Agent Carter's Contribution to Feminism

SPOILERS: Agent Carter Season 1: Valediction

Let's not even talk about how many times I've attempted to write this post. Every time I sit down to start it I just spend six or seven paragraphs talking about how much I adored Agent Carter and very little time analyzing the actual content of the show. Let's hope this try is the winner. First let's talk a little bit about what I expected out of the show and how it utterly surprised me within the first ten minutes, then I'll go on to talk about how Peggy Carter should be held up as what all feminist characters should be. (Trying to narrow the subject from the entirety of the show, so that you all don't have to read seventeen pages about how much I love Peggy.) Anyway, when I first heard about Agent Carter it was from a friend of mine. Keep in mind, I'd never seen Captain America, I had no idea who Peggy Carter was, so when they first mentioned it to me I wasn't super excited about it. After they convinced me the show would be really awesome and feminist, featuring a leading lady who would beat down the 1940's patriarchy with her bare fists (pretty much literally), I couldn't say no, so on premiere night I sat down not really knowing what to expect and had my socks knocked clean off. (Literally or not, I'll let you decide.)

From the opening song I was pretty sure I was going to love this show, already there were ladies with guns, fabulous red hats, and 1940's fashion. Plus who doesn't love the imagery of Peggy fighting her way through a crowd of men-foreshadowing the struggles we'll see her go through, throughout the show. You almost couldn't go wrong with such a strong beginning. But guess what-it got better. Six minutes and forty-nine seconds into the episode Peggy says the line that sealed the deal for me and made me think, "Yes, yes, this show is for me." In response to a rude, sexist comment from Thompson about how she's "so much better at that kind of thing" (filing), implying it's because she's a woman, Peggy responds with: "And what is that, Agent Thompson? The alphabet? I can teach you. Let's start with words beginning with A." From this point on I became obsessed with anything that had to do with Peggy Carter.

Now, I'm going to be honest and admit I am a sucker for the sassy characters; Buffy Summers, Malcolm Reynolds, Felix Dawkins-if they have sass I'm probably going to love them. That line from Peggy is a pretty sassy line, not even going to try to hide that fact, but there is so much more behind it than just sass.  It's a very important line for us to have as an introduction to Peggy as a character because the tone of that single line sums up what she is going to be for the rest of the season. She's level-headed, understands the role she has to play, but refuses to let these men off without a sharp snap just to let them know she's still there and fighting. She knows that she has to keep her head down (for the most part) and play by their rules to get what she wants. Peggy is very aware of how these men look at her, as someone below them, inferior, but instead of whining and complaining about it, instead of giving up or lashing out at them she uses their misogyny to her advantage. This shows just how clever and intelligent Peggy is. She knows how to twist a situation to her advantage.

To start out let's talk about how Peggy is a revolutionary character because she manages to break down all these norms society has set up for women. When I started Agent Carter I knew the show was supposed to be pretty feminist, like I said before, but I expected Peggy to still be a rather typical leading lady. (To remind you I hadn't seen Captain America yet at this point,) It took less than ten minutes of the episode to prove me very, very wrong. In a lot of shows with strong feminist themes there are still molds the women fit into-emotional, excitable, obsessed with love and sex, and sentimental, but we don’t see any of that with Peggy. (You could argue that her refusal to let Steve's blood go as sentimental, and you're probably correct, but that's the only one I can think of.) But other than that one instance, Peggy is not at all a normal TV lady. We see a role reversal with Peggy's character. She has a stereotypical hero plot-line, but she just happens to wear high heels and lipstick. 

