Okay so maybe this show is not something for your little sister, but it definitely is something you should be watching!! Although it's set in the late 60's into 1970's, this show still has plenty of relevance to what's happening today. This show has some rather big names including Anna Camp (from "The Help" and "Pitch Perfect") and Hunter Parrish (from "17 Again" and "Still Alice") as well as many others! As of now, there are only 10 episodes on Amazon Prime and there is a discussion of another network picking up Good Girls Revolt since Amazon has canceled it for now. The show has every type of entertainment comedy, drama, and of course romance!
This show was created off of a book about the 45 women who sued Newsweek in 1970 for discrimination. Though in the show it has been fictionalized the back bone is still stuck to this book. The show takes place at the News of the Week magazine rather than Newsweek. This magazine has employed women and men, but the women are considered researchers and the men are the actual reporters. Often the women end up actually writing the story for the men, they may change a few words but the women make less money and never get their names on the byline. Although for the most part, the show does focus on this discrimination against these women it discusses the other rather important details that are vital to this era in our history including Black Panthers and the Vietnam war.
At a women consciousness group meeting, some women from News of the Week realize that they would be able to place a formal complaint against their employer using the Civil Rights Act since they are being discriminated against. But to do so they have to work with getting the majority of the women that work there to agree as well as making sure they can keep it a secret. Once the complaint is filed none of them can be fired yet there is no promise that before the complaint is made they may be fired for planning this. Along with this, the women are supposed to stop all relationships with any men at work since it could be used against them, which puts strains on multiple relationships.
This show not only focuses on the push for women's equality in the workplace, but it also looks at the equality of women and blacks within society as a whole. There is content about unhealthy marriages as well as expectations for some of these women that they do not wish to have. The show also addresses the issue of race during this time, with black women working at News of the Week and at first not wanting to join the women's complaint since she already has so much against her just because of the color of her skin. Although we have a better working environment today than the 60s and 70s these issues of gender and race divides are extremely applicable to today's society and the issues that have risen in the past years. Including the election, police brutality and the wage gap still wide open.
This show's relevance and look at these issues is extremely addicting, but sadly there will only be the 10 episodes of the first season for now. Amazon Prime canceled this show but due to backlash, Sony is thinking of trying to have another network pick up the show. According to an article in The Atlantic the creator of the show, Dana Calvo stated that when the show was canceled there were no women in that meeting. This is clearly ironic since the show is based on inequality within the workplace and this is an example of women not being present for important meetings such as this. Though Sony will not comment on this statement that no women were present as well as the head of comedy and drama at Amazon, Joe Lewis, the show was not living up to expected ratings. Yet this show did receive many viewers as well as 4.5 stars, not quite sure how to do much better but I guess .5 really counts sometimes.
Get your feminist on and watch Good Girls Revolt.
