Men Talking Over Women: Madam Secretary and Feminism

There was a moment in this week's episode of Madam Secretary that made me think there is a complex and subtle layer of feminism in this show that I honestly thought was missing.

Madam Secretary often gives me fits. It's somewhere in the grey half-light between the relentless optimism of The West Wing and the relentless nihilism of House of Cards. It's not nearly as good as either show, of course. But it doesn't shy away from the more complex layers of international relations or inevitabilities of politics, and it's definitely entertaining for a politics nut.

Much of that lies with the writers, who spin vast webs around espionage and dipolmacy, policy and philosophy - moreso even than House of Cards, which rarely seems to concern itself with policy when it can be about the latest power grab. Much of it lies with the strong supporting cast: while I might be occasionally annoyed with Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord's interchangeably young staffers, they are corraled by a steely Bebe Neuwirth. And while the exploits of the McCord clan might be a bit distracting, they are marshaled by an excellent Tim Daly as Elizabeth's husband, a former intelligence operative turned religion professor (and occasional spy). 

Sadly, some of the show's flaws lie with Tea Leoni, anchoring the entire show as Elizabeth McCord. It's not that Leoni is a bad actress; she carries the weight of the show on her shoulders and hasn't dropped it. I think it's that the position of Secretary of State carries a certain gravitas, a certain overwhelming strength and intelligence. And Leoni has a tendency to use the same even tone when addressing her staffers as she does facing war in the Situation Room or discussing her son's football game with her husband. 

But I can live with that. I'm strangely addicted.

One source of frustration for me has been that Elizabeth seems to have little voice or power in the White House. Now, I read a lot of news. (Shocker.) Other than that, I have no real inside information in the balance of power in a given White House administration. But I find it hard to believe that any Secretary of State, from Henry Kissinger to Madeleine Albright to Colin Powell to Hillary Clinton, had as little influence in international relations as Elizabeth McCord. (Albright, by the way, came on the show briefly this season as herself and gave McCord advice, which she kind of took.)

At every turn, Elizabeth's counsel has been ignored, supplanted, undermined or ridiculed. She's had to fight everyone from the chief of staff to random jerkwad aides just to get the president's ear - a president who allegedly is a personal friend. I have honestly wondered if they would ever allow Elizabeth to wonder why the hell she goes to work when no one listens to her and she can't influence anything. There have been times when I simply shouted at the TV: "Just quit! Go get a teaching position at some college where they actually have to listen when you talk."

Up until now, I've counted it as a flaw in the show. Let's have a show about a female secretary of state, and then see everyone ignore her! But the opening scene of this week's show made me think there may be something more subtle going on.

Background, with minor spoilers: The U.S. has retaliated against Russia in a game of saber-rattling that has been growing louder and louder all season until all the world is hiding under the bed. Russia has a new president, widow of the last president, who took power several episodes ago with a nasty anti-American screed full of vitriol and posturing. Her ascension took everyone by surprise, as the guy they all thought would take the job ended up quickly dead and Rosa Klebb rises out of nowhere to take his place. (If you don't get the reference, you need to watch more Bond films.)

The U.S. president faces Rosa Klebb via Skype or something, and speaks to her with utter disdain, condescension and dismissiveness - much like he and his staff treat their Secretary of State, by the way. Rosa Klebb vows retaliation for the latest round of nonsense, and hangs up on him.

Elizabeth is sitting in the Oval Office at the time, surrounded by All the President's Men. Usually everyone is male in the Oval Office, even the random guys popping in from CIA or NSA or SHIELD to brief the president.

And they all congratulate the president on his big victory. "Message received," smarms the chief of staff (who seriously cannot say a single line without a smirk, he's delightful). 

Elizabeth points out that Rosa Klebb threatened retaliation. And no one - absolutely no one - is worried. The chief of staff says it's just theater - actually, he says even the fact that Rosa IS the president is theater. The president insists "it's all part of the game," Rosa Klebb will listen to her generals and fall in line. Elizabeth isn't so sure, but as per usual, no one listens to her. 

And it struck me at that point that instead of being its flaw, the show might be saying something subtle and sly about women in power, women in politics, even women in the workplace in general. Elizabeth is the sole female in the room, and thus she is talked over and ignored even when discussing the female head of state of a nuclear power. As Secretary of State, Elizabeth has to color outside the lines regularly, form her own backchannels and alliances, and basically defy the president over and over just to do her job. 

Meanwhile, the male president, chief of staff and military advisors all dismiss Rosa Klebb as a figurehead of more powerful people, as a histronic female without the guts to follow through on her threats, despite significant evidence to the contrary.

Then when Elizabeth is of course proven right, and Russia does retaliate, the guys all stand around amazed in the Situation Room and someone complains that Rosa "isn't playing by the rules."

The rules say that women in power will sit meekly by and do as the menfolk tell them? That nations' saber-rattling is a long-standing tradition of male dick-measuring and girls just don't know how to do it right? Would they have been even half as dismissive and condescending if the Russian president were, say, Khrushchev or Putin? And poor Elizabeth is stuck with the unenviable task of cleaning up the mess they made by not listening to her - again.

She is a diplomat, and doesn't say what I would have said: "Told you so. Morons."

That's when I realized my frustration with the show was also its strength. It's telling us things about women in power so subtly we don't even quite see it. It's showing us men talking over women, condescending to women, undercutting their power and ignoring them simply because they are women... and the women are sick of it. 

That may be too heavy a burden for a second-tier drama like Madam Secretary to carry, and I might be reading more into it than even the writers intended. Sometimes the curtains are just blue. It remains to be seen... and I'll be watching.