One thing I really love about Peggy is that she is this strong, masculine behaving character, but she can still be feminine. She breaks down boundaries by being able to occupy both of these spaces at the same time, and that isn't something we get to see very often. She’s very much a no nonsense kind of character, and even ruthless-she beats a man with a stapler for goodness sakes, but all the while she’s in a glittery gold dress with makeup done to a T. And we see this time and again with Peggy-using her lipstick as a weapon, coming to work every day with her hair in fabulous curls, and let's not even start on her impeccable fashion sense. This is a an important detail in the show because it's sending a message to girls and women everywhere that we don’t have to assimilate and become "one of the guys," we don't have to look or act like men to be powerful. Peggy isn't "one of the guys", and she’s probably the most competent person in the S.S.R. It tells ladies they can still be themselves and have a voice, an opinion, and be worthy of equal treatment. Being feminine does’t mean being weak. So often we are told that we have to abandon being feminine or give things that are typically feminine traits up in order to be seen as equals or in the same league as men. Agent Carter is sending a different message: be who you are because what you look like or your interests don't define what you can become.

This brings me to my next point, how Peggy uses society’s negative and inferior view of women to her advantage. We see within the first five minutes of the show that Peggy’s coworkers do not see her as an equal. While all the men gather for the briefing on Howard Stark, Dooley attempts to keep Peggy out of it, and have her answer the phones-do women’s work essentially. But she’s having none of that and maneuvers her way into the meeting with poise (and a bit of a sassy smirk). Later on we see more and more femininity being used as a weapon, and it’s not just Peggy who does it. Most of the women in the show manipulate their perceived femininity to their advantage. In that first scene with Peggy and her coworkers, she rejects their misogynistic behaviors, but later on she beings using their condescending actions to her advantage. We first see this in the scene where Peggy tries to get out of work by pretending she's on her period as an excuse:

“I wonder if I might request a sick day”

“What you got a headache?”

“Among other things. Ladies things.”

Of course all the men in the room absolutely

cringe at the mention of menstruation, but they don’t ask questions and Peggy is home free to conduct her investigation that evening with no suspicion. This continues through the entire season. Peggy lets the men belittle her, send her on meager errands, and overlook her in order to conduct her investigation.  In episode seven "SNAFU", Peggy makes a speech to Sousa, Thompson, and Dooley about how she is only a construct in each of their minds-they don’t know who she really is, and unless she has something they want she is invisible to them. She’s able to get away with it all because they underestimate her and what she is capable of. This right here is a giant statement: do not underestimate women, do not look at them as inferior because we are so much more than that. We will prove you wrong every time. The show is telling girls that they should never be held back and to fight their way through to what they want even if people (in this case men) are trying to stand in their way. Peggy shows women that not only can any object within reach from lipstick, to a stapler, to a strip of cloth be a weapon, but so can people’s actions toward you. Peggy used the men’s misogyny as a weapon against them and proved to them just what she is capable of.

Something I find very interesting about Agent Carter is the story-line format it follows for Peggy. She has a hero plot-line, specifically a male hero plot-line. Think Batman for example, he goes around protecting people, but he can’t let them get close to him because they’ll be in too much danger. Peggy has the same stoic “I must suffer alone to protect the people I love” complex. Throughout the season we see Peggy pushing Angie away and not letting her get close because Peggy is afraid of putting her in danger after what happened to Steve and what happened to Coleen. Not only does Peggy get the stereotypically male role, Jarvis gets the stereotypically female role, attempting to make Peggy become more in touch with her feelings and let people she loves in. All the time Peggy is willing to put herself in danger, but refuses to let anyone else make the same decision, she must protect them and it can’t be the other way around. So many times she shoots Jarvis down when he offers to help her, and she pushes Angie away to the point of hurting her feelings in order to "keep them safe." She suffers alone in silence, keeping the people she loves at a distance to protect them-the typical male hero, only she’s a woman.

