Hello! Today in class, our teacher assigned us a mock exam that was going to help us practice for the upcoming AICE exam in 2026. The film that we used to write our essay was called "Agent Carter.”
Agent Carter
In the scene of Agent carter, it involves the protagonist, Peggy, working at an agency. During the scene, the movie represented Peggy as a strong independent woman despite the treatment she was receiving from her male workers. The scene took place around the 20th century, where men were viewing women as inferior, shown by the dominance of men at the agency while Peggy was the only woman working amongst them.
During the scene, the scene revealed a wide shot of the office, showing that the agents there were all male except Peggy. This shows the superiority / dominance of men in the working field compared to women. Women are viewed as inferior, people who aren't capable of handling jobs that men typically do. But for Peggy, she was trying to break that social norm. Although she's working as an agent along with the male agents, she can't seem to fit in because of how unfairly she gets treated. Peggy isn't content with the treatment that she receives because she's a woman. There was a close-up shot of Peggy's annoyed expression after her boss was choosing only male agents to go on missions. That scene helps further prove about the inferiority of women that is created amongst the men. Later in the clip, the boss told Peggy to clean up the office while he and the male employees headed out somewhere together. The office went dark and a few light sources remained on. This creates low-key lighting, which creates a sense of emptiness and isolation in the office with Peggy being alone there. The lighting creates a sense of pity for Peggy, seeing the way she was left alone in the office as if she doesn't fit in. According to the Stuart Hall theory, people interpret media based on their environment and beliefs. In this case, the audience could interpret in the scene that Peggy's male workers don't view her the same because she's a woman based on the way the boss was treating her.
To continue, Peggy was able to reveal / represent herself as a strong, resilient agent near the end of the clip. Near the end of the scene, it shows an aerial shot, revealing Peggy's surrounding as she walks to a small building that was mentioned over the phone call that she answered at the agency. From the shot, it shows that Peggy is alone, indicating that she is capable of handling the missions like the men. Two suspicious guys in he building, probably a cabin, were sent outside after being told to. From the looks of the situation, it makes them seem as if they aren’t up to no good. The clip escalates to Peggy punching the guys while incidental music plays in the background, making the fight scene more intense, intriguing or immersing the audience into the scene of the fight. It then involves crosscutting editing used during the fight to highlight Peggy’s fighting skills. From that, it makes Peggy look powerful, capable to go out on missions like the other agents. It breaks the social norm that are typically viewed between men (superior) and women (inferior). Another example that support the idea that Peggy is capable is when she took the phone call. While all the men were going out, she stayed at the agency and took over a call that required her help. She didn’t hesitate to take the call and coordinates because she didn’t want to keep being treated unfairly, not being able to take calls and go out on missions like the male agents at the agency.
To summarize, Peggy was seen as inferior to the men, but was able to break the social norm of women being weak. From the scene, she was able to represent herself as a strong and capable like men. Women in society are viewed in a way that make them seem inferior, but woman can do so much more and achieve anything they want.
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