Mrs. America is best show of 2020 so far
I’m ashamed to admit that I know far more about the civil rights movement and even the gay rights movement of the 1960’s and 70’s than I do about the women’s liberation movement. It’s an oversight on my part but one that I’m sure many others share, and lucky for us, Dahvi Waller’s Mrs. America is here to educate us on the triumphs, failures, successes and turbulence of the feminist “revolution” that did indeed grow out of the social unrest of the late 1960’s and was an offshoot of the civil rights movement itself.
This limited series stars Cate Blanchett as the demonic Phyllis Shlafly, a name that I vaguely recognized as having read before- something about being a staunchly homophobic and anti-gay commentator in the late 1970’s. Little did I know her original claim to fame was as an anti-ERA activist, who launched a political group opposed to the ratification of the equal rights amendment, which was well on its way to passing in the early 70’s, when women’s lib was having its greatest influence on American politics. This series showcases Phyllis as the face of women against other women, that old, reliable roadblock that rears its ugly head to help hold the patriarchy in place whenever women attempt to band together and claim power for themselves. It’s much harder to succeed as a marginalized group when you have to fight not only your oppressors but those within your group who align themselves with them.
Phyllis was a wealthy, conservative Republican who was far more interested in foreign policy than she was “women’s issues,” and longed to run for office and be taken seriously on the topics which she was passionate about. She had a supportive husband (John Slattery) and five children who were mostly raised by her sister-in-law (according to this show), which allowed her to spend her time in activist circles, but she wasn’t taken seriously by men and not even allowed to attend law school in her younger years. As the show presents it, she was frustrated and stymied in her own (ironically feminist) desires to be involved in politics and have a career, so she seized her power by claiming the mantle of the anti-feminist, positioning herself as a woman who opposed equal rights for women (herself excluded of course), and who then received the attention from the male political establishment and the media that she so craved.
The complicated activists of the women’s movement leave a big impact today
On the other side of all this were the feminist activists, or women’s “libbers,” led by Gloria Steinem (played by Rose Byrne in a return to her dramatic TV roots), Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullmann), Bella Abzug (Margo Martinadale), and Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), among others. But the women’s movement had issues of its own having nothing to do with the Schlafly led opposition- the infighting, backstabbing, and egos involved led to personality clashes (Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan apparently did NOT get along), and conflicts with lesbians and black feminists that led to the movement being decidedly non-intersectional. The frustrations of any kind of political movement that needs to constantly decide how or how not to compromise and how inclusive or exclusive it’s going to be are documented with tremendous detail and smart, intelligent dialogue that never dumbs down the goals of the movement or the battles it fought as the political climate changed throughout the 1970’s.
This is an outstanding history lesson that never feels like one. The show is brimming with energy and recreates the 1970’s with lively, authentic flair, as each episode centers a different woman from the movement and the fantastic ensemble cast rises to the challenge in every way. Oscar winner Blanchett is of course the star and Phyllis Schlafly is more than given her due here, as the show rather kindly presents her as a sort of tragically misguided figure who fell into obscurity after helping to usher in the evangelical movement with the Reagan revolution only to shoot herself in the foot as she was used and tossed aside by the men who had no need for her divisive bullshit once the goal was accomplished. Yet, one can’t help wanting to know more about the feminists, as I can argue that Gloria Steinem, though remembered, is far too little known except by name, especially to younger women, for what she achieved and began, and the same goes for Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug (who I’d never even heard of).
The women’s movement fell short of its goal, as the ERA was never ratified, the conservative realignment crushed the influence women briefly had in the political arena (which was even bipartisan!) and attempts to make crucial gains and dismantle that damn patriarchy are ongoing and still being fought on depressingly similar ground today. But the women who fought for this were revolutionary and groundbreaking, and frankly they deserve the in-depth biopic treatment more than resurrecting the deservedly forgotten Phyllis Schlafly as the villain who took it all down. I’m eagerly awaiting that Gloria Steinem movie any day now.
Grade: A
Rose Byrne captures Gloria Steinem’s effortlessly cool vibe with ease
