Mrs. America dramatizes the story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and the unexpected backlash led by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. Through the eyes of the women of that era – both Schlafly and prominent second-wave feminists including Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug, and Jill Ruckelshaus – the series explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 1970s helped give rise to the Moral Majority and permanently shifted the American political landscape.
Every episode contains an opening message which acknowledges that some scenes and characters are fictionalized for creative purposes.[3]
Uzo Aduba as Shirley Chisholm, a politician, educator, and author who was the first black candidate for a major party's nomination for President of the United States, and one of the first two women to run for the Democratic Party's nomination.
Sarah Paulson as Alice Macray, a fictional composite character intended to represent the conservative women that followed Schlafly's "STOP ERA" campaign; a housewife and friend of Phyllis.[4]
Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative advocate for Barry Goldwater and perennial candidate for Congress, refrains from running again amid a slew of harassment by her male colleagues and lack of support by her husband, Fred. Instead she sets out on a new campaign: stopping the Equal Rights Amendment from being ratified in 38 states.
2
"Gloria"
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Dahvi Waller
April 15, 2020 (2020-04-15)
102
Gloria Steinem channels her reputation as editor-in-chief of Ms. magazine to lead the fight for women’s rights as co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus, including abortion and equal pay, while Schlafly uses her grassroots campaign to stop ERA ratification in her home state of Illinois.
Shirley Chisholm, an African-American congresswoman and Presidential candidate, vows to stay in the race for nomination come the 1972 Democratic National Convention, while Steinem lobbies for abortion rights on the floor. Meanwhile, Schlafly struggles to make the newly-named Stop ERA campaign a national convention while watering down racial overtones from members of the Southern States.
4
"Betty"
Amma Asante
Boo Killebrew
April 22, 2020 (2020-04-22)
104
Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), challenges Schlafly to a debate on the ERA against Steinem and NOW’s advice. During the debate, Friedan is seemingly winning, until Schlafly gets under her skin and Friedan lashes out at her.
Feminist couple Brenda and Marc Feigen-Fasteau come to terms with Brenda’s pregnancy and her experimentation with another woman while debating traditional couple Fred and Phyllis Schlafly, who come to terms with Phyllis’s campaign and return to law school. During the debate, Phyllis tries to cite a case to bolster her position, only to have it destroyed by Brenda when Phyllis cannot come up with the proper case cite. Phyllis, as a result, vows to herself to go to law school.
6
"Jill"
Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Sharon Hoffman
May 6, 2020 (2020-05-06)
106
Jill Ruckelshaus, a Pro-ERA and Pro-Choice Republican, battles to unify the party against Schlafly’s growing Anti-ERA and Pro-Life movement amid the 1976 Republican National Convention. Both Jill and Bill Ruckelshaus are expecting Gerald Ford to name Bill as his VP running mate, and are later disappointed when they find out Ford has chosen Bob Dole instead. Chisholm attempts to form a committee tackling sexual harassment among congressmen and their women employees, much to the displeasure of Bella Abzug. Schlafly seeks to expand her mailing list by joining forces with another organization that wishes to push a stronger pro-life and anti-gay agenda.
7
"Bella"
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Micah Schraft
May 13, 2020 (2020-05-13)
107
Right after giving a speech at a luncheon, Schlafly is hit with a pie in the face by a male waiter, damaging her left eye. Bella Abzug, former congresswoman and co-founder of the National Women's Political Caucus comes off a losing Senate election in 1976 to run the National Women's Conference in Houston the following November, while many anti-ERA women attempt to get in as delegates. Meanwhile, Schlafly attempts to form a counter-rally to take place right after the Houston conference.
Without Schlafly for the first time, the STOP ERA women are invited to the 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston to defend their cause. Alice is overwhelmed by her surroundings, goes to the hotel bar where she makes friends with a woman who appears to be a bedfellow but is actually in the feminist camp. The woman gives her a pill to relax which is really LSD. Alice then "trips" and appears to be questioning her own beliefs regarding women's rights, and the tactics the STOP ERA group are using to try to win.
9
"Reagan"
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Dahvi Waller and Joshua Allen Griffith
May 27, 2020 (2020-05-27)
109
Carter fires Abzug as head of his women's rights commission, much to the anger of Steinem and others working with her. With the original ERA ratification deadline extended, Schlafly sets her sights on continuing to fight it, as well as trying to angle for a Cabinet position while helping Reagan in 1980. After winning, Reagan calls Schlafly to say he is appreciative of her help, but cannot offer her a position in his new administration because she is too polarizing.
