Fans of Australian actress Cate Blanchett are eagerly awaiting this miniseries, her first foray into American TV. And they are quite right: she is masterful in the role of Phyllis Schlafly, a formidable (and deeply detestable …) anti-communist and anti-feminist activist who succeeded in preventing the adoption, in the 1970s, of the “Equal Rights Amendment”, which, in order to be, had to receive the approval of two-thirds of the States.
We are therefore following her “fight” in parallel with that of several important figures of the “second wave” of the American feminist movement for this draft amendment, which simply stipulated that gender equality must be respected by all legislation in the United States. American territory. Mrs. America recounts the political and personal battle of activist and journalist Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne), first black candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), author and activist Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman) and several other historical figures through this chronicle inspired by the particularly effervescent American political climate of the 1970s.
Each of the nine episodes, several of which were scripted by miniseries creator Dahvi Waller (Mad Men, Desperate Housewives), is devoted more specifically to one of these heroines, skillfully highlighting the uncertainties, contradictions and motivations of the latter. They are all embodied by generous and fair actresses, who add an extra soul to these historical characters that we want to know better, beyond this amazing fiction.
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