Mrs. America | Imamother

dancingqueen

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 12:58 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

do you still see her the same way after the last episode?

I just finished the series and am so disappointed. I was hoping for a nuanced view on both sides of the aisle, buy Phyllis was portrayed as increasingly self centered, callous, fanatic, narcissistic. The only time she sheds a tear is when she loses the nomination to Reagan’s cabinet. And the feminists are portrayed as principled, progressive and oh so human.

Oh and her friend Alice who turns on her... and the battered wife friend who she keeps sending back home... I know these details are false, but why did they have to put them in there?

I thought the finale was absolutely brilliant. Phyllis got exactly what she said she wanted, or did she? I loved the fade out on her peeling apples.

I think the whole Alice plot line was the weak point of the series, for me.

amother

Oak

Sun, Jun 14 2020, 5:09 pm

dancingqueen wrote:

She wanted a position in the Reagan administration, but didn't get it. She was probably as deeply disappointed as she appeared in the show. In real life, she continued to have a highly visible career.

I was puzzled by the peeling-apples scene until I read this article. After all, the viewers have been told that Schlafly had household staff preparing meals, and peeling apples is rarely the first thing you do to get a meal ready:

https://slate.com/culture/2020......html

Fox

Sun, Jun 14 2020, 5:19 pm

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

As I said, I didn't watch the series, but I would urge caution when reading the Slate article. It is an interesting analysis, but also profoundly ant-Torah.

amother

Oak

Sun, Jun 14 2020, 6:53 pm

Fox wrote:

As I said, I didn't watch the series, but I would urge caution when reading the Slate article. It is an interesting analysis, but also profoundly ant-Torah.

Great, now no one will click the link. Summary: the apple scene is a specific visual reference to "Jeanne Dielman," a 1975 art film by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman.

dancingqueen

Sun, Jun 14 2020, 7:13 pm

I know, I realized that. 🙂 I was saying, as the slate article states “ Phyllis has fought for women’s right to be happy housewives, but she’s no longer capable of being one herself”, and the apple peeling scene showed us that.

Thanks for sharing the article, I didn’t catch the allusion, never heard of that movie.

Fox

Sun, Jun 14 2020, 7:15 pm

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

Great, now no one will click the link. Summary: the apple scene is a specific visual reference to "Jeanne Dielman," a 1975 art film by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman.

Sorry! I didn't mean to discourage anyone from reading the article -- it's just that there are a lot of subtle assumptions made that are antithetical to Torah, and some people prefer to avoid that kind of thing. Just a caveat.

Fox

Sun, Jun 14 2020, 9:12 pm

dancingqueen wrote:

Ok I’ll bite, what was antithetical to Torah there?

The writer consistently subtly depicts the work of homemaking as inherently boring and lacking in meaning. Women "escape" or "fail to escape" their roles as homemakers.

Quote:

" . . . doesn’t just tell you that housework is work; it shows you, minute by excruciating minute."

"and suddenly, home is all Phyllis has left."

"There’s something a little punitive about the way Mrs. America returns Phyllis Schlafly to the domestic sphere . . . "

"But it’s one thing to choose domestic life, and another to fall back on it because you’ve failed to escape."

"Phyllis has fought for women’s right to be happy housewives, but she’s no longer capable of being one herself . . . "

The historical background is the beginning of the segue from 2nd wave feminism to 3rd wave feminism. No longer is the argument about equal rights in areas like labor, education, credit, etc.; now women are characterized as lacking agency, as captives of a system they must endeavor to escape.

Quote:

"All she’s done is take a part-time job, making money she can spend without asking her husband’s permission first. But it’s a step, and whether it’s the last or the first of many will be hers to decide."

Does that sound like the SAHMs you know? It wasn't the case in the 70s, either. Yet that's how family life began to be depicted in its treatment of women. Were there controlling husbands around? Yup -- and there still are. The implication that a woman who wishes to be more intellectually stimulated, fulfilled, and experience greater self-actualization must obviously pursue work outside the home erodes our respect for the tasks involved in homemaking at a societal level, and that's ultimately more harmful to women no matter what their choices.

amother

Mon, Jun 15 2020, 12:07 pm

dancingqueen wrote:

It left me feeling confused. She clearly wanted the position. And she clearly didn’t advocate for women being stuck at home, at least not publicly. She did seem to push her teammates in that direction, but I’m not sure how much of that is rooted in reality. Was she really such a hypocrite?

What do you mean about Alice being the weak point? My husband also thought it ruined the show, or at the very least that particular episode, but I’m sure there were those that switched sides, no? Also, she didn’t defect all the way, but yeah, her heart wasn’t in it anymore. And she wasn’t swallowing the glib lines...

dancingqueen

Tue, Jun 16 2020, 12:27 am

@Fox, oh ok I see. I think a person (man or woman!) can get certainly get fulfillment out of housework. But just check out all of the multiple threads about cleaning ladies to get a sense that many of us prefer to avoid it if at all possible! But I think the point of that review/the show was that PS herself (or at least this fictionalized version of her) got more fulfillment from being involved in politics/activism than housework.

@ OP, I'm not sure. Maybe I just didn't connect with the actress? I just was less interested in her plotlines and her awakening, I wanted more about the feminists or PS. But my mom, who remembers those days, found the episode with her awakening to be really great. Thanks for the discussion!