Why GLOW Should Be Your Next Binge
An ongoing theme of quarantine is the need to do one of two things. Either you should be as productive and creative as possible, or you should watch as much content as you can and catch up on everything you missed when you had a full-time job/school.
I’m flip-flopping back and forth between the two and not doing a great job of either. However! I do have a recommendation if you’re looking for something to binge during your endless downtime.
GLOW is the perfect quarantine binge in my opinion and here’s why:
1. It’s Low Commitment
There are currently three seasons of GLOW with the fourth and final season now in limbo because of the halt in production. Each season is only ten episodes though and they only range from about 30 to 40 minutes each.
Math time.
that’s roughly 15-20 hours of your time (I looked it up, it’s actually 17 hours and 30 minutes). In TV land that’s nothing! If you wanted to binge the first three seasons of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (which I also recommend) it would take you: 1 day, 8 hours, and 47 minutes.
Low commitment is a plus to me because thinking you have to get through 10+ season of a show can be a bit daunting and honestly who wants anything to be even kind of stressful right now. Thanks Corona :/
2. Characters (and their development)
This is the single most important component in a story. Sorry not sorry plot. If you don’t either love or hate a character there’s just no reason for you to be invested in a story. Characters are what draw you into a story or plot. One dimensional characters are boring and can kill an interesting plot in an instant.
When asked about his favorite part of the show, my boyfriend Ron said the character of Sebastian ‘Bash’ Howard. Played by Chris Lowell (of Veronica Mars fame) Bash is a lovable guy. Full of enthusiasm and naiveté, Bash is technically the catalyst for the whole show, without him there would be no Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling (GLOW).
However, he’s hardly the only character to rave about.
The show is helmed by the talented and beautiful Alison Brie (Community, Mad Men) as aspiring actor Ruth Wilder. Props go to Brie and the writers when it comes to Ruth because on paper an aspiring actor with endless optimism and a can-do attitude is a little played.
What makes the character of Ruth special though is Brie’s portrayal. Brie is very earnest in representing Ruth, she (and the writing) doesn’t act like Ruth is one in a million and the end-all-be-all of actors in their fictional world (looking at you, Emma Stone’s character in La La Land). Ruth is refreshingly average, her true defining trait is her determination to get things done and make the best of the opportunities she’s been given. Let’s put it this way: I thought I had a crush on Alison Brie but really I have a crush on Ruth Wilder.
On the topic of characters, it would be remiss to not mention the fact that this is a true ensemble show. Yes it is billed as starring Brie and Marc Maron, however I think that is very dismissive of the acting and writing for the other characters.
Not only are there a ton of main characters, the writers treat them that way. Each character is a fleshed out, three dimensional person. Take for example, Shelia. At the beginning of the series it looks like Shelia is going to be a joke character, there to be the ‘weird girl’. However, she’s the character I root for the most. She’s trying to find herself and that’s admirable to do while dressed as a wolf.
3. Dramedy is a stupid word but it’s a good genre
Listen, I know it sounds dumb and unnecessary but dramedies really are where it’s at and comedy-drama is annoying to type.
First things first, GLOW is not a bust-a-gut, rolling-on-the-floor comedy. It’s also not The Sopranos level of drama. GLOW is a smooth sail down the middle. It’ll make you LOL and then make you think and feel. It’s wacky but it has depth.
4. Diversity. Yes, even in the 80’s
It’s about lady wrestlers so of course there’s ladies but the show goes beyond just that in its portrayal and employment of women. GLOW was created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, two awesome female writers with impressive credits. Then there is the cast of wrestlers featuring 15 women of different ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, body types, and religions.
As someone who is more curvy than skinny, I was worried when I started watching the show that it would be all toothpick thin women with traditionally beautiful looks. Boy was I wrong. This show is so inclusive when it comes to body type and ‘beauty’. It feels like the show is portraying real women: the good, the bad, the fat, the skinny, black, white, you name it they portray it. It’s so god damn refreshing.
I wanted to end on this note because I think it’s so important. Diversity and inclusion on television is getting better and better as the years go by. However, that doesn’t mean we stop striving for even better and I honestly think GLOW is a step up from the average show in this department.
—
Overall, you’ll laugh, you’ll… probably not cry but maybe tear up at moments, and you’ll have killed 17 and half hours. What more can you ask for in quarantine?
