A Warehouse of Sexism
August 15, 2009
by Karen
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
When I first saw commercials for Warehouse 13, I was intrigued at the concept, a blend of science and fantasy in which a government-funded warehouse contains dangerous artifacts to keep them out of the hands of the people.
I watched the first episode, which seemed alright but unimpressive. However, as I continued to watch the series, it became more apparent that the show was tactless and disrespectful to its characters, especially fellow Warehouse agent Myka Bering. In fact, the sexism and disrespect increased as the episodes progressed. Denver Post called Warehouse 13, “”X-Files” light, with the bickering Scully and Mulder stand-ins going off on “Indiana Jones”-style adventures” , but to compare this to either series is a huge insult.
In the first episode, Myka Bering and Peter Latimer were introduced as Secret Service agents who discovered a man possessed to commit violence by an Aztec bloodstone. After discovering the dangerous power of artifacts in the world, they were assigned to the Warehouse 13 base in South Dakota where they could search out, gather, and catalogue other dangerous artifacts. Myka and Peter seemed to be equals or at least the potential was there with their own talents, Myka being the more practical detective and Peter having a psychic sense. This impression turned out to be an illusion.
The passing episodes quickly degenerated Myka Bering into nothing more than a do-nothing and look-pretty character. For example, Myka did little in the second episode as a guest star actress Tricia Helfer entered the episode; Peter Latimer stared at her breasts and said, “Ba-da-boom.” In the third episode, Myka Bering was repeatedly groped by a man who lunged at her breasts, an artifact releasing his subconscious desires; her character contributed nothing to the plot while Peter saved the day. When the same artifact released her own subconscious desires, Myka became a whiny, complainer who liked to punch her fellow agent, Peter Latimer.
From then on, I decided against watching the series, so I missed episodes four and five fortunately. While flipping channels, I noticed that the episode opened up a way for Myka Bering to truly prove her worth as a character – if the staff wanted her to have any worth at all. Halfway through episode six, and Peter Latimer had been attacked by an artifact and was helpless. This was a great chance to let Myka Bering shine.
What did the writers and producers of the series have her do?
Myka Bering called her direct superior Artie Nielson and cried “I don’t know what to do; I don’t know what to do.” She and an ex-Warehouse agent found Peter, still writhing in pain. The answer to saving him was simply to remove the artifact off his back. Even so, Myka was too overwhelmed with terror and emotionality to do anything to save him. The ex-Warehouse agent removed the artifact.
The series needs to be either removed or entirely renovated. Either option would certainly be beneficial for women, but I am not certain which option to take. If the series is removed, then we have nothing else to angry over concerning the series. I fear the character of Myka Bering has been too badly damaged for her to continue. She needs to be replaced with a stronger female character who is both knowledgeable and assertive as well as capable in a fight. Peter Latimer also needs to be replaced due to his womanizing behavior, but unfortunately, unlike in my criticism of Surviving Suburbia, I struggle think of many positive replacements for Warehouse 13. Rose Tyler from seasons 1 and 2 of the modern Doctor Who is the only woman whose character both fits into the genre of adventure/comedy and would also be a wonderful model for a replacement. I can think of nothing for Peter Latimer, even though he also needs to be replaced.
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I’m not disagreeing with your perspective on this, but the reason why she hesitated in this week’s episode was because she had watched her previous partner (who also happened to be her significant other) die while on the job, and the writers imply that it was her fault. I think that’s why she didn’t want to remove the artifact from Pete’s back…she was afraid she would end up killing him too.
That said, there are still multiple ways that they could (and should) strengthen her character. I quite enjoy the show, but they need to work on helping her shine more. The writers have written her as being sort of lost, and not sure how she fits into things. She struggles to get along with her family, she feels overworked, and she’s out of her element. In last week’s episode we saw how she lacks confidence in herself being in this new position where she is doing something different than what she was originally trained to do. As the show develops she can overcome some of that; not that the writers couldn’t speed up the process, to be sure. They could portray her dusting herself off and trucking along as so many of us do at our own jobs.
(spoilers below)
There was one episode (the one with the musical frequency and the bank robbery) where she did save the day by figuring out who was responsible. Not sure what episode that was.
I agree with you absolutely over your assestment of the series. You have hit the sexism right on the head. “she feels overworked, and she’s out of her element.” Yet, she has the exact same workload as Latimer, and they were both introduced to the job at the same time. Latimer is coping and handling it while she is not.
“They could portray her dusting herself off and trucking along as so many of us do at our own jobs.” You are right. If they portrayed her as toughing out a strange situation despite doubts, that would be a definite sign of a strong woman coping with the unfamiliar. There are many series which feature empowered women dealing with family and job-related issues. A shame this series doesn’t portray her this way.
Your comment about episode six makes the most sense for her behavior. When I was looking up the series on http://www.imdb.com I found a synopsis that said the deceased was the former partner and lover of the ex-Warehouse agent who rescued Latimer at the end. Your statement makes more sense for Myka’s behavior, but if she knew it would have killed him, she would have stopped the ex-agent from removing the artifact and would have searched for another means. Either way, she comes across as weak-willed.
Bering was also in the position of not wanting this job in the first place, while Latimer immediately thought the job sounded really cool. Neither of them had gone looking for this job, since naturally it is a secret and all, but Latimer likes living on the dangerous side. Myka was the straightlaced partner who sort of felt abandoned by her former boss when he (the boss) couldn’t get her reassigned to DC. Now, that does mean that the writers paint her as more of a victim, but I guess I just assumed that she would get accustomed to the job and that timidity would wear off. So many TV shows start off shaky, but as the characters develop they begin to find their mojo.
Also, I forgot to mention that in the bank robbery episode she got in some good a** kicking, which shows that she is capable of doing the same work as a man, but perhaps she doesn’t fully realize that herself. So, maybe this is a concern that will resolve itself as the writers continue to develop her character.
“So many TV shows start off shaky, but as the characters develop they begin to find their mojo”
We seem to agree about all the problems within the series, but I see it falling seriously downhill into misogyny. You want the series to be successful, but it has been five episodes since the strength and equality you saw in the second ep. I find none of that in the recent episodes. The treatment and portrayal of Myka Bering has worsened considerably since then, and I believe this will continue to worsen unless we write to them.
Writing to the people in charge and telling them that you want more of the strength you saw in the second episode is the only way to make Myka into a stronger character and to reduce the amount of the sexism in the writing. The writers and producers need to know what the series’ problems are so that they can correct them. I sent in my letters this morning.
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