People who have followed Mrs. Maisel’s career on the hit series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, are happy to get a new season this month on Amazon Prime. Is it because the idea of women empowerment and breaking the mold in the 1950s resonates with many independent-minded young ladies of the 21st century? Is it because people are drawn to the colorful period of 50s style and fashion? Is it because it is actually funny? Here are my reasons why I absolutely waited with bated breath for Season 3 to start this month:
1. Nostalgia for a different decade
No,
I wasn't born in the 50s but I liked the fashion: the flouncy skirts that whirl
around as you twirl on the dance floor, women using night-before curlers to
give them the perfect wavy mid-length bobs the next morning, and greased side-parted hair for
a clean-cut look for the men. I also liked the do-wops and the choreographed
snapping up and down of the back-up singers. The decade also evokes images of
pastel-colored kitchen appliances which make for great eye-candy as well as
alleviated the load of housework for the many housewives engaged in the menial tasks of it. And, despite the seedy underbelly of the cold war during that
time, it is a picture-perfect decade that is captured in the Polaroid in my
head.
2. Spunky (and Funny!) Heroine
Midge,
for all her faults, is quite loveable. She had tried to be the perfect daughter
for her father, but she didn't marry the right guy. She tried to please her
mother but her career as a stand-up comic got compared to prostitution instead.
And, she tried to be the best wife she could be, until she upstaged her husband
in something HE wanted desperately to be good at. As a mom, well, she had her mother
and a babysitter to watch her kids so I guess, they're never really neglected.
Point is, she is a flawed character who did what she could to find her own way
in a world where women traditionally didn't get into. And she did it! Being
funny helped, of course, since you need THAT to be a comic. But perhaps,
many young people relate to the struggle of finding their niche, to break away
from their parent’s resources, and actually be good at something to be able to
make a living off of it.
3. Interesting Plot (and subplots)
As
a whole, we know about Midge trying to make it in the big leagues in show
business, but we also see her soon-to-be-ex-husband trying to find his groove
as he tries to find something he can make a living out of without relying on his
father's business and his father's money to pay for a roof above his
children's heads. He seemed to have good management skills when he tried to
"clean up" his dad's business. However, extricating himself from the
apron strings of Daddy's garment factory remains a problem. Another subplot
introduced in Season 3 is Midge's dad, Abe, who quit his tenured position with
Columbia University. With it, he loses the 5-bedroom apartment his wife and
daughter were quite comfortable to stay in and mingles with a young group of "radicals" instead. And perhaps the most "important" conundrum Midge may face this season is, with all the colorful outfits that
Midge must change into and out of each episode, where are her racks of clothes
supposed to go now?
4. Great Laughs
After Seinfeld and Friends,
there aren't a lot of great sitcoms with funny punchlines or memorable
characters anymore (at least, in my humble opinion). Though The
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel does not fit the sitcom genre, her acts actually do put the "comedy" back on the small screen. Yes, it may be a little crass as may be typical of many
stand-up comics, but at least you don’t feel like you have to "force"
out a laugh just so you won't feel bad for coughing up $120 for front-row seats
at the Gaslight.
All in all, the series has a wonderful (sentimental) setting, a strong heroine, and all the elements of humor and drama, as well as cultural, political, and societal issues all rolled neatly into a marvelously magnificent package that is the world of Mrs. Maisel.
