Yesterday a friend shared a BBC story on a collection of images that showed the last “normal” moment people experienced. My curiosity peaked and my fingers went to work, scrolling through (way too many) uninteresting photos of my quarantine life to get to my last “normal” picture. I loved it and encouraged a few others to try the same. While the memory of a fun time eating cookies at Hello Robin with dear friends brings a smile to my face, the word normal is complicated. I’m seeing way too many articles about how we are all d̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ willing to let the vulnerable die to get back to normal.
And I’m struggling with the idea of normal. As many activists and commentators have been aptly highlighting, normal wasn’t working for everyone. I don’t think this virus unearthed new cracks in our systems, but it showed how deep and dangerous the existing ones are - lack of access to healthcare and basic needs, poor funding and wages for essential functions and workers, inhumane justice system and prison culture, abysmal lack of protection for women and our labor, and rampant misinformation - to name a few.
I hope we don’t rush back to normal despite how comforting it can seem to many of us. Sitting with discomfort, I’m not going to lie to you, will taste like a bad cocktail of fear, hopelessness, and guilt. It does for me. My gut reaction is to immediately try and chase it down (thank you college for teaching me about cranberry juice) with some good ol’ performative activism. I’m slowly learning to step away from that, to actually examine my blind spots, engage with people and local efforts, make the calls, use my resources, and show up. And art keeps me motivated to imagine a new normal.
This week’s recommendations are shows and movies based on real stories that highlight the problems of normal. And that makes them all the more chilling.
Illustration by Gluekit
Mrs. America (Hulu) - A friend recommended this to me and I absolutely have to pass it along, because it’s just brilliant. A complex portrayal of feminism and power, the show follows the personal and political lives of the leaders for and against the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). But instead of a history lesson, Mrs. America takes creative licenses that highlight its relevance to today’s politics, specifically around incremental progress vs radical change and true intersectionality vs symbolic gesture. I rarely say this, but thank you Hulu for making it a weekly release. I was about ready to throw my remote at Phyllis Shlafley (and at times Betty Abzug, played by esteemed character actress Margo Martindale) after each episode, and binging this show would have assured my TV’s destruction. Also this is a great read into its very catch opening credits song, which I never once tried to fast forward through.
Bad Education (HBO) - Most of us know about the recent college admissions scandal (and I cannot wait for a show or movie about that) but corruption and greed under the guise of a greater good for everyone can be anywhere. Even at a top-rated public high school in Roslyn, New York. As long as the funding is coming in, students are getting into Ivys, and housing prices are high, don’t you have way more to lose than gain?
Alias Grace (Netflix) - I didn’t realize this was based on a true story when I first heard about the show. Adapted by Sarah Polley as a mini-series from Margret Atwood’s book of the same name, Alias Grace starts slowly. But over the course of the second hour, I was hooked on such an intimate portrayal of a woman who lived through trauma. Instead of jumping to the “did she do it” question, the show asks us to pause our curiosity for an easy answer and see the world through Grace Marks’ eyes. Maybe even grapple with the answer to “would I do it”.
Probably,
Madhu
PS. I know email inbox is an intimate digital space, so I’m grateful for your time reading through this letter. If you watched and enjoyed any of my recommendations, consider forwarding this to someone who might also like them. Feel free to write back if you want to share anything you’re watching!
And if this is your first time here, hello! I write about shows and movies each week.