Not only does Peggy have a story arch that is more commonly a male plot, she also has a lot of male characteristics. We see this the most in her fighting style-she doesn't do a lot of graceful turns or fancy flips. Peggy is brutal when she fights: punching, using her elbows, beating people with any object within reach, and generally bludgeoning the snot out of her enemies. I would hate to be the unlucky soul at Peggy’s mercy because I’d be likely to leave with a plethora of bruises and at least a broken nose if not a couple more broken body parts. She is ruthless. There are two scenes in particular that are perfect examples of how unforgiving a fighter Peggy can be-the scene where she beats a man with a stapler and the one where she is able to take down an entire room of S.S.R. agents without a weapon. We see her kicking, punching, elbowing, bludgeoning: there is nothing graceful about how Peggy fights and takes down all of these men. She’s powerful and she’s not afraid to hurt someone. And she's more than willing to turn to violence to get what she wants or to get out of a scrape. She plays dirty, and  to see a woman who fights with so much power and ferocity is something we don't get to see very often on TV. There is no hair pulling, scratching, or biting like we see with a lot of female fighters. She’ll use her fists before she’d ever even consider using her nails. Along this same vein Peggy doesn't hit like a girl either. When she’s fighting we see Peggy full on punch guys right in the face. We get to see a great example of this in one of the scenes with Howard after she discovers he lied to her about what she stole from the S.S.R. for him. If this were any other show she would have slapped him amidst tears and sobs, but instead she punches him square in the eyes with anger all over her face. There’s such a high level of rage and power behind that punch, and they don’t feminize her in a way that would be uncharacteristically Peggy in this scene. She's sad, yes, but she's also pissed and that is the prevalent emotion we see when she confronts Howard. The fact that she punches him instead of slapping him continues to prove that Peggy is strong, masculine, and driven by something more than just her emotions. This action furthers this strong masculinity that we see in Peggy. And continues to prove that women are not these weak, sniveling, over emotional creatures the media tries to make us out as.

Peggy Carter is not an over-emotional, sentiment, sniveling, whiny character at all. (Before you all get worked up about this-I'm not saying that emotional/sentimental characters are bad.) But I am saying women are stereotyped as not being in control of their emotions, making it more difficult to make rational decisions. This means most female characters are prone to crying or melodramatic emotions that leave them incapable of doing anything. Peggy is not one of these characters. She does feel emotions, she's not just a heartless robot. There are multiple scenes within the show where Peggy cries or almost cries, and some of these are my favorite scenes, but they are soft, quiet scenes. They're not blown out of proportion with Peggy losing her grip on herself in them. When Coleen dies, Peggy sits down on the bed and cries for her. When she explains Steve's blood to the SSR we see her tearing up, but she's not crying over anything and everything. All instances of her tears are large moments in her life-things that of course it would be logical to be upset or cry about. Her emotions are rational and realistic. We even see Howard try to use the emotions excuse against her as a reason for lying, but Peggy shoots him down very quickly. "You don't get to use my reaction to your lies as a reason for your lies." Here Peggy is specifically pointing out that just because she may react in a negative or emotional way doesn't mean Howard gets to use that as an excuse. Her emotions are not so fragile as that, and I think we see that demonstrated multiple times with Peggy throughout the series. But despite these moments of despair Peggy is able to stay in control of herself, push forward, and overcome these things that make her hurt. They do not define her, they do not hinder her. These moment are just a part of her character, and they don't make up everything Peggy does. She feels emotions, but that's not all she is. Peggy can make logical judgments and rational decisions even when her heart is broken.

So here we are at the end of this post, and I want to sum up everything we have learned about how awesome Peggy Carter is. First of all Peggy breaks down the boundaries of femininity. She pushes back against this definition of what society has decided being a woman means by following what is normally a hero's story arch and taking on multiple masculine characteristics. But not only does she take on male traits she also retains some femininity, sending the message that women can be whatever they want to be and still be powerful. She manages to occupy both male and female spaces, tearing down the boundaries that have been built between the sexes. On top of that she uses society's negative construct of women to push these boundaries even further. She let's them believe whatever they want about her and in return she's able to carry out her investigation right under their noses. She lets them view her as a weak, incapable woman even though the show proves Peggy is more than capable of keeping her emotions in check. Agent Carter has constructed a character who breaks down societies expectation of women without taking away her femininity. Peggy Carter utilizes these negative assumptions about women to prove what women are truly capable of. There is so much in this show that fights what we typically think a woman should be-Peggy turns it all on it's head. I want every little girl to see this show and see Peggy accomplish so much under such oppressive sexism, and realize that they can be whatever they want to be no matter what anyone says. That is what this show is telling our little girls, which I think is amazing. I wish more shows did this with their characters. We need more characters like Peggy Carter.

