LOS ANGELES — “Mrs. America,” which dramatizes the Equal Rights Amendment fight that pitted a surprising and determined opponent against a deep bench of supporters, is a marvel in many ways.
The impressive cast includes Cate Blanchett and Margo Martindale. The miniseries was created by a woman, Dahvi Waller, and largely written and directed by women. It drills down on how the
One more achievement: While the story is driven by Blanchett’s conservative powerhouse Phyllis Schlafly, attention is paid to the women of
Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne) and Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman) are among the movement's white luminaries featured in “Mrs. America,” but alongside them are African Americans including trailblazing politician Shirley Chisholm and firebrand activist and attorney Florynce “Flo” Kennedy, who are played, respectively, by Uzo Aduba and Niecy Nash.
While Chisholm is best known, “there are many Shirleys of the world we have never heard of,” Aduba said. “That's why it's so exciting to see a project like this, telling not only Shirley's story but quite a few of these women that, I would argue, the population at large doesn't know their names.”
Chisholm was the first African American congresswoman, the first major-party black candidate to seek the presidency and the first female Democrat to run. She's heard loud and clear in episode three, which is anchored in the 1972 Democratic convention and the machinations that pit Chisholm against what should be her sisters-in-arms.
In a revealing scene, Chisholm is pressured to end her bid in
Aduba, a two-time Emmy winner for “Orange Is the New Black,” quotes Chisholm’s succinct reply: “I didn’t get anywhere in this life waiting on someone’s permission.”
The first three episodes of the miniseries debut Wednesday on FX on Hulu, the streaming platform's hub offering FX series and exclusive releases such as “Mrs. America.” The remaining six episodes will be out weekly through May 27, with an ensemble cast that includes Sarah Paulson, Elizabeth Banks, John Slattery, James Marsden and Jeanne Tripplehorn.
Nash ("When They See Us," “Claws”) calls it a blessing to play an “unsung hero.”
Kennedy was “absolutely amazing. And that mouth, man!” said Nash, who watched footage of her in action and used it to shape her performance. “On set, I was like, ’Listen, do you want me to say these words, or do you want me to talk how this woman really spoke? Because she didn’t have a filter.”
A wealth of books by Schlafly, Steinem and others was part of the material that helped “craft this highly researched and very clear-eyed view of this time period,” executive producer Stacey Sher said during a Q&A with reporters.
Making the series inclusive, both on screen and off, was never in doubt, said writer-creator Waller ("Mad Men," “Desperate Housewives”), also an executive producer.
“It was always obvious to me that you can’t tell the story of second-wave feminism without telling the story of intersectional feminism, so it was obvious that I would include women of
Schlafly was a
Schlafly proved an astute grassroots organizer and champion for her cause even, as the series depicts, she faced slights by men who underestimated her.
She debated only white opponents, Waller said, so her political arc didn't intersect with that of Chisholm or the other women of
With Chisholm, the way in was to tell “the story of Phyllis’ world and the story of Shirley’s world” and depict their thematic intersection ”of women, race and power," Waller said.
Episode two, titled “Gloria,” is about Steinem but also focuses on Sloan (as she was then known), who was lesbian, and the pivotal 1977 National Women’s Conference held in Houston, Texas. The meeting became a flash point for the “tension between whether to include race and also gay rights in the women's movement,” Waller said.
While she would like to have made more episodes about other leaders of
That goes for Hollywood, too.
“Mrs. America” did its best to
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Lynn Elber can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lynnelber.
Lynn Elber, The Associated Press
