Beautiful irony. Discovering Cate Blanchett, a star committed to the Time’s up and #Metoo movements, in the skin of an activist as conservative as she is fervent anti-feminist is something to smile about. And it took all the talent of the twice Oscar-winning Australian actress to be able to embody, for nine episodes, a character a priori as unpleasant as that of Phyllis Schlafly, a true American activist who, in the 1970s, succeeded in preventing the ratification of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing gender equality, theEqual Rights Amendment (ERA).
For his first participation in useries, Cate Blanchett takes the challenge hands down in Mrs America*, broadcast on Canal + from this Monday, August 10, after being first available on Channel + Series.
Legendary feminists
Inspired therefore by real events, Mrs. America offers both a captivating and subtle portrait of this anti-heroine, while offering an exciting dive behind the scenes of the women’s liberation movements in the early 1970s.
Where we come across a tasty gallery of characters, notorious feminists served by a 5-star cast: Rose Byrne in the clothes – oh joy of seventies costumes – by Gloria Steinem; Tracey Ullman in those of Betty Friedan, or the impressive Uzo Aduba (Orange is the new black) as Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and presidential candidate.
Legendary activists, but who are presented less here – and this is the strength and all the relevance of the series – as icons than as deeply human women, certainly determined but also shaken by the doubts and divisions that agitate the feminist battles of the time.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, flow hors-pair
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Kate Millett, figure of feminism
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Brilliant and opportunistic
Wind up against these activists whose action she likes to caricature, Phyllis stands as the common thread of the intrigue. Married to a lawyer and mother of six children, she devotes herself entirely to her first cause, the fight against the Soviet nuclear threat. As skilled as she is, no one listens to her and she is brought back to taking notes like a simple typist in all-male meetings.
Until, a fine opportunist, she believed that she had spotted the perfect niche in the fight against ERA to finally make her voice heard, make her way in politics and reach her moment of glory. Impeccable brushing and tongue-in-cheek humor, this brilliant woman now carries the defense of stay-at-home mothers, those desperate housewives that she judges as a standard. threatened by gender equality, believing that this will allow them nothing other than to have the right to go to the front, or to no longer receive alimony in the event of divorce …
A question immediately arises: this Mrs. America Is she truly master of her political destiny or the only instrument of the politicians around her? Masterful, Cate Blanchett shows them all the intricacies of a character that you never manage to totally hate.
The elegance of “Madmen”
Created by Canadian screenwriter Dahvi Waller, carried by a premium 100% seventies soundtrack, this mini-series perfectly combines the vintage elegance of the series. Madmen and the intelligence of a great political series way The West Wing (At the White House), for his sometimes sharp but always fascinating exploration of the mysteries of the American political system.
A nugget which is also worth by its lively and disturbing echo on issues – equal pay, place of women in politics, distribution of tasks, mental burden … – for some still so burning.
* Nine 52-minute episodes, available on Canal + series and myCANAL, broadcast from August 10 on Canal +.
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“Unorthodox”, poignant and breathless miniseries about a young woman in search of freedom
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“Run”: the mysterious and cynical escape of two ex-lovers, co-produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
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