This is my second "Agent Carter" post. I'll try to avoid spoilers. The title of this one is a line from the third episode. Although I love most of the lines in the show, this line speaks to me. Carter says it after a long day of being underestimated and demeaned by her supposed partner, her boss, and her coworkers. Although Peggy gives into what is being said to her, the audience can see what she's saying. Her day had been hellish.
As I mentioned in my first blog, Peggy Carter takes up space. Even when she is ignore by her coworkers, her presence is noticeable. Although when she wants to be, she can be invisible. She dresses to fit the occasion. When infiltrating a party to steal a bomb, she dresses to the nines. When walking through the sewer, she wears a jumpsuit. In both situations, she gets into fights and wins.
There are numerous parallels between Peggy Carter and Captain America. It becomes difficult to separate the two. After watching the first Captain America movie and "Agent Carter", their fighting styles are very similar--brute force-- and what they are fighting for is identical. Throughout the season, we see Peggy deal with the lingering grief over Steve Rogers' death (at least as far as anyone in 1946 knows). She isn't turned into a vigilante superhero by her grief like Batman. She moves through grief like the rest of us. Eventually she accepts that they have to let him go, but that doesn't mean forgetting.
Halfway through the season, there is a confrontation between Peggy and one of her friends/allies. She has been lied to and reacts by punching him in the face. To be fair, this is one of Peggy's main reactions. She says, "You don't get to use my reaction to your lies as a reason for your lies." I love this line. Lying friend is trying to justify his actions with saying he knew Peggy would react this way and she refuses to let him off the hook.
A lot of what she says resonates. She is a character I can identify with and that makes me happy.
Within half an hour of starting the show, I had found a new role model. Peggy Carter can stick up for herself and knows what she can do. She is fashionable and smart, classy and strong. While her entire office plays right into the hands of the bad guys, she works faster, smarter, and better than them. By the end of the season, she says "I know my value, anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter." And that is something hard to fully believe. Society inundates us with images of what we should be, especially women and it is hard to find value in yourself sometimes, especially when the people around you, without meaning to often, don't. "I know my value, anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter."
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Peggy Carter: The Hero We Need
This is one half of a blog about the TV show "Agent Carter". You won't have to read both for them to make sense, so if one or the other isn't you're cup of tea, don't worry. This first one will be about the place "Agent Carter" has in the bigger media landscape; the second about why I love it.
Some of you might recognize the second half of the title from the end of "The Dark Knight", the second of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. The quote, as said by Commissioner Gordon, is, "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now." Having finished the first season of "Agent Carter" I believe she's the hero we need in TV today. Peggy Carter is not a superhero.
First a little background. Agent Peggy Carter is first introduced in Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger and in her first scene, knocks a guy flat on his face when he underestimates her. Between 2011 and 2015, Peggy Carter was in a short film and as an old woman in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. "Agent Carter" is Marvel's foray into having a woman-lead film or show. "Agents of SHIELD" is more an ensemble show. "Captain Marvel", scheduled for release in 2018, will feature the story of Ms. Marvel.
"Agent Carter" is not only a first in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but also a first in terms of the larger TV/film retellings of comics. In between "Wonder Woman" (1975-1979) and now, women have not lead the way. Although women make up much of the audience, they are still denied representation. (Please do your own research on this, if it interests you.) Since 1975, there have been more than 20 film and television productions of Superman. In the same time span, roughly the same number of productions for Batman. Recently, The Flash, Green Lantern, the Green Hornet, the Green Arrow, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk have all been the subject of TV shows or films.
I've done a lot of reading about "Agent Carter" and I've found a lot I love about Hayley Atwell's portrayal of the character and how she is written. I love the show. Peggy Carter takes up space unapologetically and fights in a way that is unique among current Marvel women. Most noticeably to me is how she differs from Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow. Black Widow fights with ruthless grace. Peggy Carter bulldozes through opponents, using whatever blunt object is near at hand. Men underestimate her, and the other women in the show, and they use it to their advantage.
A further reason to love "Agent Cater" is the supporting cast. I won't go on at length about most of them. The characters that start the show as somewhat two-dimensional sexists jerks (products of the time that seem almost cartoonish) evolve to become fleshed-out, with back stories and lives that are not immediately visible. In 8 episodes it is difficult to have too much character development, but the men Carter works with become less like cartoon villains and more like people. The best characters are the other women in Carter's life, although there are not many.
In judging shows and films there is a test called the Bechdel test. It is used to judge gender bias and has three requirements: the production being judged has to have two women in it, who talk to each other, about something other than a man. (Wikipedia is a good starting place for more info.) In the first scene of "Agent Carter", Carter's roommate comes home and they discuss her work as a riveter and their plans for the weekend. Later on in the series, Carter discusses her friend Angie's acting career and sites to see in New York with a new woman, Dottie.
The cinematography is excellent as is the casting, the writing, and the acting. I can't recommend a show more. And it is only 8 episodes currently. I am unsure if the first few are currently available, but if you can watch it, you should.
Some of you might recognize the second half of the title from the end of "The Dark Knight", the second of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. The quote, as said by Commissioner Gordon, is, "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now." Having finished the first season of "Agent Carter" I believe she's the hero we need in TV today. Peggy Carter is not a superhero.
First a little background. Agent Peggy Carter is first introduced in Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger and in her first scene, knocks a guy flat on his face when he underestimates her. Between 2011 and 2015, Peggy Carter was in a short film and as an old woman in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. "Agent Carter" is Marvel's foray into having a woman-lead film or show. "Agents of SHIELD" is more an ensemble show. "Captain Marvel", scheduled for release in 2018, will feature the story of Ms. Marvel.
"Agent Carter" is not only a first in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but also a first in terms of the larger TV/film retellings of comics. In between "Wonder Woman" (1975-1979) and now, women have not lead the way. Although women make up much of the audience, they are still denied representation. (Please do your own research on this, if it interests you.) Since 1975, there have been more than 20 film and television productions of Superman. In the same time span, roughly the same number of productions for Batman. Recently, The Flash, Green Lantern, the Green Hornet, the Green Arrow, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk have all been the subject of TV shows or films.
I've done a lot of reading about "Agent Carter" and I've found a lot I love about Hayley Atwell's portrayal of the character and how she is written. I love the show. Peggy Carter takes up space unapologetically and fights in a way that is unique among current Marvel women. Most noticeably to me is how she differs from Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow. Black Widow fights with ruthless grace. Peggy Carter bulldozes through opponents, using whatever blunt object is near at hand. Men underestimate her, and the other women in the show, and they use it to their advantage.
A further reason to love "Agent Cater" is the supporting cast. I won't go on at length about most of them. The characters that start the show as somewhat two-dimensional sexists jerks (products of the time that seem almost cartoonish) evolve to become fleshed-out, with back stories and lives that are not immediately visible. In 8 episodes it is difficult to have too much character development, but the men Carter works with become less like cartoon villains and more like people. The best characters are the other women in Carter's life, although there are not many.
In judging shows and films there is a test called the Bechdel test. It is used to judge gender bias and has three requirements: the production being judged has to have two women in it, who talk to each other, about something other than a man. (Wikipedia is a good starting place for more info.) In the first scene of "Agent Carter", Carter's roommate comes home and they discuss her work as a riveter and their plans for the weekend. Later on in the series, Carter discusses her friend Angie's acting career and sites to see in New York with a new woman, Dottie.
The cinematography is excellent as is the casting, the writing, and the acting. I can't recommend a show more. And it is only 8 episodes currently. I am unsure if the first few are currently available, but if you can watch it, you should.
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