I thought the “sexism” was overdone. The only realistic part was when they sent Carter out of the room during the enhanced interrogation because “that was not something for ladies”. Otherwise it was unbelievably over the top and unacceptable even for that era
The war was over. The huge fat government contracts that the factories which employed Rosie the Rivieter worked on were cancelled suddenly. I read for example that in the week after the capitulation of Japan, the US Navy alone cancelled 10 Bn worth of orders. You had ships broken up on stocks. Aircraft and tanks taken from the factory floor direct to the scrapyard. Women were being sacked due to economoc reasons, there would be multiple recessions ahead. The post war boom did not really start until 1950.
I liked this! I tend to lose interest in almost every Agents of SHIELD episode for some reason, but Agent Carter held my attention:
I think it’s wise that they made this a mini series. Anything longer and I think the whole flavor/storyline would be lost.
This was my mother’s era and I’m well acquainted with it, having heard her stories about working and such. Yes, there was a shitload of sexism back then. AND smoking. OMG, everybody smoked. I can see why they’d sanitize that for TV, though.
I like the woman playing Carter. I’ve never seen her before.
I got Iron Man references right away I usually miss those things.
So back to the actual show - two points that I wanted to bring up:
During the fight between Carter and the Leviathan agent (who is listed on imdb.com as “Green Suit”) on top of the milk truck - one of them dropped a key. I think it was Carter, but I’ve watched it several times and can’t tell for certain. Later, during the clean up, Sousa dramatically picks up the key which says "424 Hotel Cosmopole " - so is that Stark’s suite that Carter has been staying at? She’s moved out to the women’s hotel by the end of the episode, so there’s no direct connection between her and the hotel room. Just more evidence against Stark? Or if Green Suit dropped it - is it just another lead for the SRS agents?
Secondly, Green Suit was pinned on top of the truck with a knife through his hand (nice irony there). You see him there as the truck careens towards the guard rail. But when the truck is actually plummeting toward the water, he’s clearly not on it any more. Did he escape at the last second? Or was it just a special effects oversight?
It would have to be a terrible oversight, so I assumed it was intentional.
He also disappeared right away when she kicked him out her apartment window. She goes to the window to look down and he’s not there. So …hard to kill but just a really shitty fighter?
I felt certain the hotel key was his, but I’ll rewatch.
Doesn’t seem there’s any valid narrative reason for us to not have previous knowledge about a secret hotel key of Carter’s. Being Green Suit’s key we’re provided with a clue to advance the plot. If it was meant to be Carter’s, that the other SSN guys may learn a secret about Carter from the key, I’d think the narrative would at least have given us an idea that she’s got some secret to be found prior to the whole key thing.
P.S., I don’t think the sexism is overdone. We’re seeing more of it in a story in which it is a recurring theme than we would see in a story that is not concerned with such matters, just as an intelligent independent woman would notice it more than a woman more in line with traditional gender roles who may take certain comments as compliments or write off microaggressions as “boys will be boys”. I think any woman bucking the system would be bound to recognize and be the target of quite a bit more sexism than your average woman.
My wife and I watched this last night, and while she liked it quite a bit, I… didn’t. All of the period details don’t do that much for me, and outside of Hayley Atwell (who remains excellent), the performances were universally somewhere between “too campy for me” and “just not that good”. Lyndsy Fonseca seemed really out of place, and I was particularly disappointed in Enver Gjokaj, who just came off as bland (especially when we know how good he can be from Dollhouse). The writing was, as a number of people have already mentioned, really obvious, both in the sexism and the plot “twists”. I was a bit surprised to see that the showrunners were the creators/runners of Reaper, since I recall that in quite a better light… though it’s somehow been over half a decade since Reaper.
Anyways, I’ll probably stick around for the 7 episodes for more Marvel references and hopefully more Dominic Cooper - it certainly took SHIELD longer than that to get good, anyways - but this might be the first production from the Marvel cinematic universe that’s just not for me.
If it were Carter’s key to Stark’s, given that there’s no link to Carter it’s simply a way to point to Stark. But, since they found Stark’s licence plate at the end of the episode, there’s no reason to use the key to point to Stark.
The sexism is overplayed a bit but realistic for the era - I think only those of us old enough to have been there (probably not many) or to have had working parents in the era (a good number) would be able to see that without the conditioning of the last few decades. As pointed out by more than one previous poster, it got especially bad in the postwar years, as women who had ably demonstrated their abilities were kicked to the curb - and kitchen, and classroom, and diner - by returning servicemen. (It wasn’t just women - men who stayed home and took over jobs left by departing soldiers were often forced out to let the vets re-take their jobs.)
The 40s setting is fairly well done but I wonder how long they can keep it up without budget overruns or even more corner-cutting than we’ve already seen. (Either we’ll see endless re-use of sets, bad CGI or expanding anachronisms…)
Hayley Atwell is charming, but - how to put this delicately - has visibly aged since her first turn in CA. In her case, IMVHO, it’s working against the charm of her character. She’s also not proving to be a strong enough actor to carry a lead role, IMHO.
All of which is incidental. So far, the series is committing the cardinal sin. In the end, it’s just… dull.
I think the Mighty Marvel Machine might have (over-)reached (to) its first point of failure. Their run has been as impressive as Pixar’s.
I watch a lot of classic movies from the thirties and forties. There is sexism but not nearly as heavy handed as Agent Carter portrays. Watch the Thin Man 1930’s movies with William Powell and Myrna Loy. That is more accurate in showing women in that time period.
I’m enjoying Agent Carter. Looks like it will be a good mini series.
In which movie did Myrna Loy play a government agent involved in stopping dangerous espionage?
Thank goodness we have all these people who have watched movies, able to set straight the people who lived through the period as to their faulty recollections of the era.
Yeah, she did - her character seemed to just be a placeholder. Maybe they’ll develop her character more in future episodes - maybe she’ll turn into a Junior Crime Fighter or something.
And for mass-employment situations (typists, clerks, packers, assembly-line work) many employers did just that, and for exactly that reason. Most women who needed to work had little choice - it was work a low-paid job or nothing, even when men doing the same job got paid considerably more. But the bulk were in “women’s jobs” - which were the 20th century equivalent of “field hand” bordering on “slavery.”
It was the loss of cheap, high-quality workers that did more to devastate the educational system than maybe any other factor. Teaching was about the only profession, with stability and benefits, open to bright, driven women.
Certainly there was sexism and chauvinism. But the show has every male (except the guy on crutches) sexist. That’s like having a show based back then and show every single white person be racist. Was racism much more common? Sure. But a good % of the people werent racist.
Yep. my parents were around then, and yes my Mom was a Rosie, and yes she was out of a job when the war was over. Not due to the men being back, but due to the fact the war industry wound down.
But like you said- the fact that men coming back got their jobs back was NOT due to sexism- since other males were kicked out also. It was a promise, and the Right thing to do. Now it’s the law.
I disagree, strongly. For one thing, she’s supposed to look a bit worn down. I think the makeup department is doing a good job of that. She was vital in the war, and is now extremely unhappy, and it shows. I expect this will change as the series goes on. I think she’s also doing a fantastic acting job in this, more than holding her own.
My speculation: Since Sousa is so obviously a decent guy and on her side, and Thompson is so obviously eeeevil, the reverse is in fact true. Sousa is going to betray her by the end, and Thompson will be the one to redeem himself.
I usually miss those things.