Warning: This article contains spoilers for ‘The Queen’s Gambit.’
I came upon this show like I’m sure we all did, looking to watch something to waste time while doing homework. I saw the trailer, and immediately it hit me that this might be something real good. I am a huge sucker for strong female leads. This show is set in the Cold War Era, from 1958 to 1968. At that time, a woman’s role in society was solely to be a good wife and mother that stays at home. Beth Harmon was raised in an orphanage and was taught chess in the basement by Mr. Shaimon, the janitor. She grew to be a chess prodigy, winning many chess tournaments against men in her own state and internationally. Her adoptive mother accompanied her on those trips.
Her adoptive mother, Alma Wheatley, was a wife always left at home to her own devices, as her husband was always working far away. She was depressed and always relied on drugs. At first, I didn’t know what direction she would take as Beth’s new adoptive mother. She didn’t understand why Beth didn’t want to take part in something more feminine for her age, such as the social clubs or join dance. Also, not to mention, women her age didn’t work. But seeing her win at the chess tournament, she was quick to change her mind. The next tournament required travel, which gave Alma an outlet to leave the house and live a little. I thought that the mother-daughter relationship was so unique and powerful. Beth had a support system and a friend in Alma until her unfortunate death. Honestly, I felt awful for Alma, as she was forced to take that on that 1960s woman role and fall into her addiction.
There were no other women in the game or at any of the tournaments. You would think, oh hey, there’d be some sort of hostility, as men can have big egos or a show of patronizing superiority. But none of that was really shown in this TV show. Rather, the men were more so intrigued or slightly accepting. I myself am from the STEM field where women are considered to be the minority and are looked down upon harshly. I find it hard to believe this didn’t happen in Beth’s competitions because that’s just not reality, especially when it was the 1960s.
Beth’s character was portrayed to be someone very confident, careful, calculative, and a hard worker in her field. When other players would be relaxing before a game or doing other hobbies, she would be continuously developing her craft. She would overlook her previous games and at any new moves a chess player would use. That’s something I do relate to. As a woman, I feel that we work twice as hard to be taken seriously and as an equal. Her focus was very inspiring.
Along the way, she had grown to make many friends in the field and was respected in her own right. Her colleagues or former opponents became allies that helped her train, learn, and even plot new strategies all night for her. I thought, personally, that it was very heartwarming to see that on the last episode.
One other thing to note are her outfits in the episodes, specifically the one where she is spiraling. She has her hair perfectly styled and her makeup done. It’s a poor representation of how mental health really is in your everyday life. It’s all just romanticized. The writers of the show really missed the portrayal with this one, and they were most likely not female writers. You have probably seen it around social media, as it was a very heated topic.
One thing can be said about Beth Harmon: she makes her own decisions and paves her own path. She doesn’t allow people to control it. That is important, as it can be hard to not constrain to societal standards that were drastically different than now. She didn’t allow those constraints or expectations to desist her from her goals. She made sure she was never taken advantage of and was careful about almost everything. She broke out of the gender established roles of her time and was headstrong, which was a good trait to have.
Happy November!
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