I sincerely believe that social
media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are some of the most harmful
inventions of the twenty-first century. Sure, they let you keep up with family
and friends and make it easier to share
clips of cats doing stupid things, but the detrimental aspects are legion as
well—disinformation, depression-causing
comparisons, and cyberbullying, to name a few. The
most insidious feature of social media, however, is the minimization of people
and complicated issues into bite-sized bits. 280 characters are not enough to
contain an entire person, nor can they convey every facet of a complicated
issue. We are,
simply put, reduced to the most rudimentary forms of the stances we take. But
while social media has certainly exacerbated this practice, it by no means
invented it—historians
have done this too often as well. Mrs. America, a new FX miniseries
and Hulu exclusive, attempts to subvert such oversimplified approaches by
exploring one such complex issue, the 1970s struggle to ratify
the Equal Rights Amendment, as thoroughly as it
can. The resulting nine
hours is a superbly acted explosion of style that is not only
guaranteed to entertain, but also enlighten.
The perpetually incredible Cate
Blanchett leads the equally
wonderful ensemble as Phyllis Schlafly, famous conservative
spokeswoman and the ERA’s staunchest opponent in the 70s. Blanchett presents
Schlafly as much more than her beliefs, however, and gives the real-life
historical figure the nuance that all real-life people deserve. When
interviewed by People Magazine, Blanchett stated that her
“function was not to judge [Schlafly], it was to place her
as well roundly as [she] could, so that she could be a foil for the other
people and that you get a sense of what it is to be a female in the 1970s or
2020.” In this, the entire
cast succeeds, as there is not a single weak link in the acting to be found. Perhaps more
importantly, the show itself does not
pick sides—instead of taking the easy route
of casting one group as the
heroes and the other group as the
villains, it illustrates the
good and bad on both sides of the issue and lets the viewer come to their own
conclusions. This is important, as
the topics explored are some that are
still relevant and hotly debated today—gender roles, abortion, and the
role of family in society, to name a few—and understanding opposing viewpoints
is vital to civilized debate. Schlafly and Gloria
Steinem (here played by Rose Byrne) are presented
as more
than 280 characters.
Accompanying the excellent acting is a
whole lot of style. Mrs. America pops with vintage
visuals and authentic 70s tunes, giving the admittedly slow-burn story a lot of
personality. I would be a liar if I said that I understood all the political
speak and maneuvering, but I was also never
bored. For a miniseries all
about politics, this is an impressive feat.
So log off of Facebook,
put down your phone, and pick up your phone again to watch Mrs. America. Empowerment awaits.
Mrs. America is
now available on Hulu.
This review was first published in The Keizertimes on June 19th, 2020. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/
Hindsight: Although not as blatant as my review for that one Ted Bundy documentary, this one also comes off as a bit preachy. I also wasn't sure about those last couple of sentences... I just needed a way to end the article and that was the best I could do at the time. Looks fine in retrospect, though.
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