There is so much more I could say about this show, but I had to pick a single topic to keep the word count from being ridiculous. Let me know what you all thought, how you felt about the season, and want you want to see in the future. Coming up next is the evolution of Regina's character through the current run of Once Upon a Time. Stay tuned!

BONUS: Look at this dork!

Hayley Atwell would disappear during filming of Agent Carter and fall asleep wherever she could-as portrayed above. There is a whole set of these pictures. They're kind of my favorite.

Blog Revamp

If you've been following this blog at all you'll recognize a lot of this post is from the introduction post I did. I wanted to reiterate what this blog is about while also introducing the new element of the blog. Before this blog was just about TV in general, any and all shows I'm watching or have watched. Well, I've decided to change it up a bit and focus only on female led television because I think we need to have more discussion about all the fabulous ladies gracing our screens lately. All my posts will only be about shows focused on a female lead, or in the case of an ensemble cast it must have a strong female within the cast. I will mainly be discussing shows which are currently on air, hiatus, or shows which have recently ended. I will, however, do a spotlight every once in a while and talk about older shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Dollhouse. And before everyone freaks out about all the awesome ladies in shows that aren't female led being overlooked, once a month I'll do a "Honorary Lady" post discussing an awesome female character that isn't in a female led show such as Donna from Doctor Who, River from Firefly, Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender, etc. I'll continue to look at television through a critical lens and mingle both formal and informal posts about what I've been watching. I hope you all enjoy this blog!

When I first started watching TV it was just for entertainment, which is what the goal is for a lot of you when you sit down to watch a show. After taking a few media classes and chatting with friends I discovered there is a different, and I would argue more interesting way to watch television: critically watching. Before anyone freaks out about the word "critical" let me explain what I mean by it. Critically watching TV doesn't mean sitting back with your bowl of popcorn and pointing out how tremendously awful a show is. (Well, for some people that's what it means, but not for me.) When I say to critically watch TV it means to be able to recognize and be aware of the messages the shows you're watching are are sending to you. Everything is trying to sell you something whether it be figuratively or literally. Some of those messages are good and some are not, but whatever they are my goal is to help you see what television is trying to tell you because it's important to know what media is trying to teach us, so we can choose to accept or deny those messages. In my posts the messages our shows are sending us is what I'll be talking about in my posts. I don't care if a show is blatantly awful. I watch some blatantly awful shows sometimes. I just want people to be able to recognize the flaws of the shows they are watching and understand they aren't perfect. Every show has its problematic elements (Even Agent Carter).

Something important I want you all to know, if and when (because I will) point out the problematic elements in a show you happen to watch it doesn't mean I think you should never watch that show again; it just means I think you need to be aware of those particular issues going on in that show, so that you don't just pick up and accept those messages. For example: in "Once Upon a Time" I have serious issues with the representation of adoptive vs. biological motherhood, but that doesn't mean you should stop watching it. OUAT is one of my favorite shows. I want you to choose what you take away from television not the other way around.

I'll do my very best to update two times every week. Sometimes it might be more, and sometimes it might be less. The life of a college student is unpredictable, but I'll to my best to stay consistent. In my posts there will almost always be spoilers for the shows I'm discussing that week. I'll let you know at the top of every post what show and episode is being discussed, so no one needs to worry or freak out about show spoilers. I'll be courteous because I hate spoilers with as deep of a fiery passion as you do. Every week I also plan to live blog the current shows I'm following. You can find the link with more of that information here. It won't be a consistent schedule because my life is on an inconstant one, but you can go on my twitter and read through my funny reaction tweets to the shows I've watched.

