Poppy Li from Mythic Quest is messy, vain, and a great role model for women in tech


At a staff meeting in the pilot episode of the comedy series Apple TV Plus Mythical mission, Poppy Li, the lead game designer at the fictional multiplayer role-playing game company around which the show is based, announces, “I don’t mean to honk my own horn here, but my team and I have built something extraordinary. “. From the smug look on her face, it’s obvious that she does it I want to show off. She is so ridiculously sure of herself. He closes his eyes and mimics playing the trumpet, then describes his newest addition, a basic shovel, as “providing an entirely new game mechanic: digging.” He then explains that this brilliant new dynamic “will change the landscape of the game.”

As lead developer of the blockbuster video game Mythical missionand its next expansion Raven feast, Poppy has more than paid her debts. She totally deserves the respect of the entire industry. However, the way he boasts of his own contributions in such grand terms goes beyond a socially acceptable amount of pride. He’s downright arrogant and I love everything.

As a fellow software engineer and person of Asian descent, like Poppy, I find her arrogance especially refreshing because she is a rarity among women in tech. In our circles, the overwhelmingly common theme is that women suffer from imposter syndrome and struggle to recognize our talents and self-worth. It is an exaggerated narrative, and one that I myself have experienced so many times that it is no longer entertaining to watch fictional characters perform it. I’m usually a fan of portraying a wide variety of human experiences on screen, but watching another character endure imposter syndrome at this point seems like he’s just perpetuating a harmful myth.

Charlotte Nicdao as Poppy Li and Rob McElhenney as Ian smile and fist bump in Mythic Quest

Photo: Apple TV Plus

The truth is, it’s hard to keep up with technology, and in a profession that challenges you to learn new skills and paradigms every day, it’s impossible to keep all uncertainty at bay. Mythical missionPoppy is admirable because she doesn’t question her technical skills for a minute. For her, the question is never whether she can code, but how and what to build. Poppy, played by Australian actress Charlotte Nicdao, struts around her office, hands out orders and argues with the other leaders of the company, but never doubts her abilities or courage. While self-doubt would be a common narrative for this type of character, Mythical missionThe creators have gone further.

That’s not to say they established Poppy as a brilliant role model. She is the lead developer of the game, but she is not a good teammate. She is whiny and petulant, impulsive and stubborn. Usually she’s a bit sloppy and dons a variation on the quintessential programmer’s uniform: zip-up hoodie, tortoiseshell glasses, Converse shoes. She Can’t Delegate: When the game’s non-playable character, the Masked Man, starts giving away free loot, she takes it upon herself to fix the bug instead of participating on his team. Under pressure, he flares with stress hives, spends the entire night, and wakes up the next morning, greasy hair strewn across a keyboard in the encoder room.

And she is not a strong manager either. She also hardly knows the names of her teammates. When one of the programmers, Paul, draws her attention to a bug, she condescendingly replies, “Yeah, that’s bad, Zak.” When Paul corrects her about her name, she responds, “I don’t care.”

Charlotte Nicdao as Poppy Li sits wrapped in a blanket in the Mythic Quest office, with her programming team around her.

Photo: Apple TV Plus

Poppy’s relationship with the series’ only other female developer, Michelle, is no better. To be fair, Michelle barely does her job and often modifies her resume in plain sight, but Poppy doesn’t encourage or motivate her either. In one episode, Poppy pushes Michelle out of her chair to take over the writing of a feature film. “She’s terrible at her job,” Poppy says in front of everyone, assuming control of the keyboard, while Michelle selflessly stands to the side, typing on her phone.

But even that rudeness is an invigorating step away from the norm for a character. It is amazing that Poppy cares so much about her own success and so little about how she is perceived. It goes against all the principles that have conditioned me to believe that it is important: to be kind, fair and supportive with other women. Anyone would hate working with Poppy in real life, but for sheer entertainment, it’s exciting to see a woman of color act like a rude, attention-seeking, and entitled teenager for once, and not only get away with it, but thrive as well. .

