Schuessler Carrie

This show has a lot of beautiful writing and great acting. I loved everything about the inclusion of accurate racial inequalities of the time in the storyline. But had a hard time watching because of two things: 1) you don’t have to be gay to have close, teammate like friendships with people of the same sex, and 2) it’s possible to be an amazing athlete and also be straight. I felt the focus of the show made every close relationship seem sexualized, and also painted the picture that every teammate was queer. I understand wanting to represent the true stories of the women on the team. This is important to include. But but the way it was done in this show gave me the impression that women can’t have strong, close relationships with one another, and also cannot be incredibly good at sports unless they are lesbian or queer. I walked away remembering each main character by their sexuality, rather than the amazing grit, courage, and perseverance the women on this team had to carry.