Mrs. America
This is on HotStar. Please read no further if you aren't interested in the ramblings of an insomniac.
It is a mini series that depicts the battle between the feminists and the anti- feminists. It spans decades and is a true account of both the movements. I mean, as true as an account possibly could be.
Technically this one is just perfect. It makes no misstep in casting, script, direction or execution. It is one of those pieces of polished brilliance that will probably be nominated for every award it could possibly qualify for. And given the current climate of bending over backwards to assuage various movements, whether deserving or not, this one will surely go the distance.
It runs like a docu-drama and takes a long road to let the viewer know which side of the fence it sits on.
That for me was the primary flaw, it masquerades as being a true account and yet the bias with which the stories are told would skitter past unnoticed if you weren't watching it vigilantly.
Take for example the facial expressions, Cate Blanchett plays the leader of the anti-feminist movement, Phyllis Schlafly and she has a supercilious look all the time. Almost as if someone had hooked her eyebrows to the ceiling. On the other hand Gloria Steinem played ably by Rose Byrne, (who channels the hippie look well) has a very winsome smile all the time. Almost as if she had just smelt roses.
The ladies on both the banks of the feminine pool of existence were fighting for what they genuinely believed to be a just cause. They all had personal lives, and made mistakes big and small, both professionally and personally. But this series, has chosen to highlight the successes of one group and the failures of the other.
Phyllis Schlafly's life gets dissected and its innards are on display, whereas, the lives of the others are depicted as being personal choices and not just circumstantial. And yet it is this "woke group" which plays the victim card.
The feminists actually considered inclusion of other rights in their charters as a dilution of their primary cause. So sometimes they would march alongside other activists and at times would ditch them. This, if true, is pretty damn confusing.
What I understood after reading endlessly on this is that both the sides didn't realise that it would always be about politics. In a world just coming out a major war these ladies on both sides provided an alignment to the major political parties, who were faced with the new reality that women could now vote. All the politicians pandered to the women of both the sides, but did not really help either one in totality.
I am an unabashed middle roader as far as this tussle goes. I would love to have doors opened and chairs pulled out for me. (The rider being that I am not be left plopped down on the floor, otherwise you would know what my knuckles felt like!) But I would do the same for someone else too, but simply because I tend to hover.
Would I hurl some colorful epithets if cut off in traffic by a male driver? Hell yes! And probably flip him the finger too! But would I get out of the car and engage in fisticuffs? Hell no! Would I mind if someone else did it in my behalf? Hell no!
So all in all, watch this one as a purely educational exercise. Keep in mind that the ERA has not yet been passed and that what the women wanted has been achieved in bits and pieces.
Ciao!
Love and peace.
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#Alllivesmatter
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