The World is On Fire

Escape.

There’s never been a more “must escape” period in our history, if you ask me.

Marathon TV watching, a/k/a “binge watching” is considered by some to be a sloth-like, n’er-do’well’s activity.

Fine. Call it what you will.

In honor of the last day of Women’s History Month, here are five shows currently available on various platforms, all of which offer the following:

1) An extraordinary woman pulling off something extraordinary;

2) A historical perspective, albeit often only a couple decades old, that reassures all women that strength, resilience, humor and success hold no time lines; and

3) They are true.

Suggestion: Get your snacks ready. Some are hard to stop watching.

Dying for Sex, starring Michelle Williams, streaming on Hulu

This may be the most magnificent work I’ve seen in the last five years. It is a true story of a young woman diagnosed with terminal cancer. She decides to have great sex with as many partners as possible. She died shortly after finishing the final chapter of a memoir she wrote of the experience. The book is great. Michelle Williams and her extraordinary talent and screen presence may be an instance of a screen version surpassing the book’s quality. She is riveting.

The Comeback, starring Lisa Kudrow, streaming on HBO Max.

No one can do self-deprecation and aging Hollywood-style better than Lisa Kurdrow. The Comeback, in its third season, highlights a 60-something actress who’s worked among the often vicious Hollywood scene for decades and finds herself groveling for the smallest parts possible, even as she video documents her “comeback.” Those who know and/or love L.A. will especially enjoy her digs at people and lifestyle that is abhorrent anywhere else.

Joan, starring Sophie Turner, streaming on BritBox

Joan Hannington, a down-on-her-luck single mother has all the systems against her. So she turns herself into an international jewelry thief – and makes a hell of a lot of money doing it. She’s leggy, blond and crafty, but she’s three times the brain power of the cops, the shops, and the customers and, for decades, makes a killing. She pays for it, of course, but the tale is tantalizing.

Mrs. Briggs, streaming on BritBox

When a headmaster’s daughter elopes with a fugitive, no one could have predicated the decades-long heists, identity switcheroos and thievery Mrs. Briggs helped mastermind with her cagey husband, Ronnie. What Ronnie started, she wildly improved upon, and they and their three kids moved across continents, lost a child in the process (not their fault) and still ended up in love post-jail-time. Oh, and she got a literature degree in the process (during her single mother time).

Until I Kill You, starring Delia Balmer

Never a truer feminist existed. An adventurer and R.N., Delia Balmer leaves her Texas roots and lands in the U.K. She meets a man, he moves in with her and he’s a certified sociopath who rapes, beats and gets away – for decades – with his crime, despite clear evidence and Delia’s determination to work the system, despite the system’s ability to render justice. She wins. It takes decades. It changes law. That’s all you need to know.

Things I Find Cool

It took her four years, but Gisèle Pelicot took her horrific gang rape to an open court to shift her shame to the criminals.

Try to be Nice

A friend told me how much she hated her unheated bathroom, but that was her lot.

She came home and was surprised to find that her husband shopped for and installed a heated toilet seat while she was out.

Now she says she hates leaving her unheated bathroom.

I suspect she hates every unkind thing she ever said to him. 😊