December Posting: Birgitte
Dec. 15th, 2013 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runawaynunThe question I received from chaila was to "pontificate about Birgitte Nyborg and why she is the best."
Assume spoilers for all three series.
1. Birgitte is Danish and this means that she can hold political positions vastly to the left of what is realistic in the US.
2. She's trilingual - she speaks Danish, French and English.
3. She good at politics but the show allows her to get better - for example, in the first series she tries to manipulate the press in a very heavy-handed way and by the second series, she is able to flatter and bring them in to shape the story about the not!Sudan peace negotiations.
4. She surrounds herself with people who will challenge her but always makes up her own mind. I love that her first question to Bent whenever she has something to decide is: "What are my options?" I love how she negotiates between Bent's idealism and Kasper's opportunism.
5. She learns when to compromise her ideals and she learns when to be idealistic.
6. "In Brussels, no one can hear you scream."
7. She has to pay a heavy price for power - both personally and professionally - but the show is good at showing that it's not because she's a woman but because that's the price you must pay.
8. She's amazingly good at coalition politics and keeping her votes in line. When that fails, she's pretty good at reaching out to the Opposition.
9. When the question turns to whether a woman can "have it all," Birgitte's answer is "BEHOLD MY LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS AND WEEP."
10. She's a kickass debater.
11. Her face is fantastic.
12. She's ambitious. She wants to leave her mark on Denmark and she wants Denmark to leave its mark on the world.
13. She takes risks. She wins votes by one. She calls elections early. She starts new political parties. She leaves coalitions.
THERE IS SO MUCH MORE. I AM PROBABLY FORGETTING THINGS. D:
chaila was to "pontificate about Birgitte Nyborg and why she is the best."Assume spoilers for all three series.
1. Birgitte is Danish and this means that she can hold political positions vastly to the left of what is realistic in the US.
2. She's trilingual - she speaks Danish, French and English.
3. She good at politics but the show allows her to get better - for example, in the first series she tries to manipulate the press in a very heavy-handed way and by the second series, she is able to flatter and bring them in to shape the story about the not!Sudan peace negotiations.
4. She surrounds herself with people who will challenge her but always makes up her own mind. I love that her first question to Bent whenever she has something to decide is: "What are my options?" I love how she negotiates between Bent's idealism and Kasper's opportunism.
5. She learns when to compromise her ideals and she learns when to be idealistic.
6. "In Brussels, no one can hear you scream."
7. She has to pay a heavy price for power - both personally and professionally - but the show is good at showing that it's not because she's a woman but because that's the price you must pay.
8. She's amazingly good at coalition politics and keeping her votes in line. When that fails, she's pretty good at reaching out to the Opposition.
9. When the question turns to whether a woman can "have it all," Birgitte's answer is "BEHOLD MY LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS AND WEEP."
10. She's a kickass debater.
11. Her face is fantastic.
12. She's ambitious. She wants to leave her mark on Denmark and she wants Denmark to leave its mark on the world.
13. She takes risks. She wins votes by one. She calls elections early. She starts new political parties. She leaves coalitions.
THERE IS SO MUCH MORE. I AM PROBABLY FORGETTING THINGS. D:
(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-16 03:03 am (UTC)but the show is good at showing that it's not because she's a woman but because that's the price you must pay
So much this.
I think I really missed Kasper's perspective in s3? It was much less nuanced without anyone playing the role of the opportunistic devil on her shoulder, so to speak, and made things a little more ham-handed. She was still awesome though!
BRUSSELS. THE MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. You do not want to fuck with Birgitte. <3
(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-18 03:25 am (UTC)