I hope you all will enjoy this blog. If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas, or comments please feel free to leave a comment or send me a message here. I'm excited to share my opinions with you and hear what all of you have to say. Sometime in the next week or so I'll get my first post up about feminism in Marvel's new show Agent Carter. (As soon as I create a new banner for the page I'll get that post up.) Stay tuned. Until next time!

Krissy

The Essence of Doctor Who Alive or Dead?

First off I want to apologize for ditching out on all of you last week, but I was super busy with school and being sick, so I didn't end up posting. My bad. However, I'm making it up to you by giving you a post early in the week. (Despite the fact that I should be doing homework right now...) It's something that has been rattling around in my brain since the third Doctor Who episode this season, and it wouldn't go away. I've never had too much of a problem falling in love with the new regenerations of the Doctor. (Yes, Tennant is my favorite, but I'm fond of nine and the idea of eleven as well.) This new Doctor has not stolen my heart yet, though. In fact, I'm finding it very difficult to like him or his episodes at all, and I couldn't figure out why. I like Capaldi as an actor, and I want to like his Doctor, but I can't bring myself to even see many positive things in his episodes. I thought about this and thought about this, trying to figure out what it is about this season and the previous one that kept me from falling in love with them the way I fell for seasons 1-6. (I admit this mysterious thing had already started to disappear in season 5, but Matt Smith had enough life and excitement in him I hadn't started to notice yet.) I figured it out, and Rose put it into words perfectly in this video all the way back in season 1:

The bigger picture, that's what this and the last few season of Doctor Who have lost. Back in Russel T. Davies era the show wasn't really about the Doctor, he was just there. The show was about the universe and teaching people what they are capable of. Like Rose says it's about learning to live a better life. Yeah, I know that sounds corny, but the show kind of taught it's audience to see how amazing the world around us is because the Doctor never stopped being amazed at the universe, aliens, and especially humans. But starting in season 5 the show's focus started to narrow. It stopped being about traveling, exploring, and finding the best in people; it started to just be about the Doctor and his life. Now the show has narrowed so much that it has completely lost the bigger picture and the reason the Doctor started travelling around in the first place. With so many of these episodes I feel myself asking what's the purpose, the reason for the Doctor being here because he lost the reason he used to have-his love of the universe and for seeing new things. This Doctor has lost that wonder and restless spirit. Something that I haven't seen this season either is the Doctor's interactions with his TARDIS the way he used to in old seasons. There seems to be no connection there. It was lost when he lost his desire to see the universe. Now the TARDIS just feels like a cold empty box.

I really miss what Doctor Who used to be. When we didn't know anything about the Doctor and his life it gave mystery and fun. We didn't need to know about his past because we learned so much about him just by watching his present. Narrowing the show down to be all about the Doctor and where he came from has really taken away from the essence of what New Who has been about since it's reboot with Eccelston. I love that the companions used to be tempted by the vastness and mysteriousness of the universe and not so much by the Doctor's charm. I would just love it if the Doctor stepped back out of the limelight and let the show go back to what it used to be - the Doctor and his companions running through the universe, having adventures, and seeing new things.

I know this is kind of a rambly post and not the most clear, but I've been trying to figure this out for weeks, and I finally did today. Doctor Who has lost its wonder, and that's why it's lost my adoration. What do you all think of the new season? Do you like the new Doctor? Do you think the show has lost the essence it had that made you fall in love with it? Leave me a comment or send me a message letting me know. Thanks for reading my post, and I'll try to update again soon. On Sunday I'm writing about either the Warehouse 13 finale or the clones as sisters in Orphan Black. Let me know what you'd rather read. If you don't pick then it'll end up being up to me, and that's just to much power. Until next time!

