Mrs America is a fascinating chronicle of the formation of the fault lines which continue to divide America today
Looking at the American body politic today, it’s easy to assume that the bitter divisions are something of a recent manifestation, a cancerous corrosion accelerated by the devastation of 9/11 and toxically perfected in the weaponised division of President Trump but “Mrs America” sheds a fascinating new light on how America’s supposedly broad bipartisan political church underwent a bitter divorce, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking to divide the country between them.
In late 1971 the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex, gained approval by the House of Representatives on by the US Senate in early 1972, kick-off a race to get the amendment ratified by a minimum of 38 states. But a jubilant women’s rights movement has reckoned without the opposition of arch-conservative hawk and failed Goldwater Republican congressional candidate Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), a woman who would mobilise and radicalise a hitherto untapped reservoir of political power.
I was familiar, of course, with some of the names involved in this enthralling drama. Gloria Steinam (Rose Byrne) is probably the biggest pop culture celebrity in the mix but she’s merely the very public face of an alliance of strong, intellectual women pushing for and campaigning to ratify the ERA. She and the other members of the pro-ERA movement (Shirley Chisolm (Uzo Aduba), Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman), Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale)) are nominally cast as the heroes of the piece and notably, they’re the one side which retains a claim of being bipartisan, not just through the involvement of Jill Ruckelshaus (Elizabeth Banks), a Republican feminist and co-founder of the National Organisation for Women but through the ongoing support of the Republican mainstream establishment.
On the other side is Phyllis Schlafly, a staunch conservative who opposed not only women’s rights but other civil rights movement as well and was prepared to ally herself with extremist fringe elements if it aided her primary objectives. She’s unquestionably the villain of the piece (depending, I suppose, on your own personal political perspective) but the masterstroke of this mini-series is that it portrays all of the players with blunt honesty, covering their triumphs and their follies, the egos and vanity which often snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for both sides and, most illuminating of all, it’s expertly crafted and performed to create empathy with every character, no matter how repugnant or offensive their position may be to you.
A beguiling mixture of “The West Wing”/ “House Of Cards” political manoeuvring, biographical drama and history lesson – with a kick-ass soundtrack, “Mrs America” provides an engrossing primer in the various factions who operate in the American political landscape and the cementing of the holy alliance between the Christian evangelicals and the Republican party which endures even now. It covers the first shots fired in the culture war which continues to rage today. It makes no effort to dumb down a complicated and messy era, provides no easy answers and is refreshingly open to the hypocrisy and flaws of the very human individuals involved. It also remains resolutely focussed on its feminist story despite the array of historical distractions which occur in the background such as Watergate.
“Mrs America” is a stunning, revelatory televisual achievement, making magnificent use of its nine episodes and has as many lessons for today as it has for history.
10/10