S01.E07: Baptism

[AnimeMania]

As opponents of EOD pose an increasing threat, those who have the Power look to each other for strength, protection and new leadership.

Premiere Date: April 27, 2023

[Shermie]

Wow, no comments? Did everyone stop watching? I hope not, because I find this show compelling.

I do wonder who the narrator is who is talking to the Black girl’s subconscious (sorry, I’m terrible with remembering names, especially with a show like this that has a large cast who aren’t in every episode). Seems like the main women are being set up as some sort of coalition of leadership - the mayor and her daughter, the girl at the nun’s home, the Russian president’s gymnast wife and her sister, and the British woman. I think that’s everyone? Not sure how they’ll get together, assuming that’s the plan.

[Mr. Sparkle]

12 minutes ago, Shermie said:

I do wonder who the narrator is who is talking to the Black girl’s subconscious

It's Adina Porter. 

I'm still watching, but the show is just ok for me. The concept is interesting, but I find myself just not caring about the characters that much.

The incel arc does nothing for me. It's an interesting twist that Jos is watching Rox's videos. 

[Shermie]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

1 hour ago, Shermie said:

I do wonder who the narrator is who is talking to the Black girl’s subconscious

It's Adina Porter. 

I didn’t mean the actor; I meant the character. Is it Allie’s (is that the girl’s name?) subconscious? Is it a godlike presence? I haven’t read the book, so it seems like pointless conjecture here since there are so few interested posters. I’ll just watch on my own and enjoy it as it unfolds.

[quarks]

23 hours ago, Shermie said:

Wow, no comments? Did everyone stop watching? I hope not, because I find this show compelling.

I do wonder who the narrator is who is talking to the Black girl’s subconscious (sorry, I’m terrible with remembering names, especially with a show like this that has a large cast who aren’t in every episode). Seems like the main women are being set up as some sort of coalition of leadership - the mayor and her daughter, the girl at the nun’s home, the Russian president’s gymnast wife and her sister, and the British woman. I think that’s everyone? Not sure how they’ll get together, assuming that’s the plan.

I'm still watching, but finding the show less and less compelling each episode, for two different reasons:

1. I'm struggling to retain my suspension of disbelief again and again and again, both on large plot points (why aren't more of these women getting taken down by long range weapons/weapons of mass destruction?) and small background/set issues (I realize they are under war conditions and that babies can arrive very quickly, too quickly to move the mother, and also that the director was trying to make a visual point, but I was just....they had cleaner areas in that area for childbirth).

But I've watched and enjoyed things that are far less probable before, which brings me to --

2. I don't like any of the main characters, or most of the minor characters. The only ones I don't dislike are the ones who have barely been on screen - like a couple of the girls at the convent. 

I don't need to like every character, but it helps if I like at least one. Or if any of the characters become "love to hate" characters, which none of them are except for maybe, very arguably, the governor played by Josh Charles. But he's just not enough to get me invested in the show.

[Sesquipedalia]

On 5/4/2023 at 9:29 PM, LtKelley said:

the awkward reality is that the change is occuring in all women in all places and you can't kill them all. But yes, guns do even things up at first. 

In our world, women can get guns as easily as men, but does that work as an equalizer? Not at all. Power comes from a feeling of dominance and superiority. Is that sense of dominance rooted in the ability to physically harm others? That's the core inquiry of The Power. It seems to suggest that, yes, dominance is rooted in physical superiority? Women become stronger, so they become dominant. But could it just be a cultural perception? Women in The Power could be easily overtaken with guns, but it's psychological. Men day to day are scared of them. That's the root of the conflict. Anyone could overpower anyone with a gun, but what role does genetic proneness to violence play? Does simply being able to overcome a person in a one-on-one situation make you superior? Is physical force the primary factor in how society is organized?

These questions are why I love the book and the show.

[ursula]

9 hours ago, Sesquipedalia said:

Women become stronger, so they become dominant. But could it just be a cultural perception? Women in The Power could be easily overtaken with guns, but it's psychological. Men day to day are scared of them. That's the root of the conflict. Anyone could overpower anyone with a gun, but what role does genetic proneness to violence play?

This though. In Roxy's encounter with her brother in the show, he's in her face, physically threatening her and she just laughs him off because he's just annoying puppy trying to get her attention. When he finally provokes her enough to hit back, she gets him to his knees and she has to apologize. It's actually uncanny to see this reversed because it's crystal clear who has power in that scene. Roxy doesn't even flinch when he's pushing her around. She knows she can take him down anytime she wants and she does. And even though she's technically defending herself, at the end, there's that expression on her face - "I am the stronger one so I should have been more in control".

And it would be fascinating to see how this dynamic spreads and evolves throughout the world. Already you have Jo's brother (I can never remember his name) getting advice from his dad that "girls will be girls and if you don't provoke them, they'll leave you alone".  Jo tells her mother "can you imagine growing up with that kind of freedom" and that's such an underrated declaration because it's the children that will drive this change. Something the show changed from the books was that schools literally became segregated - boys and girls put in separate schools just to keep boys safe. Nighttime dynamics changed with more and more boys getting home to safety early while girl gangs took over the night. 

 

3 hours ago, LtKelley said:

I think it would take longer than ten years to make the flip and I don't think women would so easily flip to raping men...

Women already rape men in this reality. Not by the same numbers and usually through less violent methods (drugs, underage coercion etc) but it's not like it doesn't exist. 

Technically it doesn't take ten years to make the flip, it takes

Spoiler

5000

. What it takes ten years to do is for society to be driven to the boiling point. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by ursula

[ursula]

25 minutes ago, LtKelley said:

I don't think I said "women never rape", just that I don't think adding the power would encourage it so quickly. I very much doubt you'd see it in women who are activated by their daughters and frankly I think it would take a generation before there was a significant change. I also think even in Western countries there would be some serious backlash on women using their power. 

 

I think adding power will encourage anyone who's inclined to abusing power/privilege to 100% do it. A lot of crime/immorality is opportunistic. "What you are in the dark" as the saying goes. Power creates opportunity. It doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman. A teenage girl coming into her own power. Or a woman getting her power from her daughter or younger friend. Women aren't inherently better or more moral than men. Society only pushes that lie (backed by largely debunked science) to give men a pass for shitty behavior: "Boys will be boys but girls will be angels."

 

25 minutes ago, LtKelley said:

Not addressed in the book or the show as yet, but I'd be curious to see what men act like in the future of this world where their high testosterone rages get them a mighty smack. 

You get a glimpse of that with Roxy and her brother. It's the same treatment that aggressive women get in this world. It starts from "you're cute/hot when you're mad" to "now look what you made me do." And like women in our world, men probably learn to channel that aggression somewhere else, especially when the world keeps telling them that it's "natural" for women to be more aggressive because they're child-bringers and therefore nature/science ordains them to be aggressive to protect the species, while men have to be nurturing to counterbalance that. 

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by ursula