Hey readers, let’s talk about Skye. “Skye,” you say. “Oh, Skye was really annoying last season, but I’m liking her this season!” Maybe you don’t say that. I hope you didn’t say that, because if you did, I’m going to ask you to leave. Or stick around and let me explain why that opinion is so, so wrong.
When we look at Skye, we also have to look at the reaction she creates. Because right now, people calling her “badass” is actually pretty detrimental to the way female characters are viewed as a whole, but specifically, it forces Skye to be a very specific type of character that she never has been, and still isn’t.
I said last week that I’m going to address issues that I don’t think are going to be properly handled on the show. And while I’m on the fence about how the show is handling Skye right now, I will give them this: they are not trying to convince us that she is in a good place. They’re showing us that she can be physically aggressive, but they’ve also made a point of showing that she’s becoming sadder, more detached, and meaner.
So I’m going to look at fan reaction to Skye, this week. Because this is something that needs to be called out and corrected. When someone calls Skye a “badass” in the context of season 2, they are the same kind of person that says they only like Sansa Stark in season 4 or the kind of person who hates Allison Argent because she tried to hurt Derek. Aka, they are someone who doesn’t understand female characters, or the fact that women are complex enough to orient more than a surface glance.
If I see one more person refer to Skye as “pretty” and “silly” last season, I’m going to compose a Betty Friedan inspired rap song (as suggested in Cosmo a few months ago. As the extreme option. Though it seems sane to me!) and scream it from the rooftops. First of all, Skye is currently one of the most complex characters in the show, and was before she ever picked up a gun. Skye is charming, cunning, and clever. She was introduced to us as someone who could manipulate through words, not through brute force. That’s powerful, that’s important, that’s strength. And choosing to view physical aggression and prowess as the only measure of female strength is just another way of misunderstanding female characters.
Now, just to be clear, I’m not insulting Melinda May, and I’m not saying that Skye can’t grow and change as a character. I’m saying that some fans need to pay better attention to the narrative. For one, we’ve been told several times by Coulson that Melinda May never chose to be cold and detached, but due to a traumatic incident in Bahrain. She’s still affected by the PTSD from that incident. Pushing through it and working anyway? That’s badass. Shutting people out because you’re afraid that the people you love will die because of you? That’s unhealthy. That’s not badass. But that’s an important thing to remember about May’s character, and it often gets overlooked.
Last week, Skye told encouraged Ward, in so few words, to kill himself. That is a red flag, a screaming sign that something is wrong with this compassionate, bubbly character. But I barely see it being discussed. It is never, under any circumstances, okay to tell another person to kill themselves. And guess what: Skye knows that. Most people know that. We as viewers should know that. We need to recognize that line as what it was: a very clear sign that Skye is overcompensating for her feelings by being cruel. That’s not a healthy way to manage emotion. That’s not a healthy way to treat someone. And while I never want to see a female character be punished because she ‘didn’t respect a male character enough,’ I would like to see Skye acknowledge that it’s still a really shitty thing to say to anyone, ever.
We can see a bit more of her personality shining through in episode 2x02, but the issue is that she’s been shut out. She’s being shaped and being told to be a certain way because it’s who the team needs her to be, and who she feels like she has to be to please her family.
Does that remind you of any stories you’ve ever heard? Of trying to be someone you’re not to keep your parents going? It sounds familiar to me.
It’s very easy to disregard Skye’s character, or any character on this show, simply because it’s a science-fiction/action show. But the truth of the matter is that the writers put in pathos and characterization, and ignoring that hurts women in sci-fi in the long run. If viewers act like they simply want “Strong Female Characters,” then they are preventing actually development and variation from occurring.
Tune in next week when I yell about brainwashing, both literal and metaphorical!
