On my eleventy millionth rewatch of The Old Guard I noticed how cleverly they've subverted the mentor & rookie/newbie relationship not just between Andy and Nile but also between Nile and the rest of the team.
The tone of the relationship between Andy and Nile is familiar in as much as we have a weary, jaded mentor who wants to check out of the world but ends up taking on a new young team member. On the other hand, we have a young team member who is completely bewildered by the rapid changes taking place around her and how her life has, essentially, flipped on its head.
But then The Old Guard does something very strange. Instead of keeping to the well established track it makes a sharp left and wanders into the unknown.
Firstly, the mentor-mentee relationship is between two women. Not a crusty old dude and a smart aleck young dude but two women. The women are uncommon when we think about what we see on popular mainstream tv. The mentor is almost 4000(?) years old. She is a leader, a warrior, an immortal. At some point she may have even been worshipped as a god! The mentee is a young black woman who serves in the armed forces. She doesn't have a terrible backstory peppered with misery, which would be one take on this kind of story. She comes from a loving family. She has friends. She's very good at her job. She is a woman of faith. While Andromache may resent that fact that she has responsibility towards Nile, she doesn't ignore it. She does not resent Nile for being an immortal. She is weary of humanity and loss and her profound sense of responsibility. So already we know that this isn't going to be a combative relationship despite the learning curve.
Second, instead of Nile coming into a cohesive team that treats her as an outsider upon first meeting her, we see how Joe, Booker and Nicky make room for her. They don't push. They are kind. They offer information about themselves without picking at her recent losses. In short, Nile gets to choose the shape of the space she's going to occupy and they will follow her lead.
Third, Nile gets to choose. She chooses whether to fight Merrick or not. She chooses whether she wants to stay with the team or not. She chooses whether this is the kind of life she wants or not. This is unheard of!
At no point does Andy force her choose to this life, this team or this fight. Andy shares her experience about how the world changes once you become immortal. The life you lived is no longer available to you. And to hold on to what was is a source of constant pain (yes, Booker, I am 👀). But even then, even then, we see Nile has her phone back at the end of the move. So the choice is always in her hands.
In another version there would be no choice. There would be yelled ultimatums and emotional blackmail/manipulation. Each hurt and vulnerability would be fair game as long as the newbie comes through. And what's worse is that even when the newbie breaks away they would rebound back because of some forced realisation that this life, this team, and this fight are the only choice. The result is capitulation disguised as choice.
Fourth, in a typical action flick, the newbie is at the bottom of the totem pole. And if you're a woman then you and the totem pole aren't even in the same neighborhood (👀👀 Marvel and DC). As the newbie you're on shit duty until you scrounge up enough respect from the team that they give you a seat at the table. Not so here. They literally make room around the table for her.
During the fight at Merrick after realising that Andy is mortal, Nile, the newbie, is her shield. She takes point and the others follow her lead. There is no jockeying for position.
Nile knows what she's doing. Out of all of them she was a mortal most recently. She was a marine most recently. She was trained to lead in a warzone most recently so of course she's going to take the lead.
Finally, (and there is so much more to say...), and this is where the movie circles back to the idea of offering space and making it your own, when deciding what to do about Booker, Nile has a seat at the table. She offers a pov which is heard. She claims her space supported by the team.
Andy acknowledges that there is purpose to life. There is more to learn and she has the will yet to live. Nile is integral to that realisation.
Thank you to all the brilliant gifmakers. ❣️
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