But, dear reader, there was a time when women got fired because a man wanted her job. Literally. There was a time when guys expected women to be decorative, always happy to dance with them or make out with them or fetch them coffee or do their filing (well, worse than they do now). There was a time when "colleague" meant "secretary", if the colleague was a woman. There was a time when all-women apartment houses had curfews, and no men were allowed upstairs, and safe housing meant reporting to some martinet in the office. The only good news is that there was a time when "Lady Things" got you a personal day.
I introduce Marvel's Agent Carter this way because the show is explicitly feminist. Agent Peggy Carter, a member of the Strategic Scientific Reserve since the War, must navigate not just secret plots involving superweapons and bad guys, but must do it with minimal help and despite the openly sexist treatment she gets at work. In fact, the main reason she takes the long-term, secret mission is because her newly-narrowed world is suffocating and exasperating. A side reason is clearing a friend.
Agent Carter, as a show, spends a lot of time in the first two episodes setting up the characters, male and female, who either help, hinder, or hunt Carter. For an overtly feminist show, Carter is the only female character who's really fleshed out and given more to do than waitress or connect phone lines. The rest of the females wander in and out of Carter's day. Rose works in the elevator lobby, connecting phone lines like the cover company for the SSR says she should. She really controls the elevator up to the Important Floor, where Agents' desks are spread out among dim lighting. Angie is around whenever Carter needs a place to eat and meet with her secret assistant, waiting tables and helping Carter find a new apartment. Said apartment is monitored by Miriam Fry, who looks like she'll be watching Carter for any un-ladylike behavior. And Colleen dies after literally lying in bed almost the whole time. For all the shows's feminist marketing and lines, none of these women are in Carter's confidence, mostly because she's afraid of hurting them. But, being the Extraordinary Woman she is, she can take the risks, of course.
The male characters mostly exist to show us how sexist the 1940s were. Random men strewn across her secret mission treat her as decoration, or a makeout partner. Her fellow Agents at the SSR treat her like a secretary. Only Howard Stark wants to give her anything important to do. And even he's giving her marching orders while carrying a suitcase down to a motorboat so he can flee after giving Carter the task of rounding up things he literally calls "Bad Babies". Yes, the show has Stark leave town after telling Carter to deal with his babies. At least Stark leaves someone useful for Carter behind- his butler, Mr. Jarvis. Yes, Howard's son will eventually name his AI after this guy.
I leave my messes in your capable hands
Why? Because Mr. Jarvis, while not exceptional himself, is attentive to detail, can remember where Stark's journals are, and can stitch up wounds. Jarvis is the only male character who would deign to cook for his wife, or wear an apron when doing so. Usually, his role in adventure shows is taken by a woman, but Jarvis slips into the role perfectly. Unlike most characters, male or female, Jarvis has no gender-based humor or taglines for her. He just wants her to let him help, and wants Carter to remain sane and connected to her fellow human beings.
So, it's disturbing to find that he's got a secret agenda of his own, which involves Carter helping someone unseen without even knowing it. Which implies that Jarvis has loyalties to someone besides Stark. A member of Congress looking for Stark, perhaps? Or worse?
Otherwise, the guys exist to either screw up or lag behind. Roger, is the office's Captain. He's cynical and barely competent. Ray is the resident Meathead. Jack is the Face Guy, happy to beat a suspect for his Captain, still thinking this is going to be a typical law enforcement job. And having problems with the idea of alphabetical order. Sousa, while a gentleman who tries sticking up for Carter, still underestimates her. Will he stumble on to her secret mission to recover Howard Stark's horrific, stolen weapons, and help her once he realizes how smart and awesome she is? Who knows. He shares one attribute with Carter- the other Agents like to belittle him as much as they do Carter, due to the loss of a leg during the War. So, despite the two of them being actual War Heroes, all either gets to do is paperwork. At least Sousa gets to analyze photos instead of filing.
Will either end up helping Carter or stalking her
Carter's long-term mission will involve her with Bad Baby after Bad Baby, somehow neutralizing Howard Stark's worst inventions before they can be used against the world. This week's is a truckload of glowing bombs, which can be neutralized using the chemicals in your kitchen and make-up bag. But, woe to any who drop them, as these things will basically suck anything loose in a 500-yard radius into a glob of stuff.
Carter is up against something call Leviathan, who is represented by a sneaky blond guy with a creepy mini-stache and a green suit. Mr. Green, like his colleauge Leet Brannis, has had his vocal cords removed and requires a small device pressed into his neck to speak. Unlike Leet, he survives the episode, setting him up against Carter over future Bad Babies. Unlike the other male characters, Mr. Green doesn't seem particularly hung up over gender. He never underestimates Carter, and has no sexist jokes or innuendo for her. He just wants her dead, and Stark's Bad Baby in Leviathan's possession. She manages to beat him and take the first Bad Baby, but he's got a magic typewriter telling him to never give up.
Telecommuting in 1946?!
Carter is also up against the open, casual, guilt-less sexism of the time. A rude diner harasses Angie at the diner (called an Automat at the time), Safe housing for women is hard to find, and usually only in all-women buildings with chaperones. Carter's mission plays out against a Radio Show glorifying Captain America, presumed dead in 1946, while painting someone named "Betty Carver" as a helpless, brainless damsel to be rescued. All while most of the female characters fume helplessly behind the men's backs.
The show uses the rampant sexism of the time to set up the major conflicts between Carter and her colleagues, and require her to work in secret, with enemies on all sides. Carter is usually just minutes ahead of her enemies, who want to use Stark's weapons; and her colleagues, who are searching for the same weapons, but to implicate Stark instead of clearing him. Carter would love to use her knowledge of Stark from their work during the War to help her colleagues; but Captain Roger and the other Keystone Cops think she was more likely his girlfriend than colleague, and happily conspire to keep her out of the loop.
She gets herself put back into the loop through a combination of pouring coffee for the boys, and impersonating a health inspector. Carter has the advantage of being able to play any schtick, like a con woman with a Cause. And she knows how to put a stapler and lipstick to good use. When the show isn't showing Carter dealing with other people's gender hang-ups, it shows her using those hang-ups against her marks. It's a great way to get things done without anyone realizing they've been played, and gives the viewers the fun of watching sexist pigs get their due when Carter outsmarts them (like the bad diner at the Automat).
But, does the show really think she's going to stay undetected by her boss and colleagues forever? Her colleagues, though slow, do connect dots eventually. Sousa isn't stupid, which we know because he doesn't leave sensitive photos out on his desk, locking them in a drawer instead. And while the Keystone Cops fret over dead Leet Brannis, Sousa finds someone's secret hotel room key in the dirt. How long will he be fooled? Even Meathead ends the show with a find of his own, namely the license plate from Howard Stark's now-disposed-of car, which will implicate Stark even further despite Carter's efforts. For now, Carter has only Jarvis, who we know isn't being fully straight with her, maybe even using her to commit his own treason.
I don't know if Agent Carter will be able to do more than pay lip service to the idea of women's equality. I don't know if the show's blatant cheerleading for women will translate into female characters who actually advance the plot. I don't know if I like, or am tired of, using historical sexism to put a female character into a lonely, dangerous place. The show wants to be both a monster-of-the-week and an issues show. Which, I'm not opposed to. But the show is setting up huge monsters, and we know that Carter and Stark will eventually join with others to set up an organization that can defeat them. So, we know that Carter can't actually save the world on her own. Are we going to see the transition from lone-woman-secret-agent to respected founder and leader of SHIELD? Or, is Carter's only true ally going to be her lipstick?
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