Agent Carter Is Not Your Darling

Originally, this was going to be a one-time post about five fictional women in media (television, film, books, etc) that inspired or influenced me in some way but then I realized that there were more than five of them.  I couldn't choose just five, so this may become an ongoing series of posts about awesome ladies!

First we have Margaret "Peggy" Carter from the television show Agent Carter.  First seen in Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011 as a no-nonsense British officer working for the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), Peggy was responsible for rescuing the scientist Abraham Erskine, creator of the Super Soldier Serum.

Now, I realize that the show could be better, but with the bar set so low for female lead media, I believe it did a pretty good job.  While the show has many faults ranging from a predominantly male cast, no memorable characters of color, and a somewhat superficial stance on feminism, Agent Carter does have one brilliant thing going for it... Strong ladies.

(image source: @AgentCarterTV)

After the end of World War II, Peggy Carter continues to work for the SSR and, as far as the audience knows, is the only female agent in existence.  Most other women in the agency have been relegated to telephone operators and/or secretarial positions.

Although her abilities are continuously ignored by her male counterparts and superior, Peggy is quick-witted and sharp enough to use their underestimation of her to her advantage.

• When ordered to watch the phones, Peggy calls the operator and instructs her to forward all calls to the briefing room; there will be no keeping Peggy from important meetings.
• To further her own agenda, Peggy serves coffee and is able to glean vital information about her investigation when her male co-workers dismiss her to the background.
• When Howard implies that she is overly emotional due to being on her period, she verbally smacks him down with a quick, "You don't get to use my reaction to your lies as a reason for your lies."

Peggy Carter is a tough, resilient woman who stands strong even when no one is on her side.  She doesn't put up with being mistreated by the men or women around her and will protect her friends from the same mistreatment.

Even through all of the vicious fights (and believe you me, Peggy can kick butt harder than most of the boys) Peggy never forgets that she is a woman; she uses feminine things like perfume and lipstick in the line of duty as easily as she uses her fists or a gun.  There is something very empowering about seeing a woman kicking butt and taking names which I appreciated.  It makes me feel like I can be strong too.

And while Peggy learns that she doesn't need to do everything alone, she doesn't need the men around her to rescue her from danger.  She is quite capable of rescuing herself, thank you very much.  Throughout the show, Peggy gives us little gems and tidbits of advice that are applicable in everyday life, but my favorite quote is this:

"I know my value. Anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter." --Peggy Carter.

These are just a few things that I like about Peggy Carter.  If you're interested in her then you should watch the show.  Also, I will be posting about other women from this show, because they deserve to be talked about.  Who would you like me to write about?

Inspirational Speech from Buck Frobisher

Sometimes, you just need a random word of encouragement, something to make the days easier to get through... Well, on this day, the 11th of March, Buck Frobisher (of Due South) has words of inspiration for you. This speech always makes me smile and I wanted to share with y'all.

Drifting In Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim is one of my all-time favorite films.  It is an entertaining film about people working together to find a solution to a problem that is bigger than any one country or government.  But, that's one topic that is an entirely different post which, if you follow me on Facebook you will have seen me laughing about accidentally writing.

What I'd like to talk about in this post is drifting, because I've seen a number of discussions about how angry people were that Jaeger Pilots weren't able to magically read each-other's minds and immediately know everything about each-other.

What do I think drifting is?

In my opinion, drifting is connecting on a deeply intimate level with your co-pilot to find similar experiences or emotions that bring the two individuals together as one stronger whole.

For instance, when Yancy tells Raleigh that "I'm in your brain, I know" this statement is more indicative of their close relationship as brothers than reading Raleigh's mind.  Yancy does know what Raleigh is thinking, because he knows how Raleigh thinks not because he can read his brother's  mind.

One of the strongest complaints about drifting in the film is why Raleigh wasn't instantly aware of the chain sword when he and Mako first drifted.  Personally, my Brother's remarks on the topic are my favorite, that it was stupid/lazy for a pilot to know that their machine had been modified and NOT find out about all of those changes immediately.

Travis Beacham, the writer for Pacific Rim, posted the following picture to visually illustrate the drift and said,

"For your reference. A half-assed verbal illustration of what a drift with a new partner might be like. Red for one mind. Blue for the other. Purple for blended thoughts. Enjoy."

(click on the picture to go to the original post)

Looking at this discussion, one can clearly see that these are two individuals that are processing different input and thinking about different things and yet, are still able to come together in order to move forward towards their common goal.

There are a number of other indications that the drift is not mind-reading.  Travis says that the drift is fluid and is driven by emotions, fantasies, memories, etc.  The id of one pilot cues the other pilot's id and so on and so forth (1).  Raleigh did not know about the chain sword because it wasn't something that Mako thought about, even subconsciously, until the moment that she needed it.  As individuals, they were thinking about different (arguably, more important) things up to that point  (3).

Travis also stated that drifting can be difficult if the pilots do not share common memories to use as reference points.  This can make or break a pilot team, because two minds are learning how to communicate in this entirely foreign way with another mind (2).  Pilots need there to be common ground in order for their two minds to come together and successfully drift.

To sum things up, drifting is an open communication between two minds, a dialogue if you will.  It does not mean that a pilot immediately knows everything about their partner.  The more times a pair drifts and the longer/deeper the drift, then the more they will learn about each other.

If you'd like to read my review of the Pacific Rim Novelization, you can find that post HERE.

Sources: 
(1) Travis Beacham, what-memories-do-you-share-when-you-first-drift
(2) Travis Beacham, why-do-jaeger-pilots-talk-out-loud-to-their
(3) Travis Beacham, coelasquid-hey-i-actually-finished-a-comic-on-a