Hooked! What I'm Watching: "Mrs. America"
Hate-watching Cate Blanchett while munching my jalapeno chips...
This series came out in 2020 but after the recent reversal of Roe V. Wade, the show feels like it has reached a peak moment of necessity. It chronicles the battles fought to get the ERA amendment ratified in 38 states, and the women who fought on the front lines for abortion rights.
Oh, but it’s so much more than that.
What is truly remarkable about it is that it captures a lot of the nuance and personal struggles of the women who fought for and against it. This is the type of story that I personally would love to write myself. Actual footage of new reels and protests and speeches are cut into the show, really driving home the feeling of the times.
It also shows the inner struggles going on within these women, trying to figure out who they were in a changing world, and what it means for their family, lovers and friends. The uphill battle it was to get politicians to say words like “abortion” or “gay rights,” and why it was so important for these words to be spoken.
One of my favorite parts of the series is that it really shows the trajectory of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for president, and how other Black people were working to get their concerns heard. Light years ahead of her time, I could see a modern day president running on the same platform Chisholm proposed in the 1970s.
Throughout the series you begin to see the seeds of the landscape we live in today. Watch how religious groups begin to gain prominence within the Republican Party. See how reproductive rights begin to become such a lightning rod within the American political system.
Cate Blanchett plays the woman you love to hate (Phyllis Schlafly) with absolute perfection. But she too is caught up in gender politics in her own Republican Party and in her own home. She is almost cursed to be blessed with a striking intelligence at time when sexual harassment was considered “boys will be boys.” One minute you’re hoping for a house to fall on her head, and the next minute, you’re shaking your head as you watch a group of men in a meeting talk over her and ask her to get a notepad and take meeting notes.
And what a cast:
Cate Blanchett (remember Babel? so good… )
Rose Byrne (from Damages — the best lawyer show ever EVER!)
Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm (Orange is the New Black)
John Slattery (your favorite tipsy guy from Mad Men)
Sarah Paulson (from basically everything that comes on FX)
Tracey Ullman (legendary)
yes yes yes! I hear you I saw it I love it. I remember marching with my mother in the 70's. it was educational, shocking, funny, and sad. it's yesterday and today. I can't freaking believe it.