Over Christmas, I picked up and dropped off my grandmother at her assisted living home. She is well into her 90s now, little and slow. But as a family, we take some pride in the fact that she has one of the better decorated rooms in this home. It includes things from her house she holds dear; blankets, pictures of her kids and my late grandfather, cookies and candies, and a very wonky statue which was recently decapitated by a nurse. Her head has been duct taped back together, and there she stands; a statue of a World War II WAC. After all, my grandmother held tightly to those memories of her time serving in the Women’s Army Corp.
I love the Captain America movies for multiple reasons. They look great, are well written, have emotional depth, and make a real effort at showing gender equality. But the character of Peggy Carter (portrayed by Hayley Atwell, soon to star in ABC’s Agent Carter) will always hold a special place in my heart, especially after seeing Winter Soldier’s version of the character – old, sick, and riddled with Alzheimer memory loss. It hit very close to home. My grandmother is the same age, suffers some of the rapid memory loss, and in the 1940s marched with pride in a uniform very similar to the one Peggy war on screen.