So here’s the Gordo meta on those sexist remarks that nobody’s asked for but I’m gonna do anyway because I’ve got feelings about it.
I want to start it by saying that what he said to the reporters, on the live broadcast, about the subject of women astronauts, was fucked up. Point blank. It’s not okay that he said it. Period.
Because once again, this is a situation where Gordo’s put in an impossible position. He’s once again stuck (arguably thrust without any real say so, really) in between two completely different sides of the argument. On one side is his wife, who is in these group of female pilots, who wants him to put in a good word and express a positive opinion on the idea. Which, initially, he does do…
He puts it right out there on the table with the guys there. He’s not throwing around misogynistic/sexist comments about it. He doesn’t seem put out by suggesting that what’s so wrong in women also wanting to go to space. We’ve already seen how he values Trudy as a pilot - he even encouraged her to be in on the Life magazine deal so she could get back up in a plane again. He knows she’s talented and she’s capable. We’ve also seen how he’s been so encouraging with his own daughters (he’s the only one of the seven guys who has been shown to have a decent relationship with his own children)
And yet the guys, these guys who Gordo has already claimed are like family at this point, are sitting there cracking some really fucked up jokes about why women can’t do it. Even Alan and John, who are not a part of this particular conversation, have really sort of made their feelings on where a woman’s place is (I mention John because of the terrible gravy boat gift he gave to Annie… big yikes there). I’ve already talked about the way John exploding at them in the séance appeared to have an effect on Gordo…
He’s not going to want to alienate himself from the rest of these guys at this point.
There’s also the very real possibility that the entire program is about to go under. Everything is hanging by a thread at this point. In the climate he’s in, with these guys and the higher ups and all of it, where reporters are hanging on their every word… what he says here matters. And let’s not forget, after Alan and John and Gus, there’s still the matter of who will go up when (we know Deke is out of commission as an astronaut at this point, and we also know Gordo is the last to go up, but at this point in the story, none of them know that - at least, the Gordo flight part). This is still a personal journey for him as much as it anything else.
I mentioned how Gordo was put in a position he never agreed to be in and wanna come back to that because… let’s be honest, Trudy manipulated the situation on her end too. She essentially seduced him, gave him exactly what he was hoping for (a second chance with her) just so she could spring this topic on him afterwards and utilize his celebrity and ‘power’ to advance herself. She took advantage of him and his status in the program.
And even then he still tries to put in that good word for her and the other women pilots trying to get into the program, and he immediately sees where that goes. So when Wally thrusts the spotlight on him when it comes to the subject (with him and Deke and Scott all already knowing how Gordo feels about it), Gordo makes a decision in that moment. You see him pause before he answers.
He’s thinking ‘do I side with Trudy, or with the guys’.
We see which side he takes.
Again, it’s fucked up (though I will point out he doesn’t say they can’t or shouldn’t do it. Not that it makes what he says any better because… BIG OOF, comparing them to chimps and bringing up weight). And the thing is, he knows it’s fucked up. Hence why he slips away to try and talk to Trudy…
He made his choice and he’s gonna have to live with that. But I think this is another situation where Gordo was just put in a place where he was forced to react and he reacted so badly. He gave into the peer pressure for the security of himself and his stance in the program, and it’s gonna have obvious repercussion in his personal life.
So I get it. As much as it makes me cringe that he did, I get the why. I don’t agree with it (again, just to be clear on that), but it makes me feel for him all the same. It’s almost like he can’t win no matter what he does at this point.
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