62
Popular Culture Review
Another of Moore’s tropes of the Transitional Period is the addition of
pervasive violence. The series has an extraordinarily high death count. The
Baroness fills her fair share of body bags. Her emotionlessness allows her to do
her work better. She matter-of-factly tells Farnsworth, “‘By the way, John,
we’re going to have to kill Enzio’” (Sonic 38). She does. In Flicker o f Doom,
she discovers that a local she befriended has given up information on her that
put her in danger. “‘Sorry, Qasim,”’ she tells him as she kills him, “[making] it
as quick as she could” (Flicker 153). Penny’s lack of feeling not only aids her
work, it helps her to step away from preconceived notions of femininity.
One of the most interesting dynamics of gender at play in the series is the
relationships between the female spies. Fiona, as an American and a Caucasian,
is able to walk into dossier meetings late without any reprimand. She is clearly
favored by the author(s) as well as her boss. Penny. After a battle that leaves
most of the team wounded, “Fiona had nothing worse than some blood stains
and grease smudges” (Flicker 181). Yvette gets little air time with the Baroness
and is most often away with Paul. Inga, however, can be both close to the
Baroness as a white woman and subservient to her as a foreigner. Inga acts
mostly as a servant to Penny and is never asked kindly to prepare meals, pack
for travel, gather information, or do the Baroness’ hair and makeup; rather, she
is ordered.
The women are set aside from the men of the group in the extent of their
espionage backgrounds. Each of the men has a legitimate background that could
logically lead to a career in spying. Wharton and Skytop are both ex-Green
Berets. Wharton is a weapons expert, and Skytop (as mentioned before) is an
expert in hand-to-hand combat. Paul is ex-CIA. Sumo is a technological
innovator and moonlights for IBM. Eric has worked for the Gehlen organization.
However, “the three girls, Inga, Yvette and Fiona, [are] legitimate models”
(Death 100). This continues a precedence that was and is widely upheld; no
matter how accomplished a woman is, she must first and foremost be attractive.
Although these women are all capable as spies, their primary job description is
set: being beautiful. Espionage will always be something that came after they
proved themselves to the world via their beauty, no matter how dedicated to
NS A they become. This situation may also leave readers confused as to which is
more improbable - a spy becoming a model or a model becoming a spy.
If the women of the Coin operation all share one thing aside from beauty, it
is their potential to be sexual victims to the constantly changing cast of male
villains. The Baroness acknowledges the probability of rape, and this probability
extends to each of the female agents. Fiona is threatened with rape in Flicker o f
Doom but is able to overcome her assailant (115-6). After Inga and Yvette are
kidnapped in Sonic Slave, Inga is gang raped. The scene is chilling:
They were sitting like awkward marionettes, backs against the
stone, legs splayed stiffly outward. Inga’s large pale breasts
caught the feeble light spilling through the barred archway;