definitely not a criticism is the male gaze. The male gaze isn't completely absent, but it's far, far less of a focus than we usually get. There are no scenes of Peggy or Colleen traipsing around their apartment in skimpy underwear or nightgowns. There are no slo-mo, R-rated-bits-just-hidden shower scenes. The camera doesn't linger on Angie's butt when she sashays around the diner. When Peggy runs and fights, the camera doesn't focus on her limbs straining or the fabric stretching across her breasts or butt, and the show doesn't go "look how LIMBER" she is. For that matter, there's skill in Peggy's fight scenes, butt no particular finesse. She's a brawler. If possible, and assuming a conventional weapon isn't at handm she will grab something larger and/or harder than her hands and hit her opponents with it until they go down. Otherwise, she does the same with her fists and feet. The emphasis isn't on her body, but on her competence. When a woman dies, the camera doesn't linger lovingly on her corpse and the crew doesn't pose her body suggestively. The emphasis is entirely on the tragedy of her death and its impact on Peggy. When Peggy gives herself a complete makeover to go undercover, there's no montage of her changing.
It was so...refreshing.
So, anyway, it's a good show. It gave me almost constant enjoyment as I watch. But it's frustrating because of the erasure, and the ways it's chosen to limit itself.
ETA:
starlady has a really good post about some other important social and economic aspects of 1946 that the show gets wrong (and also other good points about the show) here: http://starlady.dreamwidth.org/692924.html
(No hotlink because I'm on my tablet while my laptop installs tax stuff.)
1. I have seen all the MCU movies saving Guardians of the Galaxy and own a couple on DVD, but have no investment in them. I'm fine with rewatching any of them, but would only rewatch a couple without it being a group watch chosen by someone else. I have never seen any of Agents of SHIELD, and haven't heard anything about it that makes me think I should, despite my extreme fondness for Ming Na Wen.
2. WWII era ladyspies yes please.
3. I have adored Hayley Atwell since before I even knew there was going to be a Captain America movie.
So, anyway, Agent Carter takes place in 1946. Peggy now lives in the US and is an agent for the SSR, but is treated like a secretary by her fellow agents. Howard Stark, her friend from the war, is in hiding after being accused of selling weapons to enemies of the US, and asks Peggy to find weapons that were stolen from him, and loans her his butler, Jarvis, to assist her.
Having read some interviews by the creators, I knew the they were deliberately creating a feminist narrative, but also that they were creating a very specific, limited, feminist narrative, and not looking very far outside of that narrative. That narrative is the most common "girl power" narrative, and that's the narrative of the lone (white) woman in a sexist man's world. One of the earliest scenes in the pilot is one where Peggy, dressed in blue and red (the colors are closer to the Union Jack than the American flag, but clearly meant to make us think of Captain America's uniform) is walking down the street. She's the only woman on the street, and is all but swallowed up by a sea of white men in dark business suits and hats. It's striking, effective, and very much establishes what the show intends to be.
Things under the cut mostly aren't particularly spoilery except for certain scenes and thematic elements, but here's a cut anyway.
Please feel free to correct me on anything that i'm factually wrong about. It's been a few days, and one of those days included considerable car-related stress.
When Peggy's male coworkers treat her as a secretary and imply she's a slut because she was associated with two famous men in the war, we're meant to be outraged, and we are. When a male coworker, Sousa (a disabled veteran who also faces prejudice from his ablebodied coworkers because of his disabilities), defends her, we're meant to go 'Oh good, a male character I don't have to hate!" but also agree with Peggy when she says that he shouldn't do that because it only encourages them, and because she can fights her own battles. We do.
When Peggy's roommate, Colleen, comes home from work exhausted because another skilled female employee was fired to make room for unskilled employees who Colleen has to train, we're supposed to be upset not only because qualified women are losing their jobs to unqualified men on the basis of gender alone, but because we, like Peggy and Colleen, realize that Colleen, too, will most likely be unemployed once she's taught the men enough to be competent. We are.
When we have scenes of Peggy being the competent spy with action scenes and disguises and clever schemes to get herself out of jams, while Jarvis waits in the car and wishes she would trust him more, we're meant to both delight in their witty and sarcastic exchanges, and cheer at the gender reversal. We do.
When Angie, a waitress at the diner Peggy frequents, is insulted and sexually harassed by a male customer because she sat down to talk to Peggy while on duty we're meant to be outraged at the injustice and misogyny of his behavior. Not because Angie shouldn't be reprimanded, but because his behavior is rude, privileged, sexist, and completely uncalled for. We are.
