The Power - Episode 1 thoughts

[cashew]

So, I've begun watching The Power on the recommendation of tanithryudo. One episode into the show and I can see this show either actually exploring the complexity and nuances of gender identity, politics, and the nature of oppression, or become a rah-rah girl power cliché. At the moment, I'm not sure how I feel, so some ramblings as I work through my thoughts.

The Interesting:

• The women introduced so far are morally ambiguous but empowered. It's refreshing that women don't have to be perfect to be worthy of sympathy, but at the same time, it could very easily slide into the "women with power = villain" territory.

• Opening prologue definitely engendered some interest from me. Feels like someone was very angry when writing this. Could potentially lead to some interesting plot twists. Could potentially lead to problems, too, of course. As of the first episode, it does seem promising.

• So, I'm feeling positive about the power being natural and innate, something that seems to strike back at the idea that women are the "fairer" sex. We'll see if that point goes anywhere.

The Questionable:

• The overall tone of the story does make me a little worried about how the story plans to handle this "female revolution" concept. It's a bit too easy to go down the "absolute power corrupts absolutely", and with the overall grim-dark tone plus foreshadowing of fascistic characters, I feel like it might slide that way. I'm a bit torn, because on the one hand, women being paragons of virtue is placing women on a pedestal; on the other hand, powerful women being threatening is a patriarchal trope that is still going strong.

• Token male ally is honestly not very helpful from a narrative standpoint and I really don't think it'll be handled well. Because, yes, yes, there are of course men who are good and supportive, but that's not the issue? Like, men are systemically privileged and unless our token male ally is supposed to learn how much invisible privilege he enjoyed under patriarchy, I don't see how this particular plot can avoid becoming a complete shitshow.

• I'm extremely paranoid about the potential of this show going down the route of "women in power is just as bad as men!" Because...um, no. Like, I get that there's this whole "gender is a social construct" thing (which it is), but there's also the sex difference that females are statistically more cooperative in their problem solving while males are statistically more competitive. And that sex (not gender) difference does matter. Hormones affect behavior, so it's simply factually wrong to act like there won't be a difference. For example, rape has different consequences when enacted on a female vs male victim. The female victim (with fertile reproductive organs) will have to deal with forced pregnancy, while a male victim doesn't. So...I'm a bit leery on that front.

• Based on the first episode, I'm not entirely sure this show has the chops to pull off the story with the necessary nuance. They might have been better served making an episodic series with each episode focused on a single character rather than switching back and forth between multiple plot lines. I feel like this really detracts from the actual story and serves only to highlight the lack of intersectionality rather than actually addressing it.

Anyhoo...I'll just have to see what episode 2 brings.

Comments

[tanithryudo]

So far it doesn't look like any of the storylines are going the "power corrupts" route. Trying not to spoil to much... ones who start out on the somewhat villainous side (Tatiana Moskalyev, Roxy Monske) have chosen new paths. Margot is a better pick than her political rival but still a politician, but that's not a bad thing since political power is its own battlefield that needs to be fought. Allison/Eve has moments that seem to cross the line, but it's really...unclear whether the voice she's hearing is actually a religious experience, so.

Token male allies... I feel like there aren't any. So far by the end of the first season, the major male characters that start out as "allies" have slowly dropped from this category. I feel like just Tunde Ojo is left, and honestly, he feels like he's in this half out of ambition/need for fame, half out of idealism, and because his home environment may be more accepting of matriarchy. And his role in the story is more of a tool to introduce and connect other characters than actually telling his story.

Of the multiple storylines, I actually like the one with the Moskalyev sisters in Carpathia the best. Probably because they start off in the worst positions, and thus their victory feels the most cathartic.

Margot's family's storyline is the hardest to emphasize with, similarly because they start off in the highest social position and it's hard to sympathize with the 1%.

Eve's storyline makes me feel uncomfortable, not sure if it's because of the religious/brainwashing overtones, or the fact that she crosses the line and then covers it up. (Unlike Roxy, by contrast, who when she goes and offs someone, she does so openly.)

[cashew]

So far I'm at episode 2 and I'm getting kind of skeeved out by Roxy's story. There's something just weirdly performative about having her dad be a Jewish mob boss that is bigoted towards the Irish. Basically, I'm not sure the show will handle this intersectionality. At least it sounds like she'll break away from trying to get her dad's approval, so that's encouraging.

Eve's story is...um, I guess they're trying to go for "what if God was a woman", but it feels little out of place in the general sci-fi setting. I'll have to watch more, but it's not really doing it for me. Also, it hews disturbingly close to the the "magical negro" trope and I feel like we need to move past that depiction in the 21st century. I mean, granted, Eve's the protagonist now, but she's been helping a bunch of white people so far (and getting shit for it), so it's not much of an improvement.

Tunde is the token male ally I was talking about and his story kind of runs into the complexity that it's a story written by privileged women from developed (and formerly colonial) nations about people in a country that's been ravaged by colonialism, so there's just all sorts of uncomfortable whenever his story comes to the forefront. Like, Tunde is obviously well off based on how his home is designed, definitely upper middle class if not the top 1-5%. Can he really be a good frame of reference for the impact of the revolution in a developing nation?

Tatiana's struggles are sympathetic, but I'm always leery of Western European depictions of Eastern Europe. There's some unresolved issues there. (Especially knowing she was initially supposed to be from Moldova in the novel, it just seems like such a geopolitical quagmire to be tackling, a bit overly ambitious.) As of episode two, though, she's the most justified for taking extreme actions (if she ever gets there).

Honestly, Margot is the story that has the least hiccups so far, probably because she falls so solidly into second wave feminism (straight white woman trying to get into position of power), so those issues are better hashed out at this point and not nearly as fraught with unintentional cringe. But her daughter...yeah, no, she's really grating on my nerves.

[tanithryudo]

Roxy got on my nerves sometimes too. But the thing is she also gets repeatedly punched in the face with the consequences of her actions. So it often feels like it's easier to forgive her (or just emphasize) afterwards.

With Eve, I think that this story is clearly putting her into the gender based conflict and ignoring the race based conflict in society. I get that it's because the aim is focused on telling one story and not the other, but...eh.

Tunde... I don't think his story is intended to tell the story of Nigeria as more than just a origin/background thing. He spends more time telling the story of other characters, really.

Tatiana is only one half of the picture in Carpathia. Her sister is the other half. Not spoiling it more than that.

Margot... I find her kids annoying. And in later episodes I've found both her and her husband annoying. It almost feels like the plot is making them fail at communicating (despite being shown as good at communicating in earlier episodes), and forcibly breaking the family. Her storyline 30% politics and 70% family drama. Eh... too much second hand embarrassment at times that I actually fast forwarded some bits.