In many aspects, "Mrs. America" has a lot going for it as a miniseries. One can easily tell it is manage with great care by show runner Dahvi Waller, the cast is a who's who of solid names, and the production value is Mad Men-esque quality. It also tells an important story about the history of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, along the way examining both political/personal sides of the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s. As constructed, however, the show does run into a few key obstacles that keep it from the upper echelon of similarly-themed fare.
Ostensibly, the show focuses on the political and social activities surrounding a proposed Equal Rights Amendment (or ERA) to the Constitution during the 1970s. In one corner is presented the Women's Liberation Movement, staffed by such key figures as Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale), and Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman), to name just a scant few. Opposing the ERA is a group of more conservative forces led by Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), a woman who will stop at nothing to make sure the amendment is not ratified.
To be clear, a 6/10 rating is probably the lowest I'd ever go for a show like this. It tells a lot of stories that have been marginalized through the years, and that's an exciting and interesting thing to see appear on television. Also, as previously mentioned, it was abundantly clear to me how much of a "labor of love" this was for everyone involved. From the actors to the writers/producers to the directors and everyone in between, telling these stories was extremely important.
That being said, there are two reasons why "Mrs. America" levels out on the low end of my potential rankings:
First, it's cast is actually too big, or at very least simply spread out through such a long period of time. For a show that tells such great human stories, it is frustrating to see so many characters come and go before you even have time to "figure them out". For example, there are certain characters in the first few episodes that never return, while a few other characters are merely background players at first before garnering bigger responsibilities in the end. Being bound by the long, drawn-out ERA ratification process was probably the main culprit here.
Secondly, I wish "Mrs. America" would have delved a bit deeper into the grey areas of the topics at hand. In the initial episode, Blanchett as Schlafly gives an episode-closing speech that, while most viewers inherently will realize to be "wrong" in most aspects, does hint at some intriguing grey areas to explore. But this show doesn't choose to go that route, instead continuing to take the lens of the battle between the two sides. Unfortunately, the problem with that approach is that this is something that is made clear from the word go: Schlafly is the villain, the "libbers" (as she would call them) are the protagonists, and that's simply the lay of the land.
Overall, I consider "Mrs. America" to be a solid biopic drama that is held back from greater status by its dogged insistence (forced or otherwise) on having the ERA as its cornerstone more than any single character, producing a sort of disjointed experience over the course of the episodes.
Ostensibly, the show focuses on the political and social activities surrounding a proposed Equal Rights Amendment (or ERA) to the Constitution during the 1970s. In one corner is presented the Women's Liberation Movement, staffed by such key figures as Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale), and Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman), to name just a scant few. Opposing the ERA is a group of more conservative forces led by Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), a woman who will stop at nothing to make sure the amendment is not ratified.
To be clear, a 6/10 rating is probably the lowest I'd ever go for a show like this. It tells a lot of stories that have been marginalized through the years, and that's an exciting and interesting thing to see appear on television. Also, as previously mentioned, it was abundantly clear to me how much of a "labor of love" this was for everyone involved. From the actors to the writers/producers to the directors and everyone in between, telling these stories was extremely important.
That being said, there are two reasons why "Mrs. America" levels out on the low end of my potential rankings:
First, it's cast is actually too big, or at very least simply spread out through such a long period of time. For a show that tells such great human stories, it is frustrating to see so many characters come and go before you even have time to "figure them out". For example, there are certain characters in the first few episodes that never return, while a few other characters are merely background players at first before garnering bigger responsibilities in the end. Being bound by the long, drawn-out ERA ratification process was probably the main culprit here.
Secondly, I wish "Mrs. America" would have delved a bit deeper into the grey areas of the topics at hand. In the initial episode, Blanchett as Schlafly gives an episode-closing speech that, while most viewers inherently will realize to be "wrong" in most aspects, does hint at some intriguing grey areas to explore. But this show doesn't choose to go that route, instead continuing to take the lens of the battle between the two sides. Unfortunately, the problem with that approach is that this is something that is made clear from the word go: Schlafly is the villain, the "libbers" (as she would call them) are the protagonists, and that's simply the lay of the land.
Overall, I consider "Mrs. America" to be a solid biopic drama that is held back from greater status by its dogged insistence (forced or otherwise) on having the ERA as its cornerstone more than any single character, producing a sort of disjointed experience over the course of the episodes.