Father's Day & The Bold Type
Sunday is Father's Day, so it's time to celebrate the fathers, grandfathers and father-figures in our lives. A special shout-out to my dad. He's always encouraging me to take steps to challenge myself, such as starting this newsletter in the first place. He's funny, smart, creative, full of advice, and he has a great moral compass that I admire and try to emulate. When I first moved to DC, I was scared to leave home and behind on finding an apartment in a strange city. My dad made the trip with me during his summer break and stayed to make sure I was settled. A time in my life that could have been filled with stress and indecision is now a fun memory in my head, thanks to him. Thank you to the best softball coach, econ homework helper, DC travel buddy, and dad I could ask for! Now here's rundown of father-figures in pop culture.
The dad that brought all of us to tears week after week for the last two years is Milo Ventimiglia's Jack on This is Us. Jack Pearson's life revolves around his three children and he effortlessly turns into super dad at the drop of a hat. Even when he's struggling with alcohol or work, he's always fighting hard to remain a role model to his kids and making big romantic gestures to his wife. Fighting with him for the best dad award on the show is his grown-up son Randall, played by the amazing Sterling K. Brown. Randall's parenting style is filled with dad jokes, and he has a big heart and always looks to help those around him, along with his wife, Beth. This multi-generational drama is a beautiful story about parenthood.
While The Flash is filled with many goofy and melodramatic moments, it also features heartfelt scenes with some dads on the show, including Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) and Henry Allen (John Wesley Shipp). After being wrongfully accused of murder, Henry spent a large part of his son's childhood in jail. In Henry's absence, Joe West filled in as a father-figure in Barry's life. When Henry is finally released from prison, he and Joe both serve as role models, mentors and loving and supportive fathers to their superhero son.
Veronica Mars learned everything she knows about investigative work from her father, Keith, former sheriff and current P.I. After her mother left, Veronica and Keith leaned on each other to get through difficult times. Always supportive, tough and encouraging, Keith is Veronica's support system. These two stand by each other despite false accusations and protect each other when one of them gets into a dangerous scrape.
Adam Braverman, Crosby Braverman, Zeek Braverman and Joel Graham. Parenthood is filled with many wonderful father-son and father-daughter relationships. Adam is the sensible, albeit goofy dad. Crosby is the fun, sometimes irresponsible one. Joel knows the ins and outs of everything going on in his daughter's life. Zeek is the family's patriarch, providing gruff but loving advice to his four children.
The unofficial father-figure of pretty much every character on Boy Meets World is Mr. Feeny. Throughout the show's seven seasons Mr. Feeny dispenses advice to Cory, Topanga, Shawn, Eric, Jack, Angela, Rachel, Mr. Matthews, Mrs. Matthews, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Turner, the list goes on and on. His wisdom on all issues is unmatched and he's always a calm and rational voice in the face of the hysteria he sometimes encounters from others. It's a love letter to the role teachers play in their students' lives, and it's one of the many reasons Boy Meets World was always more than just a children's show.
As Seen on Screen
When I first started as a fellow in my first job post-graduation, I formed a friendship with a group of fellow fellows that kept me sane. We bonded over work, relationships, shared feminist/journalism interests and a common experience that united us. We miraculously ended up in the same place at the same time in our lives, and that's something that will always link us. I saw a friendship that echoed this on The Bold Type when it premiered on Freeform last summer. The first season only lasted 10 episodes, but it was jam-packed with plenty of drama and excitement. The show centers on three friends who write for the fictional Scarlet magazine. Storylines from the series come directly from former Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles, who also serves as executive producer. Not only does The Bold Type tackle the magazine world, but it also takes a stand to stress the importance of magazines like Scarlet, often critiquing those who dismiss women's magazines as frivolous. Like its magazine counterparts, Scarlet covers important issues, including politics, religion, health and shining a spotlight on the powerful women of today, in addition to providing sex-positive information for readers.