Krissy

Orphan Black Season Finale

SPOILERS: Orphan Black Season 2: By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried

This post will be one of my informal posts for the week, and will probably be the only one for the week. I just finished season 2 of Orphan Black, and needed to share my thoughts with someone because the cliffhanger is just killing me. I'm warning you now nothing in this post is going to be deep or critical. I'm really just ranting about my feels over what has happened in the past few episodes that I just can't handle.  The fact that season 3 does not come out until next spring is probably going to kill me. I don't know if I can wait that long. (I'm not good at being patient when it comes to waiting for television shows. It's why I like to binge watch television.)

Anyway, back to the actual plot of the show. First of all I love both Cosima

and Helena are my favorites of all the clones. (I think I also would have liked Katja a lot as well, but due to her premature expiration I did not learn enough about her to know.) Their story lines are the ones I've been invested in the most through the entire series. Helena I find really amusing, especially the fact that she eats everyone out of house and home. It's very amusing. I'm not sure how I feel about her being pregnant. (I'm actually doubting she's actually pregnant because there was not any doctor verification of this or an ultrasound, so I cannot 100% believe that the embryos took.) I think I'm behind her having a baby, though. She's the strange one, the one that everyone doesn't think is 100% sane, but I think she understands, thinks, and plans a lot more than the show and other characters give her credit for. It's clear she really loves kids, and I think I'd like to see her with a baby....as long as the stabby murdery side of her goes away before the baby(ies) arrive. As much as I think I'm okay with Helena being pregnant I'm getting a little annoyed that she is always where the trouble is or is the cause of trouble. I know, I know she's the out of control, unpredictable one, but it's getting to the point where the show almost seems to be picking on her because of that. Right now she just got kidnapped by some weird military people after just escaping from the weird cult that Felix likes to refer to as the "fish people". Can we stop picking on Helena for a moment and just let her chill for a minute. I don't think she's had a moment where she wasn't running from something, attacking something, or being kidnapped since her character was introduced. I mean, none of them have ever really stepped back out of the action, but for Helena I feel like she's had a particularly intense storyline. I'd just like to see her get a minute to breathe. However, I LOVED the scene where she finally got to meet her sisters. That gave me all the feels, but I'm biased because I have deep love for sibling relationships. Basically I just love Helena a lot and want everyone to see and accept her potential as a person as much as I do because she's awesome and her eating habits are hilarious.

As stated before my other favorite character is Cosima. In fact, she's probably my favorite of all the clones. When she first appeared in the show my feelings were iffy on her. (Similar to my current feelings about Allisoin). It didn't take too long for me to fall absolutely in love with her character,

though. She's just so interesting and not your typical brainiac, which I love. She's got depth, and love, and flaws, and desires. One of the most interesting sides of Cosima is when she does things she knows she's not supposed to; her desire to take risks. It's just so fascinating to me. I might be biased because her incapability to do what she's told is the reason she and Delphine are a couple, and I adore the two of them. (At least for now. It seems up in the air to me whose side Delphine will be on, but as of now I like them very much.) Can we also talk about how much I love the fact that a woman can be such a brilliant scientists? Love it. A lot. Ever since Cosima got sick I've been terrified that she's going to die. Near the end of this last episode when she wans't responding to Kira I almost lost it because if Cosima died I don't know if I could keep watching. (Let's be real, I'd keep watching, but I would NOT be happy about the loss of her because she's such a great character). The sicker she gets the more terrified I get. Ugh, I just love her so much. Please don't die. Let Rachael or Allison die. I'm less vested in them. I want more Cosima. She's really the reason why I am so impatient for the show to start up again. I want to hear more about her, her relationship with Delphine, and what contributions her brilliant mind make into the craziness that this show has become.

Okay I'm going to end my rant there. I really just had to whine about Cosima and how freaked I got when I thought she was dead. I actually started scolding my television. (Yes, I talk to my shows. I know they can't hear me. Stop judging me.) If you haven't seen Orphan Black you really should go watch it because it's such a phenomenal show with some great strong females, an interesting plot, and lots of cool sciency stuff. This is pretty high on my recommendations list for sure. 

