With the evolution of the digital age, cinema has lost its aesthetic edge over television. Television gives actors leeway and far more opportunities than you'd find in film. As the big screen faces scrutiny over a lack of diversity, television showcases it. Women, minorities, and LGBTQ characters are celebrated, not ghosted. Television is fortunate enough to take risks with diverse casts, which is expressed through its explosion of new programming not just through cable networks, but through streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. As networks are flooding themselves with new shows, film studios are cutting down on their releases. No wonder we're seeing a bundle of Hollywood A-listers transition to the small screen.
HBO's new melodrama thriller features a stacked cast consisting of Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley. Although women are still underrepresented in TV and film, the murder-mystery miniseries delivers substance of these women as not one-dimensional characters, but rather highlights their complexities of self-identity and motherhood as their lives unravel. The male characters are secondary to the points of views of Madeline (Witherspoon), Celeste (Kidman), and Jane (Woodley). The women exemplify every spectrum of being a mother; neither the good or bad, but peeling off layers and layers of their character every week. We learn through them quickly that life is never sugar coated.
The show is an important step for women stars. Female leads rarely have such a voice on screen, and this series puts women at its core. Multiple women are never at the forefront, and the series covers possible, real life experiences such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, romance, infidelity, and divorce, in a relatable manner. No longer are women playing secondary roles of wives and girlfriends, rather this series is the next step in a dynamic shift of women on television.