Meghann Fahy plays Sutton, an assistant who dreams of working in the fashion department of the magazine, Aisha Dee plays Kat, the social media director of the magazine, and Katie Stevens plays Jane, who is finally taking on writing projects for Scarlet. The three friends help each other through career, romantic and family struggles, often meeting for important conversations in the magazine's fashion closet. Sure, some of the show's magazine practices are just wrong. For example, the three friends have endless time to chat but still finish all their work, one person is in charge of the magazine's social media account and instead of scheduling tweets she often composes them on the spot and sends them out, the editor-in-chief is always on hand for meetings and to dispense advice to the lowest-tier workers, etc. But it's easy to look past these oversights, when the show does so much good in other places. The first season alone handled powerful stories about exploring sexuality, breast cancer, sexual assault, money and making difficult career decisions. At the center of it all is the fun and supportive friendship between Jane, Kat and Sutton. The second season premiered its first two episodes last night, with a new showrunner on board, due to creative differences with the network. Based on last night's sampling, the tone hasn't shifted much. We're in for more relationship drama, career struggles and confessionals in the fashion closet.
Haven't You Heard?
Last week, I went to a packed (because, DC) Wednesday evening showing of RBG and was completely blown away. The film, created by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival and has been a huge box office success after its mainstream opening last month. Like most people, I knew the basics about Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life. She's 85 years old, was the second woman to be named a Supreme Court Justice and has advocated for women's rights on the bench. But I left the theater with a much larger understanding about her story, her personal life and exactly how much of an icon she is. My mother is a lawyer and went to law school in the 80s, when her graduating class was just about 31 percent female. She's told me about sexist behavior from her classmates and awful stories about her first few years working at a law firm, before she left for a much better work environment. She often reminds me that women's rights have come a long way over just the last 50 years, something that is easy to take for granted when you were born in the 90s. My mother's stories are further re-enforced in RBG. The documentary takes you through Ruth Bader Ginsburg's journey, as she graduated law school with only a handful of other women and was then turned down at law firms in New York City because they didn't hire female lawyers. She co-founded the Women's Rights Project at ACLU and began to take on cases that helped give women equal rights. The film empowered her as a quiet and deliberate thinker. Oftentimes people are looked down upon those who are quiet and shy, so it was nice to see RBG drawing power from her mind in the movie. She's a shy person and will always be that way, and instead of critiquing that, people around her marvel at her calm and rational mind. When she speaks, it's important and well thought out and those closest to her -- whether its her loving husband or political adversaries -- admire her voice. The love story between Ruth and her husband, Martin, was beautiful and had me in tears for parts of the movie. It was also inspiring to see a powerful female figure with such a supportive partner, who was proud of his wife's successes and helped fight for her. It was also fun to learn more about Ruth's personal routine, including her exercise habits, love of opera and intense work schedule (her children question whether or not she knows how to turn on a TV). Towards the end of the documentary, RBG praises the importance of lawyers in our society to fight the good fight and promote justice for those in need. No matter what she's encountered throughout her life, RBG has kept fighting and she's inspired so many women to follow in her footsteps.
Required Reading
A lot of my literary taste comes from my mom, so I know when she recommends something to me it's going to be good. One of her most frequent suggestions is the newest column from the Chicago Tribune's Mary Schmich. Whether its her recent musings about the newspaper moving out of the famous Tribune Tower, her search for a guiding word at the beginning of every new year, Chicago weatherman Tom Skilling's reaction to last year's solar eclipse or the origins of her life as a journalist, you can count on her for a beautifully composed and often optimistic take on just about anything. She's been writing her column since 1992 and won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2012. If you're looking for something smart, cheery and moving, check out her writing each week.
Remember last week when I said Lin-Manuel Miranda's twitter account brightened my days? He's been dishing out plenty of wisdom this week, but among that, he also tweeted an amazing reference to my favorite movie, White Christmas. Thank you, Lin for this Tweet, which made me laugh out loud post-Tony Awards.