Poppy could be unpleasant if she wasn’t conceived with such care. Nicdao gives her an alchemical mix of exaggerated facial expressions, tired sarcasm, innocuous anguish, and childish enthusiasm for her creative vision, all helping to relate to her. Poppy almost always frowns or frowns. Prone to ego battles with creative director Ian Grimm (series co-creator Rob McElhenney), who is even more self-absorbed, Poppy quickly becomes angry, her voice booming with cartoonish rage that solidifies for a moment, then breaks off. dissipates quickly. Poppy is cynical and skeptical. She’s cute, but not overly sexualized, with her dark hair cut in practical layers, a plain bare face, and eyes so manic they remind me of Invader Zim from the 2000s Nickelodeon show. The combination makes Poppy palatable. initially and eventually delicious.

Poppy struggles to be taken seriously as a decision maker and equal, overcompensating with an artificial carelessness that eventually falls apart because, unlike Ian, she is still humble enough to acknowledge when others are right. In the pilot, when Ian criticizes Poppy’s shovel, she finally gives up and helps make the changes, for the sake of the game. “You are this brilliant painter, and I am your favorite brush… I am just a tool you use to create your masterpiece,” he tells her, capturing the existential dilemma many programmers feel, whether we are bricklayers or creatives. Poppy wants to be more, and it is because of her arrogance that she has a chance against Ian’s huge ego.

Charlotte Nicdao as Poppy Li goes a little crazy while lecturing a coworker in Mythic Quest

Photo: Apple TV Plus

Perhaps it’s Poppy’s lack of charisma and leadership presence that I admire the most. For women in tech, there is a lot of unspoken pressure to model good behavior – be nice, guide others, and be well-spoken role models, as well as competent programmers, as we can fix brogrammer culture by sheer force of kindness. . While these responsibilities may, in the end, make the industry more welcoming, it is another form of emotional labor and another unfair burden that falls disproportionately on women and people of color.

Often times, we not only have to defend our work from additional scrutiny, we have to do everything we can to defend ourselves inside and outside of organizations. When we are promoted, we are unofficially expected to attract more diverse talent. It’s exhausting to be constantly moderate, to be the default role model for others like you, while constantly being outnumbered by people doing the same job under looser expectations and looser rules. The beauty of Poppy is that she doesn’t bother with any of it. She is aware of her flaws, but she doesn’t try to hide them or apologize.

At a “women in video games” luncheon in season 2, Poppy gives a speech that fundamentally shows her lack of executive presence. Dressed in an uncomfortably fitted black sequin dress, she stumbles onto the stage and squints at a teleprompter. After rummaging in her purse for her glasses, dropping candy in the process, and unbuttoning her dress so the back sash flutters in the breeze, she begins to ramble: “I can’t promise I’ll always live up to expectations. . standard of other people’s expectations, but I can promise that I will lead with all that I am … Why did you let me make this speech? It shouldn’t have a platform. I do not know what I’m talking about. I don’t know what women want. I do not know what I want “.

By normal standards, that speech would be a disaster, but it’s so easy for me to identify that it could have been drawn from my own internal monologues. Apparently, it was conceived in a similar way for many of the women in Poppy’s audience, who give her a standing ovation. In a weird way, this is the kind of hideous, honest, and unfiltered reality that I’ve wanted to see represented in a fictional world. For me, Poppy’s “breakdown” is the antidote to both the institutionalized imposter syndrome and the hyper-polished “authentic” leadership that we are often sold to. She is not suffering from doubts, or pretending until she does. She really admits that she doesn’t know something, doesn’t let it get in the way of her work, and moves on. That’s admirable in a way that few women on television can be.

Charlotte Nicdao as Poppy Li, in a gray hoodie and leaning over a table with a smile in Mythic Quest

Photo: Apple TV Plus

But there’s another twist: After the speech, we learn that the sobs and clumsiness were intentional, written by Ian as part of Poppy’s plan to gain approval from a new team of developers. The tactic further highlights Poppy’s genius. She is an imperfect leader, hardly aspiring, freed from the burden of worrying about being either one, and still gets what she wants. For me, Mythical missionPoppy Li offers a rare glimpse of what it would be like to break free from expectations, allow yourself to be strategic, daring, arrogant, and unapologetic in technology. She is not a role model, but maybe she will teach us a lesson anyway: Arrogance can be a necessary weapon for success, because if you don’t believe boldly in yourself, who will?

Both seasons of Mythical mission are broadcasting on Apple TV Plus.


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