I also want to remind all of you that my first live blog will be taking place tomorrow night for the next episode of Doctor Who. You can follow my tweets as I watch the episode at twitter.com/lightscameratv. Tomorrow is supposed to be a scarier episode, so my tweets will probably be pretty entertaining. (I don't handle suspense or scary things very well.) Until next time!

Krissy

The Evolution of Clara Oswald

SPOILERS: Doctor Who Season 8: "Robots of Sherwood"

Today I’m going to be talking about season eight Clara Oswald. A little background on my feelings toward Clare. When the news first spread about who Clara would be I got excited. From the description Moffat gave Clara sounded intriguing: quick on her feet, sassy, and witty. There isn’t more I could want out of companion. In “Asylum of the Daleks” she lived up to Moffat’s description. A lot of people would argue that overall “Asylum of the Daleks” is not a very good episode, for the most part I would agree, but I do like Clara/Oswin in that episode. (I also wish her name had been Oswin not Clara, but that’s beside the point.) She’s quick, kinda bossy, amusing, and makes her own decisions. In that episode she’s calling the shots and not looking to other people to tell her how to think. In the next episode she appears in for the most part Clara continues to stick with this persona of the clever young lady who could give the Doctor a run for his money, but when the second half of season seven rolled around my disappointment grew to a painfully high level. Clara lost all her personality, cleverness, and independence. She couldn’t make any of her own decisions and constantly looked to the Doctor for approval. This made getting to the end of season seven very difficult (this and many other reasons, but we’re here to talk about Clara.) When season eight rolled around I almost didn’t watch it because season seven had been so disappointing.

You will be glad to hear I found myself pleasantly surprised by season eight Clara. (Don’t get me wrong, there are still problems with Clara and just with the show in general, but progress is progress.) Now Clara in general up until the most recent episodes has been a disappointing companion, especially following in the shadow of companions such as Donna, Captain Jack, and Amy Pond. Then season eight rolled around, and I got really excited because all of the sudden Clara has a personality, a life, and an opinion. I almost threw a party from sheer excitement. This happened a bit in the first episode when the Doctor abandoned Clara and she had to fend for herself against the clockwork people. She had to figure out how to keep them from attacking her to kill her and use her body parts to mend the ship. In this instance she acted more out of necessity than because she wanted to, but in the next two episodes Clara really steps up and takes charge. This happens the most in the episode “Robot of Sherwood” where she pretty much runs the show. Throughout the episode the Doctor is obsessed with proving Robin Hood isn’t real, and instead of sitting around listening to the two men bicker Clara steps up and gets things done. She’s the one who gets the Sheriff to spill the beans about his plan. I particularly enjoy the new level of sass Clara possesses. She’s taken on a Rose-like quality (no, I know she can never equal Rose) in that she goes off on her own and figures things out. She wanders off. Companions who wander off and find their own adventures are my favorite. Clara is beginning to do that, and I sincerely hope she continues to be the type of companion who takes no flak from anyone and is capable of being independent like she has been thus far this season.

Clara has at long last grown into her character. She’s become an actual person with personality and opinions. I can assure you a vast majority of the Doctor Who fandom is just over the moon about this, but how are the rest of the characters in the show reacting to Clara’s new found independence. Well, it started out a bit rocky to be honest. The Doctor throws a lot of insults at Clara in the first episode, “Deep Breathe”. It undermined Clara and devalued her opinions and intelligence. There is a similar issue which Vastra in this episode. She has a very condescending manner toward Clara which makes it appear as if Clara is as naïve as a child or just plain stupid. (I’ve never had a particular fondness for Vastra, and I’ve only developed more negative feelings toward her as she appears in more episodes, but that might mean I have a bias.) Clara began to make her own decisions and form opinions, and the way the other characters treated her in this episode seemed to back-pedal all the progress being made in her gaining respect from viewers as a well-rounded character with solid ideas and opinions.

