A Millennial Perspective on Mary Tyler Moore's Unique Brand of Feminism

How upsetting it was to lose Mary last week a feminist icon gone only days after the Womenamp8217s March and weeks after the devastating deaths of outspoken actress and writer Carrie Fisher and Fisheramp8217s celebrated movie star mom Debbie Reynolds amp160All these great ladies gone in a one two three punchamp160 Iamp8217m close to seeking grief counsellingIn The Mary Tyler Moore Show Mooreamp8217s character Mary Richards faced challenges with pluck spunk and common sense She had a signature style that seems both oftheera but also especially original amp160Maryamp8217s iconic hat toss in the opening credits became a trademark of independent womanhood rivaled only in my personal opinion by the eye roll employed in later seasons when Mary inspects the price of supermarket meatDuring the showamp8217s development Richards was pitched as a recent divorcee amp160For a variety of reasons CBS executives were convinced that such a character would not sit well with audiences so she was rewritten as a single woman coming off a longterm relationshipDespite embracing single womanhood and facing issues such as equal pay premarital sex birth control and homosexuality some womenamp8217s rights advocates have argued that Mary Richards didnamp8217t go quite far enough amp160For example Richards is the only one in the WJMTV newsroom who calls her boss amp8220Mr Grantamp8221 rather than amp8220Louamp8221 as Gloria Steinem pointed out to show cocreator James L BrooksThe classic theme song even has an underpinning of selfdoubt closing with the line amp8220you might just make it after allamp8221 amp160One could also make mention of the incredulity intimated by amp8220after allamp8221In many ways Mary Richards was the feminist that the early Seventies allowed while Mary Tyler Moore pictured at top with costar Valerie Harper was a feminist ahead of her timeWhile playing housewife Laura Petrie on the set of The Dick Van Dyke Show Moore objected to wearing formal clothes because as she told TV Guide in 2004 amp8220Women donamp8217t wear fullskirted dresses to vacuum inamp8221The show that would bear her name was unusual in that it employed a staff of female writers who could authentically speak to the issues faced by thirtysomething women of the Seventies amp160As The Mary Tyler Moore Show writer Susan Silver wrote for Refinery29 amp160amp8220Mary Tyler Moore came up at the right time of our lives and her innate goodness and likability allowed us to write some very funny scripts amp8230 As an executive producer she saw to it that many women got a chance in many different departments at the showamp8221I think Mary Tyler Mooreamp8217s personal brand of feminism is best conveyed in her Academy Awardnominated role as Beth Jarett in the 1980 film Ordinary People amp160If you have not seen Ordinary People just stop reading this and go watch it right now amp160It is a movie that grapples with the complexities of human emotion and suffering after a death in the Jarett family rattles Beth her husband Calvin Donald Sutherland and her son Conrad Timothy HuttonBeth Jarrett is a far cry from Laura Petrie and Mary Richards she is cool unloving disturbed and deeply flawed amp160She does not exactly turn the world on with her smile amp160The fact that Moore would be willing to take on such a role that would so alter audiencesamp8217 perceptions of her and her craft is a mark of bravery that ought to be celebratedAt 45 years old Mary Tyler Moore reinvented herself not because of or in spite of the fact that she was a woman but because she embodied the type of amp8220nasty womanamp8221 courageousness that is very en vogue of lateMoore downplayed her decision to take the role telling Entertainment Weekly how could she have said no to Ordinary People director Robert Redford amp160Ever the reluctant feminist Moore attributed her decision more to Redfordamp8217s charm than her own resolve though actually how could anyone say no to Robert RedfordMoore lost the Academy Award that year to Sissy Spacek who won for her performance in Coal Mineramp8217s Daughteramp160 Spacek is indeed very good as country star Loretta Lynn but let Mooreamp8217s loss be remembered as one of the greatest showbusiness tragedies of the early Eighties amp160For all thatamp8217s been said of late about Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards do not forget Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett which demonstrates the scope and genius of her workMoore was a subtle feminist who gently pushed the envelope maybe not on behalf of women everywhere but on behalf of herself and we are the better for it amp160She was ahead of her time in that she seemingly acted without an agenda but rather with practicality and good senseamp160 Laura Petrie did not put the vacuum in the closet but she drastically changed her attireAs the late great Nora Ephron wrote when The Mary Tyler Moore Show concluded its run in 1977 amp160amp8220Okay Mary amp160I39ll keep it short and sweet Thanks amp160You made it possible for millions of Americans to stay home on Saturday night and not feel they were missing anything amp160For that alone I love youamp8221Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160

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A Millennial Perspective on Mary Tyler Moore's Unique Brand of Feminism

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Charlotte Lipman

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A Millennial Perspective on Mary Tyler Moore's Unique Brand of Feminism

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