‘Mrs. America’ Trailer: Cate Blanchett Fights The Women’s Liberation Movement
Cate Blanchettis gunning for next year’s Emmy and Golden Globe ceremonies with her role as conservative ’70s activist Phyllis Schlafly inMrs. America. She leads a murderer’s row of character actresses in the FX series about the battle to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and the unexpected backlash led by notorious anti-feminist Schlafly. Watch theMrs. Americatrailer below.
Mrs. America Trailer
Before “owning the libs” became a thing, there was Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative activist who fiercely fought against the Women’s Liberation Movement and their attempts ratify the ERA, an amendment that would have guaranteed women legal equality to men. ButDahvi Waller’s limited series looks to be more than a “both sides” argument, with the show taking Schlafly to task for her hypocritical advocacy for women to embrace being mothers and housewives while also running for Congress and leaving her own children with a full-time nanny — all the while jabbing back at her critics by labeling her career a “hobby.” But the extreme views of the Women’s Liberation Movement are also highlighted, articulated byRose ByrneasGloria Steinem, who just as fiercely opposes Schlafly and her entire movement.
The series also starsMargo MartindaleasBella Abzug,Tracey UllmannasBetty Friedan, andUzo AdubaasShirley Chisholm. The one original character in this collection of images isSarah PaulsonasAlice, a composite character who will act as the audience surrogate to the events unfolding around the battle to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed. Additional cast includesJames Marsdenas Republican congressmanPhilip Crane,John SlatteryplaysFred Schlafly, andElizabeth BanksisJill Ruckelshaus, a White House assistant, women’s rights activist, and wife of the former head of the EPA, William Ruckelshaus.
Here is the synopsis forMrs. America:
Mrs. America recounts the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and the unexpected backlash led by Phyllis Schlafly, aka “the sweetheart of the silent majority.” Through the eyes of the women of the era, the FX series explores how one of the toughest battlegrounds in the culture wars of the 70s helped give rise to the Moral Majority and forever shifted the political landscape.
