Just yesterday, after months of debating if I should get an Amazon Prime membership I learned that I already HAVE an Amazon Prime membership. Upon finding out that past Amelia was such a big spender, I decided to finally sit down and binge the entirety of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Let me tell those of you who haven’t seen it: This is a GREAT binge. I mean, 8 episodes, an hour-ish each, no recap at the beginning. You can really sit down and feel like you’re just watching an 8-hour movie. The show itself is perfection. Amy Sherman-Palladino, who wrote Gilmore Girls, delivers another fast-witted show without all the small town melodrama. MMM isn’t really like Gilmore Girls though. It has complicated, dynamic characters, who are capable of change (sorry Rory and Lorelei but you two will forever be fast talking, fast food eating, miscommunicating train-wrecks) and the best part is, it is so freaking Jewish!
This show is the living room equivalent to visiting Israel for the first time. Yes, I’m about to compare the Holy Land to an Amazon Prime show. You just feel connected to the people in this show, like family you’ve never met. It’s like being in Israel for the first time and realizing you won’t have to explain what Rosh Hashana is to anyone, or that you won’t have to struggle to find good Challah, or that you won’t have to drown in mall Santas, and you think, “wow, this is what it feels like to breathe, how refreshing.” That’s this show.
Midge is unabashedly Jewish and female, and that’s good not just for Jewish female viewers but for everyone who watches. For her to not have one of those overdone scenes where she gets on stage and gets embarrassed, is a win for every women who is slow to blush. Yes, Midge breaks down, but not in the stage-fright, small-girl-big-world way. She breaks down in a way that makes breakdowns enviable. Midge is vulnerable and emotional, but never self-pitying, and she never fails to turn her breakdowns into personal wins.
If for some reason stand up comedy performed by a hilarious Jewess isn’t enough of a sell, the Jewish family that comes with Midge will win you over. From the mothers kvetching to the fathers feigning control of the household, you will find some Maisel relative that resonates with your TC Jewish family.
Okay, I don’t want to give away too much or gush too much (too late), but this series is actually LOL funny. Once you watch it shoot me an email because I will happily just quote the entire series with you for a couple hours.
