the evolution of a leader

So after that first marathon of the Walking Dead, I decided I could (mostly) handle the zombie killing and violence. This season has gotten messier though seeing as the zombies are now more wasted. The FX folks have added new layers of sound and squishiness that has me squirming while watching. If the show had smell-o-vision that would be the end of my watching.

The evolution of Carol has been great though. Not like Michonne’s friend Andrea, who I thought seemed to be willing to protect herself until she could find a man to protect her and then “every woman for herself” as far as she was concerned.

Sasha gets the “Angry Black Woman” sash for this show. Michonne  is a much rounder “angry”  than Sasha is but actually falls into the “mammie” ; nurturing, counseling and pumping up the young white chirren. (Rick and Carl).

I’m just identifying the tropes; I like the characters very much.

Carol started out as the battered woman with no agency separate from her role as battered woman. The writers developed her through that; arriving at this current season (10/2014) with Carol being able to use her knowledge, experience in the world to create the opportunity for  escape by the entire cabal AND return hope of a future by returning Judith and reuniting Sasha and Tyrese.

Hadn’t thought of it before but you could say that Carl is the present: violent, shaky and callous, striving for a sense of balance, under development every day. Judith is their potential future. Women are always the future.

I started with Carol and Leadership. There was a great line in 10/19 episode after the rescue. Rick has been the organizing gateway of the group based on his decision making and direction. Nobody gets in the group except they go through Rick. He acknowledged Carol as his equal in gateway keeping by saying that they were joining her. She didn’t deny it. Equals.

“The Walking Dead”

The division of labor on “The Walking Dead” appears to be along gender lines with the women doing the “stabilizing” home and hearth keeping while the men do the “protecting” with the guns and patrols.

One woman has taken to carrying a gun and sharing guard duty. The lead female character (season 2) chastises her for missing laundry responsibilities and leaving the rest of the female characters to “take up slack”.

The women are in just as much danger as the men but are not expected to be able to protect themselves equally. A woman learns to protect herself and she is “corrected” for it. The men are continually debating about who owns who.