In honor of the upcoming season 4 of Agents of SHIELD, I thought- why not talk about everything this TV show does honorably?
One of the best things about Agents of SHIELD is its phenomenal representation of its characters. In this age of television, representation of characters is how a show gains a large fan base. Many shows have repeatedly failed to portray its characters accurately, but Agents of SHIELD is a show that’s absolutely fantastic at it. The females on the show aren’t written as love interests for the male characters or written as sidekicks. Instead, these females have layers of skills, emotions, desires, and hopes. They have all developed throughout their time on the show as well, and don’t adhere to only one social category, which makes the show all the more convincing.
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Skye
She went from being a brilliant hacker, to also being the first superhero on the show. Skye’s character throughout the 3 seasons of Agents of SHIELD has been shown to have many more layers than meets the eye. She went from having to find her place on the team and being accepted, to dealing with her ostracized superpowers, to figuring out where her loyalties lay, to channeling herself into something constructive while she dealt with the aftermath of being mind controlled. All in all, Skye aka Daisy Johnson aka Quake is an inspiration to all girls out there due to her sheer determination to always come out on top even given lose-lose circumstances.
Jemma Simmons
She went from being the adorkable, goody-two shoes biochem scientist to also becoming the confident woman who fearlessly went undercover in Hydra and was, through all odds, able to keep herself alive when she was stranded on an alien planet for six and a half months. Jemma Simmons has proved over and over that love and compassion are your strengths and that fear can be overcome. Not only this, but she is an inspiration to so many young women to get jobs in STEM careers. This is a career field that is greatly dominated by men, but Jemma has proved that women can find their way to the top. Through her quick and analytical thinking, Jemma has proved time and time again that saving the day isn’t just about being able to use a gun and having superpowers, it’s about being able to think through problems efficiently and find a solution- because brainpower is a superpower.
Melinda May
Bobbi Morse
Elena Rodriguez
Agents of SHIELD is also a show that doesn’t undermine its minority characters. For example, Elena Rodriguez’s Latina aspects weren’t ignored. In fact, she would have full conversations in Spanish with Joey Gutierrez- a gay, Latino character on the show who is also a superhero. The show even made a point of showing Agent Mack learning how to speak Spanish so that he could better communicate with Elena. In fact, instead of ending the season 3 with a minority character being the grand finale death, Lincoln Campbell, a white male character who already had good representation in the show, was the one who sacrificed himself for the team. The show definitely represents and accurately portrays a wide variety of ethnicities including African Americans, Chinese, and Latinos.
Antoine Triplett
Alphonso Mackenzi
Joey Gutierrez
Joey was initially an ordinary human who turned into a superhero also through terrigenesis. He was quick to adapt and become a consulting member of SHIELD so that he could make a positive difference by helping others with his powers. Joey always had a kind heart and could easily be trusted by others.
Additionally, the male leads on the show display great respect for all of their female co-workers. There is no gender discrimination from any character on the show which is greatly appreciated.
Phil Coulson
As the director of SHIELD, Coulson usually confides in Melinda May- his best friend- in terms of his life and his missions and direction for SHIELD. When sending his agents onto the field, he takes into consideration all of their strengths and weaknesses instead of deciding that the females should be held back for their own safety. In fact, he knows that Melinda May and Bobbi Morse are some of the best agents as they come.
Leo Fitz
Fitz has always worked side by side with his best friend Jemma Simmons, and has the greatest respect for her and everything she does. Fitz wouldn’t be Fitz without working next to Simmons. They think through every problem together to put together her biochem knowledge and his engineering knowledge for the best solutions that constantly get the team out of trouble. Fitz has also shown the highest respect for his close friend, Skye, and knows how powerful she, May, and Bobbi are when faced with a threat and admires their strength.
Lance Hunter
Lincoln Campbell
No show is perfect, but Agents of SHIELD has definitely had the greatest and most successful attempt at including a diverse set of characters with women, different ethnicities, and different sexualities with accurate portrayal of these minority characters. The show tries to balance out representation so that there's so kids have strong characters to look up to depending on what their ethnicity or gender is. This show is definitely making strides in the right direction, so BRAVO to one of the greatest shows in existence.
