At first glance, Netflix original ‘GLOW’ looks like a fun dramady with flashy costumes. Look closer and you’ll see a deep dive into sexism in Hollywood, well-rounded female characters, and beautiful choreography and stunts. The show boasts a cast and crew heavy with women, and the 1980s setting provides a perfect backdrop for the ongoing drama in the lives of fourteen incredible female characters.
The Netflix original is a dramatization of the show of the same name, ‘GLOW’: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. It follows Ruth Wilder, played by Alison Brie, an Omaha girl trying to make it big in L.A. Debbie Eagan, played by Betty Gilpin, her best friend turned enemy, joins the show as the star. With a history loaded with drama after Ruth sleeps with Debbie’s husband, their rivalry becomes the center-piece of the show.
This being said, they are hardly the only two to watch. The entire cast is filled with slightly insane, but extremely lovable characters. Sheila “The She-Wolf” played by Gayle Rankin became a fan favorite early on. Sheila wears wolf furs and an elaborate wig and makeup. “It’s not for you,” she says tearfully to Ruth in episode four, “it’s for me.” Arthie Premkumar (Sunita Mani) is an Indian pre-med student, struggling with her character identity as “Beirut the Mad-Bomber.” And this isn’t all she struggles with; when gay dancer Yolanda Rivas (Shakira Barrera) enters the scene, Arthie finds herself falling for her.
Tamme Dawson (Kia Stevens) plays “Welfare Queen” in the ring. Outside of the ring, Tamme is funny and quick-witted and happy to brag about her son on a full scholarship at Stanford. In the ring, her character is an offensive caricature of a lazy black woman. Season Two brought us a deeper look into her life as a working mother. “I’ve worked a lot of jobs,” she tells Debbie. She, like the other cast members, is happy in a job working with other women pushing themselves to be better. And while her son is quick to point out the offensive stereotypes running rampant in the ring, he is also impressed with Tamme’s strength and skills.
The whole show is packed with social commentary about the seriously effed-up world of the 1980s, but something that resonated this season was the impact of the Me Too movement. In the first season, director Sam Sylvia (Marc Maron) is accused of using GLOW as a casting couch when sleeping with Rhonda (Kate Nash). However, as Rhonda tells him while dressing in a huff “I wasn’t shagging you because I wanted something. I mean I wanted a horse, but that wasn’t why I was shagging you… I fancied you.” Rhonda has her own level of control in the relationship, though the power dynamics are still uncomfortable.
In a much different set of circumstances, Season Two shows Ruth being invited to a “dinner meeting” with the head of their network, Tom Grant (Paul Fitzgerald). It quickly becomes transparent that Grant has his eyes on something other than Ruth’s future. After an uncomfortable headlock, Ruth leaves, literally running from the scene when he ducks into another room. The camera focuses on Ruth, her face a mask holding back her disappointment, fear, and sadness. Grant uses his power as a network executive to change their time slot after this. With his abuse of power and blatant sexism, he is painted clearly as the villain of the piece.
Chaos ensues after this. While adding to the drama that is piling up between Debbie and Ruth, the time slot change makes a positive impact on Sam. “Let’s let the weirdos loose,” he says. The rest of the season becomes playful. The result is the show within a show, episode 8 “The Good Twin.” It is weird, funny, and quite surreal.
The story is enough to pull in the audience, but add in fancy costumes, glitter, and the righteous 80s soundtrack and you’ve got a true spectacle. The icing on the cake is, of course, the wrestling. It’s less than tame, too, and the cast is proud to say that they do their own stunts. With little-to-no prior training, the girls went through an intensive training boot camp to get ready for the show. And they don’t hold back in the ring. Their performances continue to get better and better, leading to a final act with incredible gasp-out-loud moments.
So what is ‘Glow’? It is certainly one of Netflix’s many successes. Beyond that though, it is a story about being strong, about being a mother, sister, lover. In short, it is a story about women, by women for women.
Totally radical.
Yet Another Starving Artist 