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I really hated the Queen's Gambit. It felt like moral pornography to me--perpetuating the myth that, when women enter male-dominated fields, all they have to do is excel in order to be accepted, respected, even loved.
Beth faces nothing but mild consternation, followed by support, tutelage, and belief in her talents. Her male rivals celebrate her prowess, even when she beats them in humiliating ways.
The women in Beth's life are supportive and awed by her--and, in the case of her one Black friend, even pay her way. (Don't get me started on the racial dynamics of the portrayal of Jolene.)
Maybe that's the appeal of the fantasy, the absence of misogynist hostility in situations where it would surely be triggered. But I don't care for it. Like I said, it read to me as moral pornography. And I didn't care for it one bit.
Sorry to yuk some people's yum. Maybe I am just cranky. Schitt's Creek makes me cranky in a related way, by assuming away all oppression, and then going for a relentlessly heartwarming vibe. Idk, maybe this moral genre just isn't my thing.
Also, hi Twitter, I just popped in to say this. Like the rest of the world, I've been watching a lot of TV. I'll probably log off again here soon.
