Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

July 3, 2004 By Fausta

When spies were sexy

Back when I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be Mrs. Emma Peel of The Avengers. She was witty and had a great voice (still does), wore great clothes, her hair and nails always looked good, and invariably at the end of each episode she drove off into the sunset with Mr. Steed after saving him & kicking the bad guys’ butts. Mr. Steed was one of the reasons why I developed early on a liking for British actors (Alan Bates was another one — Patrick Macnee turns out is Canadian — but I digress).

I still would like to grow up to do stuff like Mrs. Peel used to. Regrettably, real-life espionage doesn’t live up to the 1960s TV version and I never took up Karate.

Now the BBCA cable TV channel has The Avengers lined up for Fridays at 8PM (if you don’t get cable, you can rent the DVDs at Netflix; they’re also available in a pricey Complete Emma Peel DVD Set). Luke Collins of the NYTimes writes about it today and sees Peel/Steed as a any metrosexual couple

The characters’ clothes are impeccably tailored, they are surrounded by sleek furniture and they drive sexy cars – the life to which every metrosexual in an Eames chair or a Mini Cooper aspires.

You’ve been watching way too much Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, Luke. While there were Eames chairs in The Avengers, Mr. Steed drove lovely vintage cars with great elan. No Mini Cooper for him. May I also point out that Mr. Steed’s clothes and umbrella were made for fighting? Luke goes on,

In any case, it’s quite obvious that Ms. Rigg’s karate-chopping Peel would stomp all over the bowler-hatted Steed.

Luke, please! Mrs. Peel would never need to stomp all over Steed, and it probably would never even occur to her. Theirs was a relationship of equals, one of the few that have ever been shown on TV, and they finely complemented each other. No master locking up a Genie in a bottle, no husband preventing Samantha from being her bewitching self, no Ricky telling Lucy she couldn’t be in his nightclub act. Mrs. Peel was no Bond girl (even when Diana Rigg played the only Bond wife), and definitely was not a Mission Impossible spy that would turn on and off her sex appeal at Mr. Phelps’s command. She was no Girl From UNCLE — she was no “girl”, period. Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg are wonderful actors and were able to pull it off and made it seem totally effortless. They worked off each other perfectly — none of the other actresses working the lead part in the series did as well, and certainly not the actors in the awful 1998 movie.

Clueless Luke also thinks there never was anything going on between those two

So instead of sexual tension, we have entertaining and cheerful presentations of plot flourishes that are still outlandishly fantastical – a standard criminal on “The Avengers” might travel through time or be invisible. Almost 40 years later, the anxieties behind the mysteries (involving corporate treachery or false information being peddled to governments) seem less escapist, but the presentation is so breezy you rarely sense anyone is in danger. You also never forget that “The Avengers” is a product of its era – the lo-fi special effects are a dead giveaway – but you are happy to be swept along to the conclusion of each episode, where Steed and Peel ride into the sunset. Chastely, of course.

The tension part of “sexual tension” is arguable — as The Husband puts it, they weren’t tense because “Those two looked pretty comfortable about it”, but there certainly is great sexual chemistry between Peel and Steed. One could, for example, spend some time discussing their names, or giving a Freudian meaning to Steed’s cars (no Mini Copper for him) and to why he always did the driving at the end. One could discuss the symbolism of that red rose Mr. Steed gives Mrs. Peel in the credits, which she gracefully accepts. Or remember their conversations, “Mellors?” asks Mrs. Peel, “The groundskeeper”, replies Mr. Steed, with a glint in his eye, provoking a groan in Mrs. Peel. I recently rented several episodes and was delighted to listen to the double entendres and mild innuendos that peppered the script. Never mind Mrs. Peel’s leather jumpsuits. Assuming that those two drove off into the sunset chastely misses the point of their relationship. NYTimes’s Luke needs it spelled out for him, but the appeal of the Avengers is that it’s all between the lines.

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.

Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Share

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Tweets by @Fausta
retirees_raise-2015_300x250

Pages

  • About
  • Email

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Previous Posts

  • Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • You need to unfriend me
  • Go ahead and Kiss the Girl, if you dare
  • Ashamed

Recent Comments

  • John on Mrs. Maisel goes full Alinsky on Mrs. Schlafly
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! – PoliticalWitchDoctor.com on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Today’s hot topics: Democrats’ collusion shift, tax-return rift, Venezuela drift, and more! - AmericanTruthToday on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Did Venezuela’s Minister of Defense Back Out At The Last Minute? on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?
  • Roseanne Not Back, Khan not Invited, Operaman’s back, Jobs back, Fausta’s back (but not here yet) Thoughts under the fedora – Da Tech Guy Blog on Venezuela: Did the Minister of Defense back out at the last minute?

Archives

  • 2019
    • December 2019
    • May 2019
    • January 2019
  • 2018
    • December 2018
    • October 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
  • 2009
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
  • 2008
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • 2007
    • December 2007
    • November 2007
    • October 2007
    • September 2007
    • August 2007
    • July 2007
    • June 2007
    • May 2007
    • April 2007
    • March 2007
    • February 2007
    • January 2007
  • 2006
    • December 2006
    • November 2006
    • October 2006
    • September 2006
    • August 2006
    • July 2006
    • June 2006
    • May 2006
    • April 2006
    • March 2006
    • February 2006
    • January 2006
  • 2005
    • December 2005
    • November 2005
    • October 2005
    • September 2005
    • August 2005
    • July 2005
    • June 2005
    • May 2005
    • April 2005
    • March 2005
    • February 2005
    • January 2005
  • 2004
    • December 2004
    • November 2004
    • October 2004
    • September 2004
    • August 2004
    • July 2004
    • June 2004
    • May 2004
    • April 2004
    • March 2004
Content Copyright Fausta's Blog

Site Developed and Managed by 300m.com