Woman at WAR
A new US drama starring Cate Blanchett follows the feisty females who fought for (and against) women’s rights in the 70s
She’s the double Oscarwinner whose last TV drama was 25 years ago. So it’s not stretching the point to describe Cate Blanchett’s starring role in new fact-based BBC2 drama Mrs
America as must-see TV.
In the nine-part series Cate plays controversial US political activist Phyllis Schlafly, and the cast also includes Rose Byrne, Tracey Ullman and John Slattery.
Schlafly caused a furore in the early 1970s when she campaigned against a law to give women equal rights in matters such as divorce, property and employment. ‘It’s easy to see her as a crackpot, but she really changed the US political landscape,’ says Cate, whose last TV role was in 1995 drama Bordertown. ‘I was intrigued by Mrs Schlafly and wanted to play her.’
Schlafly’s opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) put her at loggerheads with the US feminist movement, spearheaded by Betty Friedan (Tracey Ullman) and Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne). ‘The ERA looked certain to become part of the constitution,’ says Cate, who won Oscars for The Aviator in 2005 and Blue Jasmine in 2014. ‘It sailed through the Senate and the assumption was it would be ratified by enough US states to become law. But Mrs Schlafly fought hard against it, in part at least as a means of opening the door for herself into the political world of Washington.’
Schlafly was keen to enter Congress and in an early scene we see her preparing for a meeting with fellow Republicans in Washington. But as Mrs America creator Dahvi Waller explains, ‘The trip did not go well, it left her disillusioned.’ She’s the only woman there and after suffering the unwelcome attentions of a male politician, she’s asked to take notes on what’s being said rather than participate in the meeting.
She tells her lawyer husband Fred (John Slattery), ‘Washington is broken and it’s a waste of time trying to fix it. I can shake it up through the grassroots.’ Which is what she does, immediately launching a vigorous campaign to stop the ERA.
‘Schlafly argued that the amendment would take away certain state benefits for women and remove their exemption from the military draft,’ says Waller. ‘The odds were against her.’