FX at TCA: Make Way for the Women of “Mrs. America”

Schlafly is portrayed by Cate Blanchett who is also the executive producer of the projectamp160amp160She leads a remarkable cast that includes Rose Byrne Elizabeth Banks Sarah Paulson Tracey Ullman Margo Martindale Uzo Aduba and John Slatteryamp160 With the exception of Byrne they were all on the panel for the show amp8211 along with executive producer and director Ryan Fleck executive producer and director Anna Boden creator and executive producerwriter Dahvi Waller executive producer Stacey Sher and executive producer Coco FranciniBlanchett proved to be so well versed on Schlafly the ERA and related topics she could likely lecture on those subjects at universities across the countryamp160 amp8220Phyllis herself didnamp8217t initially have an issue with the Equal Rights Amendmentamp8221 she said when asked how the reallife events depicted in the series came aboutamp160 amp8220She thought it was a piece of fairly innocuous political business and her primary focus was defense amp160That was her passion amp160That was her area of research and her focus amp160It wasnamp8217t really until her friend Alice turned her on to what were called the dangers of the ERA which meant that women could be drafted amp160She saw that it would dilute the military of its strength and then she started to forge a link in her mind between the ERA and the move towards communismamp8221amp8220Phyllis had a network of supporters from the late amp821660s when she built her baseamp8221 added Walleramp160 amp8220She had this newsletter The Phyllis Schlafly Report that sheamp8217d been sending out for years amp160When she became interested in the ERA campaign all she had to do was send out an article in her newsletter to her thousands of subscribers and it was like a light switch was turned on I call her the original disruptor amp160She was an incredibly effective grassroots organizer and she was able to mobilize women amp160That was her superpoweramp8221While the other female leads in the production are playing reallife characters Sarah Paulson portrays a fictional person named Alice McCray who is intended to represent the many women who supported Schlafly in her campaign to block the ERAamp160 amp8220Alice is a devout Catholic and a very dedicated homemakeramp8221 Paulson said noting that she took the role because she wanted to see what it would be like for a person whose entire world consisted of her family and their home life amp8220to feel that somehow she didnamp8217t matter because her desire was to be in her home and to support her husband and to raise her childrenamp160 Alice thinks she is being devalued by this movementamp160 Itamp8217s very scary for heramp8221One critic noted that Phyllis does not necessarily come off as a villain in the seriesamp160amp8220I donamp8217t think we benefit from painting the other side the side that we donamp8217t agree with as monstersamp8221 Waller explainedamp160 amp8220And I donamp8217t think there is any benefit to portraying heroes as perfect amp160What really struck me about all the women from this period was how messy they were amp160Theyamp8217re complex amp160Theyamp8217re contradictory in nature amp160They quarrel amp160Thereamp8217s joy thereamp8217s love and thereamp8217s hateamp8220One of the great things about this period is you have the birth of a lot of things including intersectional feminism and LGBTQ rightsamp8221 she continuedamp160 amp8220These are stories that are often painted in broad strokes because theyamp8217re not the centerpiece of political dramas and I wanted to bring them to the forefront amp160In episode three Shirley Chisholm is really the beginning of the birth of intersectional feminism and itamp8217s a messy beginning amp160I think the womenamp8217s movement was really growing in this time period and learning lessonsamp8221amp8220It was wonderful to have a character like Shirley be a part of the story because her very effective role and presence in that period was incredibly powerful for all women and of course powerful for women of coloramp8221 Aduba saidamp160 amp8220Over the years weamp8217ve glossed over some of those intersectional figures and their importance and their relevance in the story and I think it was great that we were able to include them and right that historical wrong in our cultural atmosphereamp8221amp8220Phyllis was profoundly influentialamp8221 Blanchett saidamp160 amp8220I was gobsmacked by her ability to inspire and galvanize and mobilize people through various different tactics that some would call dubiousamp160 Some might celebrate them amp160It was a steep learning curve for me amp160She was a true alpha and absolutely a force of natureamp8221amp8220Hopefully we can drive people who might think this is about the feminist movement but Dahvi in a very intelligent way started deliberately with the Schlaflys to say that there were actually two womenamp8217s movements in the amp821770samp8221 she notedamp160 amp8220There was the feminist womenamp8217s movement and the conservative womenamp8217s movementamp160 It allows the audience to see not only the points of disconnect and how polarized and how separate they were but the point of intersection they had amp160The fact is Bella Abzug and Phyllis Schlafly ran for Congress in the same year with the same slogan amp8216A womenamp8217s place is in the Houseamp8217amp160 The House of Representativesamp160 Bella wonamp8221Asked what she would like people who donamp8217t know anything about the time period to take away from the series Blanchett replied amp8220Iamp8217m a passionate lover of history amp160I donamp8217t think we can in any way understand the present unless we look to the past and really we often just donamp8217t learn very much and just make the same mistakesamp160 It seemed with every passing day in the development process and certainly through shooting and having the ERA debate right now that it became increasingly relevantamp8221Click on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160amp160

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FX at TCA: Make Way for the Women of “Mrs. America”

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Ed Martin

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FX at TCA: Make Way for the Women of “Mrs. America”

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