Earlier this summer, Netflix gifted us with another original series, GLOW. Filled with feminism, humour, honesty, mixed with the colourful 80s setting, GLOW is unlike any show I’ve watched before.
Alison Brie stars as Ruth Wilder, an aspiring, and dedicated actress who feels stuck in the role of “secretary.” After many auditions for uninspiring roles in the shadows of leading men, Ruth discovers there will be auditions for Glorious Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW).
Without knowing what it is, Ruth goes to a run-down gym, and sits on the bleachers among other curious women. With no athletic background and her eye on acting, Ruth proceeds to dedicate her time to the Glorious Ladies of Wrestling.
GLOW is about the production of an experimental show at its early stage. It’s supposed to be women acting as wrestlers, while actually wrestling. It’s an odd concept, yes, but the characters do point this out too.
I started watching GLOW with just the intention of passing the time between binge-watching TV series, but within two days, all ten episodes were devoured. The show delivers women’s lives—the ups and downs—with honesty and humour. I love seeing strong leading women onscreen.
The show mainly follows Ruth, but it also focuses time on the other women of GLOW and the struggles they go through. It was refreshing to see flawed characters, it makes them genuine. The cast and characters are so diverse, that it’ll be easy for anyone to connect with any of these ladies. There’s the aspiring actress; the soap opera mom; the sweet, shy girl, and so on. The women are all from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and age, yet they are part of one. The show tackles racism as well, one of the ways they do this is by having some women dress as their “stereotype,” and seeing how that affects them and the audience watching them portray this persona.
If you don’t know what to binge-watch next, give GLOW a try!