Agent Carter's feminist message
Not sure how I feel about the final message in Agent Carter last night.
A SENATOR ARRIVES to tell the guy running the SSR how great he is, and all Peggy's amazing accomplishments get attributed this guy, who actually owes her MORE than anyone else, because she listened to his soldier's tale of trauma that he could never tell anyone else, blah blah. And you can see as the Senator is heaping praise on him that he KNOWS he should point out Peggy, and in fact the actor did a great job because there were about three different times in the scene where it looked like he was about to say, no, it was her, but then, he doesn't. Her (male) friend in the office gets irate on her behalf, heading off to tell the Senator who REALLY did all those great things. She stops him, and he says, I don't see how you can let him get the credit for everything you did! You deserve to get the rewards for your amazing work.
And she says, "It's alright, really. I know my own value."
I'm really conflicted about this. Yes, this is a fantastic message - worth comes from within and her self-worth is not dependent on other people. She knows who she is, she doesn't need someone else, in this case a powerful man, to tell her what she is worth.
ON THE OTHER HAND, this is a professional situation and her work is being stolen by another person, who is possibly going to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor for this work, it is such great work. In many ways I think that is a TERRIBLE message: Oh, no, I feel good about myself, I don't care if all my hard work goes to another person, because I know I'm valuable, who cares if my professional value makes someone else's life better? It's fine. Because I'm a strong woman who doesn't need recognition.
Bad message. The strong woman behind the powerful man has ALWAYS been a fucked up role, in my opinion, because if she's so strong and amazing, why isn't she ALSO the powerful one. Why should the power she created become the power of a man while she sits around feeling all strong and amazing in her kitchen, or limo, or whatever? Not cool.
ON THE THIRD HAND, the person who steals credit for her professional work is her Boss. That's probably a pretty common problem in all hierarchical organizations.
ON THE FOURTH HAND, the person who became irate on her behalf and can't believe she woudl take this shit? A feminized man. He's an agent who is much less mobile than the other agents, because he has a war injury and has to walk with a cane and he can't run or fight to the same extent they can. So they treat him as much less than they are, disregarding his investigative ability and treating him almost as badly as Peggy. And of course, this being TV land, he's almost as amazing as Peggy just sitting behind his desk doing the tough, detailed investigative work. And HE doesn't think it's OK for Peggy's work to be stolen from her. HE, as a man, thinks she should stand up and get the credit for her work. He doesn't like her feminine acceptance of the bad treatment, and while he seems to respect her comment about knowing her own value, it's almost a jab at him, since maybe HE doesn't know his own value if he can't just sit around getting no credit for his great work, what with his bum leg and all.
I dunno. Like I said. Conflicted.
Crossposted at "http://muck-a-luck.dreamwidth.org/1008015.html"
A SENATOR ARRIVES to tell the guy running the SSR how great he is, and all Peggy's amazing accomplishments get attributed this guy, who actually owes her MORE than anyone else, because she listened to his soldier's tale of trauma that he could never tell anyone else, blah blah. And you can see as the Senator is heaping praise on him that he KNOWS he should point out Peggy, and in fact the actor did a great job because there were about three different times in the scene where it looked like he was about to say, no, it was her, but then, he doesn't. Her (male) friend in the office gets irate on her behalf, heading off to tell the Senator who REALLY did all those great things. She stops him, and he says, I don't see how you can let him get the credit for everything you did! You deserve to get the rewards for your amazing work.
And she says, "It's alright, really. I know my own value."
I'm really conflicted about this. Yes, this is a fantastic message - worth comes from within and her self-worth is not dependent on other people. She knows who she is, she doesn't need someone else, in this case a powerful man, to tell her what she is worth.
ON THE OTHER HAND, this is a professional situation and her work is being stolen by another person, who is possibly going to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor for this work, it is such great work. In many ways I think that is a TERRIBLE message: Oh, no, I feel good about myself, I don't care if all my hard work goes to another person, because I know I'm valuable, who cares if my professional value makes someone else's life better? It's fine. Because I'm a strong woman who doesn't need recognition.
Bad message. The strong woman behind the powerful man has ALWAYS been a fucked up role, in my opinion, because if she's so strong and amazing, why isn't she ALSO the powerful one. Why should the power she created become the power of a man while she sits around feeling all strong and amazing in her kitchen, or limo, or whatever? Not cool.
ON THE THIRD HAND, the person who steals credit for her professional work is her Boss. That's probably a pretty common problem in all hierarchical organizations.
ON THE FOURTH HAND, the person who became irate on her behalf and can't believe she woudl take this shit? A feminized man. He's an agent who is much less mobile than the other agents, because he has a war injury and has to walk with a cane and he can't run or fight to the same extent they can. So they treat him as much less than they are, disregarding his investigative ability and treating him almost as badly as Peggy. And of course, this being TV land, he's almost as amazing as Peggy just sitting behind his desk doing the tough, detailed investigative work. And HE doesn't think it's OK for Peggy's work to be stolen from her. HE, as a man, thinks she should stand up and get the credit for her work. He doesn't like her feminine acceptance of the bad treatment, and while he seems to respect her comment about knowing her own value, it's almost a jab at him, since maybe HE doesn't know his own value if he can't just sit around getting no credit for his great work, what with his bum leg and all.
I dunno. Like I said. Conflicted.
Crossposted at "http://muck-a-luck.dreamwidth.org/1008015.html"