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Why Mrs America is the most important show on TV right now

Australian screen great Cate Blanchett’s latest foray into TV is one of the most important shows of the year that the world needs right now.

Andrew McMurtryAndrew McMurtry
@AndrewMcMurtry
4 min read
May 25, 2020 - 1:37PM
Mrs America trailer

At most times, a show starring Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne and Elizabeth Banks among a star-studded cast would be must-see TV.

But in the age of the coronavirus pandemic, Mrs America was released at the worst possible time to achieve the appreciation and respect it absolutely deserves.

Those who have seen it have raved about the performances from its leading stars, as well as the engrossing true story; the full season of which is available to stream on Binge.

At the core of the show is the amendment designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of gender and remove legal distinctions between males and females.

Set in the 1970s when the Equal Rights Amendement (ERA) was approved by the House of Representatives and US Senate before needing 38 states to ratify it to amend the constitution, the show delves into the culture war between the women’s liberation movement and conservative women fighting to protect traditional values.

Blanchett leads the cast in what many believe is an Emmy-winning performance as she takes on the role of anti-feminist and conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly.

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Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly in Mrs America.
Cate Blanchett as Phyllis Schlafly in Mrs America.

On the side of pushing for equal rights were Gloria Steinem (played by Rose Byrne), Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman) and Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale).

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WHAT CRITICS HAVE SAID

RogerEbert.com’s Allison Shoemaker said Blanchett’s portrayal of Schlafly is “masterful” but praised the whole ensemble, while the LA Times’ Lorraine Ali called the Aussie “transformative and chilling here as the perfectly composed picture of domesticity and traditional values”.

Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic called Mrs America “maybe the first great television series of 2020, a project that manages to capture the complicated essence of real characters while telling a story at both micro and macro levels”.

News.com.au’s Wenlei Ma called the series “riveting and engrossing” highlighting the different perspectives the showcased, including offering the African-American perspective, something largely glossed over when discussing women’s liberation.

It’s been widely praised with a 96 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes among critics, with viewers also raving about the nine-episode series on social media.

WHY IT WAS MISSED

Aussie Rose Byrne plays feminist Gloria Steinem in Mrs America.
Aussie Rose Byrne plays feminist Gloria Steinem in Mrs America.

The show was released on April 15 on Hulu in the US, right in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, and despite being screened on Foxtel in Australia, the nation was still working on ensuring the curve was being flattened.

While Australia was on the downward side of the curve, so much was still up in the air and an important show about Equal Rights in the US was largely forgotten.

It came just days after the US passed Italy as the nation with the most deaths from the virus, when it passed 20,000 deaths.

Currently the US is closing in on 100,000 deaths from the virus, by far the highest death toll in the world.

With social distancing and social restrictions forcing most of the world inside, some have pointed out that it’s a tough subject matter to look into the ERA and how in close to 100 years the US still haven’t ratified it into law.

WHO IS PHYLLIS SCHAFLY?

The show centres around the battle between second wave feminists and conservative women over the ERA.

The latter group was led by Phyllis Schlafly, who is played by Blanchett.

Schlafly is a much-maligned character by many but also a conservative icon and lawyer who played a key role in quashing the amendment, despite it passing the House and Senate and being sent to the states, with Republican president Richard Nixon supporting it.

Schlafly characterised the women’s liberation movement as anti-family and that women shouldn’t need daycare as they should not work, while men should run the household.

Blanchett played Schlafly because they are nothing alike.
Blanchett played Schlafly because they are nothing alike.

Blanchett admitted in an opinion piece on The New York Times that the pair are “two guests you wouldn’t invite to the same dinner party”.

It’s the reason why she wanted to explore the role and the life of Schlafly.

“Seemingly vast divides — whether political or viral — can leave us frightened and paranoid, more likely to draw back than to try to bridge them,” she wrote. “But art, in its ability to cross social, partisan and even temporal gaps can help foster a shared sense of understanding. It can bring us together physically and emotionally. And it can teach us about one another, inspiring empathy rather than anger.

“Art matters because it lets us engage with our complex social fabric, allowing us to cross divides and work toward a safer and more meaningful existence together.”

STORY BEHIND THE ERA

The battle behind the ERA still rages today but it was sparked in 1920 when the 19th amendment to the US constitution was ratified — the right for women to vote.

The following year the National Women’s Party began campaigning to give women equal rights to men and by 1923 it had made it to Congress.

Buried in committee in both houses Congress, the ERA was defeated in 1946 in the Senate before an amended version nullifying the equal protection elements passed in 1950.

In 1972, the ERA was approved by the full Senate 84-8 with time limit of seven years placed on its ratification by the states.

Constitutional amendments require a three-quarters majority of states to ratify to make it a law.

By 1977, 35 states of the 38 needed had ratified before both sides of the campaign ramped up their efforts, as ERA proponents fought and won an extension to 1982.

But counter measures from conservative groups also worked with five states even rescinding their ratifications by the 1982 deadline.

2020 has already been a big year for the ERA with the House of Representatives voting to eliminate the ratification deadline, although the Senate have given no indication that it will take it up.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said at the time: "It's a historic day. It's a happy day. When women succeed, America succeeds. That's what we believe, and that's what we're acting on today."

It came after Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment in January with the fight set to move to the legal system and leaves the ERA in limbo.

Mrs America is available to stream on Binge

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/why-mrs-america-is-the-most-important-show-on-tv-right-now/news-story/1709c049cf64ce7f37d3b74ca4c1cbeb