In which I have feelings about Halt and Catch Fire and the portrayals of science ladies in media
A few nights ago, I finished season one of Halt and Catch Fire. I first put it on as background noise while I was working on sending out a galley mailing at work, because my Penny Dreadful rewatch was getting a little too NSFW and I forgot that I had meant to watch the apparently awful Fleming miniseries starring Dominic Cooper. And honestly, I expected Halt to be awful, too. I figured I’d watch an episode, get fed up, switch back to Penny Dreadful, and just keep shielding the screen whenever there was too much blood and writhing on the screen to be appropriate for the workplace.
But then, a series of magical things occurred. The First Magical Thing was the title sequence. It was computer-y! It had a super catchy instrumental song! It looked like Tron kinda! The Second Magical Thing was the aesthetic. I’ve been describing it — in my head — as Friday Night Lights meets Tron. It’s all the 80s computer goodness you could want, topped with all the compelling character drama you deserve. And it’s glorious.
The Third Magical Thing should have been Cameron Howe, but she didn’t win my over at the start. She looked like a stereotype, to be completely honest — super short hair and an awful dye job, super ~edgy~ clothes, too-good-for-this attitude. I knew she was the young, tech-savvy ingenue, and I found that boring. I’d seen it in all the commercials, and blah-blah-blah, whatever. All told, it took me probably two full episodes to finally fall desperately in love with and support and pledge my life to Cameron Howe, and I’ll discuss why I hate myself for my initial feelings below the cut.
No, the Third Magical Thing, for me, was Donna Clark. Continue reading We need more women in STEM (duh)
I have things to say. 