I am glad to say this has changed since that episode. In the most recent episode with Robin Hood the Doctor is singing a different tune. He seemed very luke warm when it came to Clara in episode one, but in episode three he is trying to make her proud. When he and Robin have a squabble in the dungeon while they’re locked up the Doctor stops and says, “There is a bright side-Clara didn’t see that.” The tables have turned. In season seven Clara looked to the Doctor for approval, but now it seems the Doctor is looking to her for approval, and I like that a lot. We are seeing the Doctor view his companion as an important asset and someone to rely on instead of a play thing to flirt with and show off too. When the Doctor tries to show off to Clara she tells him off for it. It’s good to see a companion keeping the Doctor in check again. The change in the relationship between the Doctor and Clara is refreshing, and I hope it is not just because the Doctor is unsure of himself due to having a new face. If we are lucky this will continue throughout the rest of the episode.

The evolution of Clara’s character into something that doesn’t make me want to tear my hair out has taken a long time, but I can finally say I am excited to see where her character is going. She has gained independence and is on the road to consistency. I feel like I can explain who she is as a character to other people when before there was no description because Clara had no personality. Doctor Who began to worry me as a show, especially its very bad representation of female characters. It is by no means perfect and has a lot of other issues to work on, but at least on the subject of Clara the writers have started to get something right. We shall see if progress in this area and other areas continues to be made.

Let me know how all of you felt about the newest episode of Doctor Who whether it be about Clara or something else entirely I want to know. Leave a comment or send me a message via my Contact Me tab. Until next time!

Krissy

A Little Introduction to My Blog

It's taken me a long time to finally get this first post up, but here it is. From the banner and the title you've probably come to the assumption this blog is about television. In a way you're right, but not completely. This blog is not about just television; it's about appreciating, understanding, geeking out over, and recognizing the problems of TV. Through this blog I want to help you look at television in a way you may not have looked at it before.

When I first started watching TV it was just for entertainment, which what the goal is for a lot of you when you sit down to watch a show. After taking a few media classes and chatting with friends I discovered there is a different, and I would argue more interesting way to watch television: critically watching. Before anyone freaks out about the word "critical" let me explain what I mean by it. Critically watching TV doesn't mean sitting back with your bowl of popcorn and pointing out how tremendously awful a show is. (Well, for some people that's what it means, but not for me.) When I say to critically watch TV it means to be able to recognize and be aware of the messages the shows you're watching are are sending to you. Everything is trying to sell you something whether it be figuratively or literally. Some of those messages are good and some are not, but whatever they are my goal is to help you see what television is trying to tell you because it's important to know what media is trying to teach us, so we can choose to accept or deny those messages. In my posts the messages our shows are sending us is what I'll be talking about in my posts.

I'll do my very best to update three times every week. Sometimes it might be more, and sometimes it might be less. The life of a college student is unpredictable, but I'll to my best to stay consistent. In my posts there will almost always be spoilers for the shows I'm discussing that week. I'll let you know at the top of every post what show and episode is being discussed, so no one needs to worry or freak out about show spoilers. I'll be courteous because I hate spoilers with as deep of a fiery passion as you do. Every week I also plan to live blog the current shows I'm following. You can find the link with more of that information here. Be sure to check often because the schedule might change or I might add shows depending on what is on television at the time etc.

Something important I want you all to know, if and when (because I will) point out the problematic elements in a show you happen to watch it doesn't mean I think you should never watch that show again; it just means I think you need to be aware of those particular issues going on in that show, so that you don't just pick up and accept those messages. For example: in "Once Upon a Time" I have serious issues with the representation of adoptive vs. biological motherhood, but that doesn't mean you should stop watching it. OUAT is one of my favorite shows. I want you to choose what you take away from television not the other way around.

I hope you all will enjoy this blog. If you have any questions, suggestions, ideas, or comments please feel free to leave a comment or send me a message here. I'm excited to share my opinions with you and hear what all of you have to say. Tomorrow my first formal post will be up discussing the newest season of Doctor Who! Until next time!"

Krissy