Entry 11.0 - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
What is Greatness ?
What is the price you need to pay to for it?
What does it take?
Is it reserved for some selected few once in a generation individuals?
Or is it as common as
common sense?
We all live in an unbreakable routine. (Well not all, some of you are lucky ;p)
The 9 am to 7 pm jobs, a bit of family time via the small talk at the dinner table followed by the TV shows of another realm (the reality shows).
That’s how every year goes by. In between all of it, once in a while we all feel revolted, inspired to do something that makes us feel like breaking our routine and doing something else with our lives entirely. Something which we want to be good at, something which we love.
Well today, in a single day, two moments and two people made me feel that.
This story is about one of
them.
The one known as…
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
“There’s a total silence on the stage of a washed down downtown bar called “The Gaslight” where everyone’s waiting for the next performer to arrive…
And then, comes swiftly running to the scene , a 30 year old white jewish broad who’s drunk out of her wits.
And somehow, she manages to do a whole 15 minute set (Stand up comedy) where she describes the story of life while achieving the feat of flashing the audience literally. It ended up with her being in jail.
Now, the show is set in the 1950’s..
Ancient, strange and difficult were those times, where people were locked up daily for using foul and derogatory language which not necessarily might be foul but was sure as hell a lot about the political and religious environment of that time.
Welcome to the world of Miriam Maisel, a recently estranged jewish housewife who recently tasted the blood of how it feels to hold a mic (Drunk and otherwise) and entertain strangers and their souls.
Where life had just given her a 360 degree twirl, she decided and went out to have a couple of more.
A lot, and I mean a lot of people approached this show as a feminist one. A girl comic (A Comidiene) saying all kinds of gory stuff in the 1950’s..can you imagine..a working girl in the 50’s whose job is not being a secretary or a makeup counter rep…but a COMIC..
I stumbled upon it through my old recommendation list..A friend recommended it about half a decade back. Somehow I just managed to caught up to it now.
Of course, I didn’t watch it for the sake of it being a show about feminism. The show has nothing to do about with feminism and more about observational common sense..
This story has a weird bunch of characters.
It’s about an ex-husband who cheated on his wife but somehow became her best friend, supporter and moral pillar after the event till her and his dying day.
Its about a mother who realised seeing her daughter being independent, that she too could be “independent” (Remember, it the 50’s).
Its about a tight assed traditional father, a professor at Columbis, who in the wildest moments of his life realizes how much potential his daughter had and what more she could have accomplished if only he taught her “How to dream…”
Its about a club supervisor with
an eye for genuine talent, who could place all her bets for years on a women
she discovered at a third rate place, who like her counterpart became a giant
of the profession (Talent Manager) which was always known as “The gentleman’s
club”.
Its also about, A Man, who
himself was called once in a generation performer (Comic would be too small a
word for him), who in all his existential angst observed a girl. A girl who was
funny…and made sure to make her remember what she is capable of and what world
stage she deserves. In his own words,
“My head turned a long time ago towards you, that’s why I keep pulling to the right..”
(He is, He is by far one of my most favourite characters of all time. He has brilliant scenes, accent, comic timing and expressive little eyes)
Now, about the woman herself. Miriam Maisel, who on the worst days of her life came out stronger and tougher and managed to always come out on the top..
A single mother of 2 kids who allowed herself to dream. To make sure that she thinks for herself, makes decision out of her own awareness and gut rather than do what the society tells her to do!!
To be courageous enough to become a lady comic in 50’s..a time when women comics were compared with prostitutes (Not that it’s a bad or evil profession).
The magic she wove through her
words and the charm she possessed, made a hundred men and women sit in a strip
club and hear her talk about place of men and women in society. Even make some
people cry. (It’s a great set)
You see, the show’s not about feminism,
nor is it targeting that. Still, somehow through its subtle observations never fails
to highlight the issues of that era. Such is the brilliance of Amy and Daniel
Palladino. The sheer brilliance of the world they created, produced and
directed. They never shy away from the debate of a role of man and women in
society or a household. They even went out to talk about workplace environment
for women in a corporate office and a strip club.
It would have been so easy to paint the show as for social issues and drown in it. But, I think, they knew their endgame. They anchored this ship and never took away a single minute from the actual heroes, their “Characters”. They took the trickiest and rarest of the topics, turned it into a brilliant script and casted the finest actors (The whole cast and the way they have grown season by season is out of the world).
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(This is me running completely off script)
So, what does a comic/ stand up do?
Is it only some commentary of foul words mixed with controversial statements and targeted laughs for the audience, to milk away their 10 minutes of fame?
Nah, I think they do a lot more.
They are the observers and relators of the human condition. They try and see everything around them and within them and turn the daily events of their life into a funny commentary, dishing out their dirty laundry to get good laughs and get paid.
The Bigger the audience,
The Louder the Laughs,
The more the thrill, the more the achievement..
(Coming back from my the epiphany)
Spread out over 5 seasons, all
of it is planted carefully with a mix of fantasy and reality of life..
That’s another example of its brilliance. The balance of it all.
The show is fiction. It takes it liberty to wander a bit left to the fantasy world, but also makes it a point to steer carefully to the right and present it’s own reality.
It’s a brilliantly written,
acted and produced show which conceptualizes and glorifies ambition, helps the
characters achieve it and never forgets to show the reality of, on the stage
and off the stage situations.
Now, coming back to the original questions,
What is greatness?
What is the price of it?
What does it take?
Is it all about the gift you possess, or
Is it about the dreams and ambition one has..
Is it about the people and environment around you, or
It is about the gut calls and well thought decisions..
It is about being competitive, or
Is it about being a cut throat
bitch
If these are the only factors to the magic salt, how come most of us have not attained GREATNESS.
What is it that makes greatness accessible to all but attainable to a few…
Is it just all a big sham and nothing more than offering yourself a chance to fulfill your dreams and attain greatness in whatever we do . Something, we call a simple case of endurance and consistency.
So how do you achieve it,
What’s the price of attaining greatness?
I think, it takes everything. Your everything. All the things mentioned above, with one factor that we sometimes don’t give enough attention.
“It takes a VILLAGE. A village of people around us, our close ones. Not necessary that they are all on our sides at all times, but somehow the weirdest bunch of people make the best companions in this journey which always lasts a lifetime (Something which happened in Miriam’s case too).
So let’s not forget, the “VILLAGE” part of it.
I hope you watch the show and
get inspired too. In words of the great Lenny Bruce,
“A spotlight waits for you at the center stage. All you have to do is step up and claim it..
Once you do it, everyone will know who you are..
They will know you for your wit, intellect, your smile, your great expressive eyes..
They will fall helpless to your charms..
They will fall at your feet and worship you at the altar..”
So if one fine day, you decide
to watch this show, remember this – Tits Up..
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Link for the Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOmwkTrW4OQ
Link for the Men, Women and God Speech - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYqbS1BiJms
Just Lenny being Lenny links –
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