{"id":13812,"date":"2018-09-12T03:30:41","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T10:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/?p=13812"},"modified":"2018-09-21T19:24:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-22T02:24:04","slug":"emmy-watch-the-marvelous-mrs-maisel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/goodletters\/2018\/09\/emmy-watch-the-marvelous-mrs-maisel\/","title":{"rendered":"Emmy Watch: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"My annual family Christmas letter swelled from a single paragraph into a sixteen-page spread before I finally admitted at age thirty-seven\u2014to myself, more than anyone else\u2014that I wanted to be a writer, a desire that\u2019d been brewing during a decade as a full-time wife, mother, and dedicated church volunteer.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t always wanted to write. As a teen in the seventies I wanted to be a senator, so I majored in political science and went to work in local government, quitting when my oldest daughter was born.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t set out to deny my ambitions, but growing up through multiple divorces, holding my nuclear family together was paramount. So I drafted committee minutes, took family field trips, and planned Sunday school lessons, sublimating my creativity rather than risk the disruption \u201cbeing a writer\u201d would cause my family.<\/p>\n

So when Amazon\u2019s award-winning comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel<\/em> opens with newlywed Miriam \u201cMidge\u201d\u2014played by Golden Globe and Critics Choice winner Rachel Brosnahan\u2014standing alone in the middle of a reception hall asking, \u201cWho gives a toast at her own wedding?\u201d and launching into a monologue, I saw a reflection of myself in her at that age: poised to take on the world and capable of success in any endeavor she chooses.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward four years later, to 1958, and I find that Miriam, like me, has completely immersed herself in the traditional roles of wife, mother, and church (synagogue) member. She appears successful and happy, a state reinforced by the colorful costumes, cheerful sets, upbeat period music, and sparkling dialogue\u2014 no surprise coming from Amy Sherman-Palladino of The Gilmore Girls<\/em>, a hallmark of rapid-fire repartee.<\/p>\n

Soon the action moves to The Gaslight, a nightclub where husband Joel (Michael Zegen) can\u2019t get onstage without Midge bribing the manager for a timeslot with her homemade brisket. She keeps track of Joel\u2019s laughs and joke ideas (her ideas really). When his set bombs and she tries to cheer him up saying comedy should be fun, like ballroom dancing, he reveals his comedic career aspirations and unhappiness with their life.<\/p>\n

He is leaving. There is no discussion, no opportunity to work things out, just a pronouncement out of the blue. It happened the same way to my mother, twice. But The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel<\/em> departs from stereotypes here. Midge doesn\u2019t cry, scream, take the blame, or beg her husband to stay. She is calm, reasonable, and even manages a few ironic observations: He\u2019s going to leave her with her <\/em>suitcase? And, he\u2019s leaving the night before Yom Kippur when their rabbi is coming to dinner? His timing is terrible\u2026onstage and off.<\/p>\n

Midge, like my mother and me, learns painfully that you can follow \u201cthe rules,\u201d do everything right, and life can still fall apart.\u00a0 She jokes that now she\u2019ll get the worst cuts of meat at the butcher\u2014but she\u2019s not a victim left unmoored like so many women\u2014including my mother, who didn\u2019t know how to drive or write a check.<\/p>\n

Though she majored in Russian Literature, Midge is not primed for suffering. She\u2019s not hibernating under a blanket. She doesn\u2019t need therapy or Valium.<\/p>\n

The night Joel leaves, Midge gets drunk and wanders onstage at The Gaslight. Her resulting impromptu foray is uproarious. The woman who worked her own reception with acerbic wit, has finally reappeared, and it\u2019s clear she\u2019s experiencing the state of consciousness, we now call flow, where, as Scott Berry Kaufman writes<\/a>: \u201c\u2026the creator and the universe become one, outside distractions recede from consciousness and one\u2019s mind is fully open and attuned to the act of creating. There is very little self-awareness or critical self-judgment; just intrinsic joy for the task.\u201d<\/p>\n

In responding to disaster by telling her truth, Midge is reconnected with her creative genius. Though afterward she\u2019s loath to think of herself as a comic, and worried that it\u2019s not an appropriate pursuit, her onstage awakening is the catalyst for the show.<\/p>\n

The journey of self-discovery Midge undertakes is one familiar to me, and many women, one where the wrestling occurs within the familiar terrain of home and family, where responsibilities and belonging are not abandoned in pure pursuit of our dreams, but are absorbed into an expanding identity. And each of the eight episodes in the short season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel <\/em>examines the tension and increasing complexity in Miriam\u2019s life as Jew, wife (or not), mother, daughter, sister, friend, working-woman, and comedian.<\/p>\n

As created beings, we are called to create\u2014even if the call leads to something seemingly frivolous like standup comedy routines, or writing an essay about a T.V. show.<\/p>\n

Faithfully answering the call upon our lives can bring joy and fulfillment, but it\u2019s also bound to involve doubt (Am I being selfish? Will my family approve? What if I\u2019m no good?), disappointment when our skills don\u2019t match up to our imaginations, and discouragement when our efforts fail. And all that makes for interesting viewing.<\/p>\n

Is there room in Midge\u2019s life for all she desires? Will her identity one day encompass all her God-given gifts and talents and their expression in the world? As someone who has been writing for twenty years now, I hope the answer is yes.<\/p>\n

In the week leading up to the 2018 Emmy Awards on September 17, Good Letters profiles some of the major nominees. <\/em>The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel received 14 Emmy nominations<\/a> including: Outstanding Comedy Series, Oustanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Oustanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Writing and Directing in a Comedy Series.<\/em><\/p>\n

This post originally appeared at Good Letters on January 31, 2018 with the title \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel\u2019s Secret Identity.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cathy Warner serves as Good Letters literary editor. She leads writing workshops, renovates homes, and sells real estate in Western Puget Sound. Author of\u00a0Burnt Offerings,\u00a0<\/em>Cathy has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best American Essays. Her writing has appeared in dozens of print and online journals and several anthologies. Find her at\u00a0cathywarner.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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