Agent Carter
Jan. 9th, 2015 07:30 pmSo, 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.
( blah blah blah )
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:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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.
( blah blah blah )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.)
