It took a quarantine to get me to finally watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I'd been wanting to, I'd heard it was great, but something was holding me back. Partly my difficulties streaming Amazon Prime, partly my fear that once I'd binged the show I'd have nothing in my back pocket of rainy day entertainment. Yet, after watching one rerun too many, I was ready to ditch these deterrents.
And I was so glad I did! The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has everything I could ever want from a TV show: comedy, fashion, romance, old-timey glamour, and girl power. So, I'm going to recap the premise, even if most of you probably know it. In late 1950s New York City, young Jewish wife and mother Miriam "Midge" Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) gets thrown over by her wannabe stand-up comic husband Joel (Michael Zegen) only to find that she's the one who needs to stand up because she's got something to say. Hilariously and in four-letter words in the very bar where her hubby bombed. That's right; she's trading in (okay, maybe just jeopardizing) her socialite status to try her hand at the funny business. And embarks upon the most delightful way anyone has ever blown up her life. With a hat-heavy wardrobe as snappy as her one-liners, Midge takes on the masculine and streetwise Susie (Alex Borstein) as her manager to take Manhattan by storm. Well, almost. Pitfalls await in the old boys' club of comedy, Susie's stumblings (Midge is her first client!), and Midge's painfully proper parents Rose (Marin Hinkle) and Abe (Tony Shalhoub), who are in the dark about their daughter's double life. Also, there's the small matter of money. After being dumped by Joel, Midge moves back in with her parents and takes a job in a department store at the Revlon counter (apparently that used to be a thing instead of just a rack at Rite Aid). She turns out to be a talented lipstick pusher, recommending my own beloved Cherries in the Snow to one customer in search of the perfect red. Balancing work, children, and the nightclub circuit makes for many a madcap mishap, including getting bailed out of jail by none other than comedy bad boy Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby). Then there's the annual family trip to the Catskills where Susie tags along incognito and gets mistaken as the resort plumber. During this quarantine and the unfortunate purchase of some this-is-all-we-have triple ply, I've often found myself at the mercy of a dubious plunger, thinking, where's Susie when you need her?
But The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel isn't all brisket and hi-jinks. Midge learns a lot about herself and the people in her life. Like when she's dating an art collector and buys a twenty-five-dollar painting by an unknown artist that comes with -- get this -- a free hat! She doesn't buy it because it's valuable (or even because of the hat), but because it speaks to her and makes her feel a connection to it the way good art should. When she relays the story to an esteemed artist and her beau, the artist understands but the beau doesn't. This vignette and others is why I really love this show. It tells us that women can and should stand for something and do something more than look pretty -- while still wanting to look pretty, if that's what they want. That's feminism, the freedom to have it all without having to choose, a message that's as important today as it was in 1959.
That said, this post is as good a place as any to show off my new Hip Flip Barrette Brooch. Even if it is hatless and more That Girl than Miriam Maisel. Of course, Midge's hair and attitude are plenty flip in other ways. Also, Midge makes me think of that other '60s fashion icon named Miriam, Miriam Haskell. Even if Ms. Haskell was a real-life costume jewelry designer and Mrs. Maisel is a made-up comedian.
3 comments:
I love your tribute to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with your new barrette; I've never seen it or heard anything about the show, but I do indeed recognize her hairdo from pictures! You did a lovely job creating it. :) The hot pink and yellow colors of your accessories is the perfect pop to your black and grey dress! "That's feminism, the freedom to have it all without having to choose." - Agreed! ❤️ And let's thank our lucky stars for Amazon and all that it does.
In my opinion, a woman's appearance will instantly change stylish using a set of clothe this fixture. Greetings from Indonesia.
I wish I had time to watch tv shows and movies and read books, but I just don't. I've heard a lot about this show but will probably never get around to watching it.
Post a Comment