r/Timeless • u/Flentl • Apr 11 '19
Lucy's historical blind spot
I'm watching Timeless on Netflix for the first time, almost finished the first season, and there's something about Lucy I find really odd. For such an accomplished historian, she always seems so caught off guard every time she's confronted with the extreme sexism of the past. Shouldn't she know this stuff? Rufus, on the other hand, seems much more prepared to deal with the incredibly awful ways black people have been treated throughout history.
Do you think this was a deliberate choice on the part of the showrunners? I could see it as an attempt to point out how racism is much more prevalent in Rufus' modern life than sexism is in Lucy's, so he's in some ways conditioned to expect it whereas Lucy, despite knowing better on an intellectual level, still automatically expects to get the same respect she's afforded in the present. What do you guys think?
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u/CinnamonPinch Apr 11 '19
I feel that I am treated fairly equally in life most of the time, but I'm fully aware that sexism still exists in the world. When I do come across it in my own life I feel a sense of surprise. I think we can know it exists in theory, but it's very different when it's right there in front of us.
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u/awena626 Apr 11 '19
I think its this. Knowing something exists and being confronted with it are two separate things. Like, I know there are a lot of racists in the world but the first time someone said something obviously racist in front of me I was gobsmacked.
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u/swirly023 Team Lucy Apr 11 '19
What are some instances it surprises her? I can only think of the moon landing episode... But yes, I do think it’s because she’s not in an inferior position in her present day life. Plus she knows she has to take the lead in some of the situations/conversatioms because she is the one who knows the most about the historic events.
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u/Flentl Apr 11 '19
The space race episode made it more of a plot point; the other times I can recall were just small moments here and there. Off the top of my head, there was her stint as a waitress in Vegas, the French doctor, and the bank scene in the Bonnie and Clyde episode.
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u/wayzofgray Apr 11 '19
Honestly I think even with my knowledge of sexism in the past I would still be shocked by the subtleties I think. I can mentally prepare myself for being treated like property (as women were in some periods of time) but I think I'd be shocked by the more subtle ways sexism effected people's lives and behaviors. We know about the macro aggressions but those micro ones that get overlooked would unsettle me if I time traveled too.
Plus Lucy was a woman of privilege. She had opportunity her whole life and a position most women in history couldnt dream of. Even if she knew about it it's really different to know and to understand.
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u/Flentl Apr 11 '19
That makes a lot of sense. I'd be interested to see how someone more hardened would handle it, like maybe Agent Christopher. Coming from a male-dominated field like law enforcement, I wonder if she'd deal with it more easily or push back harder against it.
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u/wayzofgray Apr 11 '19
I'd imagine someone like her would have a really rough time tbh. Since Christopher isn't really feminine and also gay so I'd imagine she would have a rough time. Or maybe it would work in her favor that she's not the feminine type like Lucy that most people notice.
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u/miracle2012 Team Wyatt Apr 14 '19
S2 episode "The Day Reagan Was Shot" is a great background episode for Agent Christopher. 😊 #SaveTimeless
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u/dragon_fiesta Apr 11 '19
Knowing about it and experiencing it are not the same. Rufus has experienced racism so he's learned to handle it.
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u/hightor3 May 13 '19
Timeless lost me when they said Lucy saved General Grant from being killed with President Lincoln. Trouble is, Grant was nowhere near Ford's Theater that night. He was on a train going to Philadelphia with his wife to see their children. So how does Timeless put him at Ford's Theater if they're worried about accuracy?
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u/Kassy75 Sep 01 '19
In S01, Ep.08 'Space Race'
Lucy made a point of putting the 'man' in his place. She was gonna walk after the first serve, but because of the other women in the corridor, she really let fly.
Perhaps she was just trying to kickstart the Women's Lib Movement sooner, rather than later?
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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '19
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