Teresa D

Brilliant. A terrific ensemble group brought Ferrante’s book to life in a newly imagined examination of the conflicted feelings about the demands of motherhood vs. the desperate need to escape grinding poverty.

I’m reluctant to plagiarize, but it will save me a lot of words to simply repeat a very few of someone else’s words - and a very few of those say it all. Roger Ebert called it “a dour downer of a movie,” and an exercise in “vapid self-indulgence.” Gorgeous scenery, pretty Brad and pretty Angelina do not add up to an entertaining - or even watchable - or even bearable movie. I like both of these actors a lot, but this movie is a snorer.

It’s hard for me to know what to react more strongly to on this site: the series or the other reviews. Cate Blanchett is riveting as Schlafly. She will surely be on many awards shortlists. Uzo Aduba brilliantly captures the fire that burned in the incredible Shirley Chisolm. Other performances are uneven, some better than others, but the overall ensemble works well enough to give viewers credible insights into the second wave of feminism, which had equal legal and social rights as its main foci. The arc of the story misses the mark somewhat by one-dimensional presentations of both sides of the struggle. Things were more nuanced and complex than the way they’re portrayed. Yet, it’s worth watching, both for educational value and for the quality of SOME of the acting. The reviews are something else, though. I fully respect everyone’s right to their own opinion, but I’m always bothered by factually incorrect information being posted, such as the “fact” that the Equal Rights Amendment passed, an untruth posted by one reviewer (with disdain, I might point out, as if its passage was a ho-hum everyday happening). Had it passed, it would have been monumental, but it did not pass, so why say that it did. Another reviewer incorrectly depicts Schlafly’s husband as “raping her” at a time she was reluctant to have sex with him. In the scene, she complains that she’s tired and “been in this dress all day” (to convey that she doesn’t smell good). Her husband merely cajoles her and is quite affectionate toward her as he moves her to the bed. CLEARLY, she doesn’t want to have sex, but the nuance of the scene is such that she sighs, rolls her eyes, and submits to her husband, because that’s what women were expected to do in those days. Blanchett very effectively conveys that she’s doing her duty as a wife. She’s reluctant, but she is certainly not raped. In fact, the video of the real Schlafly’s speech at Bates College where she clearly argues that there is no such thing as marital rape, is readily available on line. Mothers back then routinely warned their daughters that the secret to a happy marriage was for a woman to always accommodate to her husband’s sexual needs. Another reviewer scorns feminism, adding incorrectly that she can fight for her own rights. We’re it not for feminists who struggled for decades for women’s equality, no woman Today would get very far fighting “on her own.” The reviewers who resent the characterization of Schlafly astonish me. She is presented quite evenly in this series - at least so far. The reviewers who present her as this saintly, nice, middle class lady who’s being vilified in Mrs. America have no clue as to who she was. This woman was a shrewd, tough, aggressive, street fighter, who used her ladylike veneer as a cover for her ruthless tactics. She fought every progressive movement in this country to her dying day, including but not limited to, the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, same sex marriage, Mexican immigration, Obamacare, and a host of other progressive initiatives. Make no mistake about who she was. The series, so far (through episode three) has gone very easy on her. In addition to saying that there’s no such thing as marital rape, this is a woman who said that she willingly canceled scheduled speeches when her husband felt as if she’d been away from home too long. Believe that one, if you want.

See Shauna Woods’ review. Take away the anger and sarcasm, sprinkle in a bit more appreciation for the acting and the cute-I-rude of the two kids, and you have my review. OMG. What were they thinking when they made this stinker?