They are Women Hear Them Roar

Showtime and Starz are both currently releasing their own political biography series center around different eras and different women. Each show releases a new episode weekly. Showtime aired their first episode of The First Lady on April 17th and Starz released their first episode of Gaslit on April 24th. In this post, we'll be looking at each show's individual plot and if there are any problems with the overall shows.

The First Lady

The First Lady follows three of America's most notable First Ladies. The first is Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband Frederick Roosevelt in the beginning of the 20th century. Eleanor is played by Gillian Anderson. The next is Betty Ford and her husband Gerald Ford in the middle of the 20th century. Betty is played by Michelle Pfeiffer. The third first lady, is the one and only Michelle Obama with her husband Barack Obama in the early 2000s. Michelle is played by the amazing Viola Davis.

The plot of the show follows the women as they face similar situations as their husbands rise to political height. In the first episode, Eleanor urges Frederick to pursue his political goals despite his heath problems. Betty anxiously realizes the retired life she has been waiting for with her husband is going to have to wait until President Nixon's term is up only to be crushed when the country needs her husband after a scandal that rocks the nation. And Michelle and her family deal with the consequences of Barack pursuing the presidency as a black man along with the dangers that come along with that pursuit.

Overall, the series address the issues they faced in a respectful way that helped us better understand them (especially Betty and Eleanor). Like how Eleanor wanted Frederick to achieve his goal of presidency much to her mother-in-law's dismay. How Betty was married before Gerald and sought out help for her mental health, which caused a lot of backlash for her in the press and in the White House. And finally, how Michelle faced being the first First Lady of color in the White House. As the matriarch of a powerful political family, the First Ladies have always been put under a microscope looking for any kind of slip-up no matter how small, but Michelle was put under more scrutiny than any other First Lady. In the first episode, (whether this is true or not) Michelle is shown reading a letter from Betty directed toward Michelle. In the letter, Betty talks about how difficult it is to be the First Lady but she addresses that Michelle will have to face something much more challenging than any other First Lady before her.

Gaslit

While The First Lady addresses what our most notable First Ladies went through as their husbands rose to power Gaslit is about how a woman no one remembers whose actions led to the resignation of former President Richard Nixon. This woman's name is Martha Mitchell, her husband is John N. Mitchell who was the former Attorney General of the United States under President Nixon. Martha is played by Julia Roberts. Martha Mitchell would likely be described as a southern bell socialite who loved to go on talk shows, talk with people from magazines, and gossip about those she and her husband surround themselves with.

My only complaint about the show is that in the first episode there are so many men. This is about Martha, it's called Gaslit its about how everyone disowned her after the Watergate scandal came to light. But in the first episode maybe one third of the show is reserved for her and that seems generous, there rest is about how it leads up the break-in. Every scene with Julia Roberts as Martha, the more I thought I want every scene to be about her and how much I love her. She is an amazing woman, who did something they thought was selfish but before being a wife and a hostess she is a mother and her instinct is to protect, she is protecting her children and her country from liars who are trying to manipulate an election. As much as I understand that these men are as important to the story as Martha is, the show needs to give us more of Martha and how fearless and amazing she is.