And so forth. And we have the desired reactions not because the show is heavyhanded (though it is) but because the show is right, and it's good at doing what it sets out to do. Except the show is also wrong, because it presents the problems Peggy, Colleen and Angie face as being problems of the past, when, in fact, they still exist, often as as less-blatant microaggressions. Which is where the limitedness of the show and it's version of feminism comes in. The "lone (white) woman struggling to get ahead in a world of men" works in part because it is still pertinent today, but it's also one of the most common forms of feminist narratives, if not the most common. Setting aside the spy hijinks, the story it tells about women is the ONLY story US media acknowledges exists for women (or anyone but white men) after WWII. And it's not a narrative that needs to be set aside to collect dust, but it's only one aspect of the problems people faced after the war, and Agent Carter constructs itself in a way that deliberately erases most of those other aspects, and ignores a lot of opportunities for the "lone woman" bit.
Some critical readings of the show have criticized it for not having any other women besides Peggy. This is not true. A glance at wikipedia's cast page reveals that 2 of the non-Peggy women will be in future episodes, and that there are more coming. The problems with non-Peggy women is primarily in the workplace. You see, there ARE other women at the SSR, but they are only seen for a few brief seconds when Peggy first arrives at work in the pilot, and aren't mentioned again in the next 85 minutes of the first 2 episodes. We can assume Peggy knows and has at least casual relationships with these women, but we don't see them. We don't hear about them. This is one of those "wasted opportunities" things because...why isn't Peggy utilizing them when she's trying to learn things her male coworkers are keeping from her? Why isn't she getting the assistance of the "unnoticed" people in her workplace for lesser things that would be noticed if she did them, but not another? Were these women also spies in the war? Who are they? An addition, with one exception, EVERY SINGLE PERSON Peggy encounters in her spywork and sneaking around is male. And again, wasted opportunities there.
The one exception is also one of two POC in the two episodes who has a role of any note (the other is a Native American butler who I don't believe had any lines. The only other POC I recall on screen were singers at a club.), and that's an antagonist whose only memorability lies in the fact that he's the only POC with a role that affects the plot. And I don't mean there aren't any major POC characters otherwise, I mean that, even in the background, even for extras, this is an almost exclusively white 1946 America. POC veterans had much harder times getting jobs than white veterans did. WOC lost their wartime jobs even faster than white women did, and had much more dire prospects ahead of them at that point. Asian Americans were trying to piece their lives back together after being persecuted and imprisoned camps in the US for the crime of being Asian, and were released with their lives in tatters. Immigrants came to America with little or nothing to create new lives among people trying to get their old ones back. (That Peggy herself is an immigrant who is only employed because of her wartime work is completely glossed over. The same is true of Sousa-an unappreciated desk job with douchey coworkers is something many disabled veterans would have done quite a bit to have, but Sousa currently appears to be the only disabled veteran in New York.) None of these people exist. They aren't supporting characters. They aren't even extras adding a dose of reality to the background. They're never mentioned at all. There are no signs designating whether or not people of certain nationalities or ethnicities are welcome in a place of business. They're just gone, they, and their struggles, completely erased on every level.
(If the Howling Commandos show up, which I think they're supposed to, this should at least help with some of the above to a degree.)
But these things aren't accidental. The show may be a campy romp, but it's an intelligently written one, and the writers know what they're doing. What they've chosen to do (which, is, effectively "Feminist Girl Power 101"), they do well, and entertain the audience in doing so. They know most people are tuning in to see Hayley Atwell as a competent and intelligent spy who gets action scenes, and they more than deliver. But they've also chosen NOT to do other things, and that's not ok, particularly when it partly sells itself about depicted the struggle of a disadvantaged group during the time period.
One thing that I couldn't fit in above and that's definitely not a criticism is the male gaze. The male gaze isn't completely absent, but it's far, far less of a focus than we usually get. There are no scenes of Peggy or Colleen traipsing around their apartment in skimpy underwear or nightgowns. There are no slo-mo, R-rated-bits-just-hidden shower scenes. The camera doesn't linger on Angie's butt when she sashays around the diner. When Peggy runs and fights, the camera doesn't focus on her limbs straining or the fabric stretching across her breasts or butt, and the show doesn't go "look how LIMBER" she is. For that matter, there's skill in Peggy's fight scenes, butt no particular finesse. She's a brawler. If possible, and assuming a conventional weapon isn't at handm she will grab something larger and/or harder than her hands and hit her opponents with it until they go down. Otherwise, she does the same with her fists and feet. The emphasis isn't on her body, but on her competence. When a woman dies, the camera doesn't linger lovingly on her corpse and the crew doesn't pose her body suggestively. The emphasis is entirely on the tragedy of her death and its impact on Peggy. When Peggy gives herself a complete makeover to go undercover, there's no montage of her changing.
It was so...refreshing.
So, anyway, it's a good show. It gave me almost constant enjoyment as I watch. But it's frustrating because of the erasure, and the ways it's chosen to limit itself.
ETA:
starlady has a really good post about some other important social and economic aspects of 1946 that the show gets wrong (and also other good points about the show) here: http://starlady.dreamwidth.org/692924.html
(No hotlink because I'm on my tablet while my laptop installs tax stuff.)