Production
Development
Mrs. America was created and co-written by Emmy Award winning Canadian writer Dahvi Waller, who previously had writing credits on acclaimed television shows such as Mad Men and Halt and Catch Fire. The head of FX, John Landgraf, had become interested in the reappraisal of historical events "embedded in America’s collective consciousness" after Ryan Murphy originally sketched out the plot of American Crime Story. Landgraf saw Mrs. America and its portrayal of the battle surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment as having a "direct bearing on the political climate in which we find ourselves today." He also commented that, "It's a wonderful thing when any creator, any broadcaster can sort of find that place where it’s not homework to watch something, yet it has an enormous amount of artistic or educational value."[5]
Waller said that, while researching and developing the series, she realized that (in relation to equal rights) the U.S. had not progressed as much in the last 50 years as she initially thought. She commented that Mrs. America serves "as an origin story of today’s culture wars — you can draw a direct line from 1970 to today through Phyllis Schlafly and really understand how we became such a divided nation." Cate Blanchett, who served as an executive producer on the series as well as starring as Schlafly, also echoed the sentiment and the timeliness of the series, saying, "In the process of developing it — like with Roe v. Wade — there were questions with 'Is this really relevant, do we really need a whole episode about this?' It seemed that every passing day in the development process and certainly during shooting, right up to Virginia debating the ERA right now, it became like Groundhog Day; the literal discussions that we were having during 1971, 1972 going through the series were constantly popping up in the media."[6]
"I don't think we benefit from portraying the side we don’t agree with as monsters; I don't think we benefit from portraying heroes as perfect."
Series creator Dahvi Waller on the decision to "create a series with shades of grey" that didn't take a side.
Waller also desired to highlight the beginnings of intersectional feminism within the series through the character of Shirley Chisholm, played by Uzo Aduba. Chisholm was the first black female candidate in history to run for the U.S. presidency. Waller commented, "One of the great things about this period is you have the birth of a lot of things, including intersectional feminism and LGBTQ rights. In episode 3, Shirley is really the beginning of the birth of intersectional feminism, and it's a messy beginning. I think the women's movement was really growing in this time period and learning lessons."[7]
The first official images of the series were released on August 6, 2019.[11] In November 2019, it was announced the show would premiere on Hulu instead of FX, as part of "FX on Hulu".[12] In January 2020, it was announced that the series would premiere on April 15, 2020.[13]
Principal photography for the series took place from June 19 to November 1, 2019, in Toronto, Ontario.[20]
Music
The musical score was composed by American composer Kris Bowers.[21] The opening theme, "A Fifth of Beethoven", was chosen by the show's music supervisor, Mary Ramos, because "It represents both sides of the story. Phyllis and her conservative friends listen to classical music most of the time, so it’s that, combined with the sexiness and freedom of the feminists, all epitomized in one song — the disco version of Beethoven’s Fifth."[22]
In the United States, the first three episodes premiered on Hulu under the FX on Hulu label on April 15, 2020. In India, the series started streaming on Hulu and FX's corporate sibling Disney+ Hotstar on April 16, 2020.[23] In Australia, the series debuted on April 21, 2020 on Foxtel's Fox Showcase network, and was available on demand via its Foxtel Now and Binge services.[24] However, as Disney now fully owned the FX titles after their output deals with Foxtel expired, the series was pulled out of both Foxtel and Binge and was relocated to Disney+ via Star content hub.[citation needed] In the United Kingdom, the series aired on BBC Two and was available for streaming on BBC iPlayer beginning on July 8, 2020.[25]
Reception
Audience viewership
According to Whip Media's TV Time, Mrs. America was the 2nd most anticipated new television series of April 2020.[26] In January 2021, it was reported that Mrs. America was one of FX on Hulu’s most-watched series to date, surpassed by A Teacher.[27][28]
Critical response
Mrs. America received widespread critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the miniseries holds an approval rating of 96% based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 8.29/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Mrs. America captures the complicated life and times of Phyllis Schlafly with poise and style to spare, brought to vivid life by a superb ensemble led by another masterful performance from Cate Blanchett."[29] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[30]
James Poniewozik, writing for The New York Times, praised the series, calling it "breathtaking" and "a meticulously created and observed mural that finds the germ of contemporary America in the striving of righteously mad women." Poniewozik also praised the performances of the cast, singling out Cate Blanchett ("Her final scene, wordless and devastating, might as well end with Blanchett being handed an Emmy onscreen"), Tracey Ullman ("Ullman is tsunamic as Friedan, the outspoken Feminine Mystique author now raging for relevance in the current wave of feminism"), and Margo Martindale ("a tornado in a hat, a piquantly funny force of personality").[31]
Judy Berman, writing for Time, reviewed the series positively, writing "Creator Dahvi Waller, whose history as a writer for Mad Men and Halt and Catch Fire is evident in Mrs. America's vivid, complex depiction of our country's recent past". Berman also praised the show's writers, stating "This degree of moral, political and philosophical complexity is what differentiates Mrs. America from so many other recent dramatizations of women’s movements past".[32]
Inkoo Kang, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, called the series "a tremendously executed balancing act" and stated that "there's no denying that Mrs. America makes history come alive, in thoughtful and achingly real detail", whilst also praising the performances of the central cast.[33]
Negative reviews
The series was criticized by Gloria Steinem and Eleanor Smeal who called it ridiculous and described it as lacking in historical accuracy. They argued the series portrayed the fight for the ERA as a catfight between women instead of showing that lobbyists protecting the financial interests of insurance and other companies affected by the change were far more influential in preventing the law from being passed. They believe this affects women's ability to believe they can effect change.[34][35] Steinem and Smeal's comments were later disagreed with by fellow second-wave feminist Brenda Feigen, who called the series "extraordinary" and stated that, in her view, the nuance of the characters were portrayed very accurately.[36] The show was also accused of being one-sided and inventing details to present Schlafly in an unsympathetic light, including from Schlafly's daughter Anne Cori, who denounced Blanchett and called the portrayal of her family inaccurate.[37][38]
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