The Screen Queen Presents: GLOW

by Dana Muwwakkil

Step into the ring with the Women from GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) – the 1980s spandex and big hair world that women like actor Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie) land in when quality acting roles are scarce.

Dreaming of landing a role that consists of more than telling powerful men that their wives are on line one, Ruth stumbles into GLOW and thinks this gig might be her big break.

The organization is brand new, headed by former B-list director and financed by a rich kid who wants to turn the women into stereotypes. Ruth is a natural front-runner who is passionate about her craft, but struggles to develop a compelling character and find her footing with the physical training.

The show is based on the real women from GLOW, which became the very first television show with all female pro wrestlers in 1986. Netflix also has a documentary showing the real trailblazers some of the characters are loosely based on. These women were incredible enough to take a male-dominated sport and turn it on its ear.

This Netflix debut series consists of 10, 35-minute episodes making GLOW a cinch to consume during a weekend binge or even in a day. GLOW may go down easy but these ladies don’t. These women are total bad asses in the ring and some are just as over-the-top in their real lives, but the story is still grounded in their real world personas, filled with friendship, heartache and ambition.

To describe GLOW in wrestling terms: It’s a bonafide stunner.

Screen Queen Dana Muwwakkil tackles social trends and movies in her blog and for other publications. She, her husband and their three children live in Ulster County. This review originally appeared in originally appeared in the Jan/ 2018 Issue.

Comments

Movers & Shakers: Laura Bagnarol and the Pigskin Princess Project

In mid 2014, Laura Bagnarol, a social worker from Dutchess County who worked with survivors of child sex abuse and domestic violence, began looking for a summer program for her daughter. “There weren’t a lot of choices and everything was hyper-feminine. There was only cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, soccer and T-Ball,” she says. “Then I was like, why don’t we take the most masculine sport, flip it on its head and introduce it to girls?” By summer, the Pigskin Princess Project – a football empowerment program for girls who would rather be on the field than on the sideline – began with a group of 10 5- to 7-yr-olds. By spring 2018, there were 50 girls between the ages of 3 and 10 registered. The Pigskin Princess Project gets young girls up and moving – even those who may not be that big into sports at all – by teaching them the basics of football through fun drills, challenging agility exercises and scrimmaging. It also highlights community involvement project...

The Screen Queen Presents: Love Beats Rhymes

by Dana Muwwakkil Meet Coco (rapper Azaelia Banks), the self-assured wordsmith looking to get a record deal for her music group. A natural leader, she is the only female rapper in her group and her ability to string together words effortlessly is important to her because music – particularly rap – is her life. While Coco considers herself a bit of a master of her craft, her social life is at a standstill as she is hung up on Mahlik, a young man in her group who doesn’t seem to be interested in anything more than their casual hook ups. Coco is hustling to get a demo together for a potential agent and waiting tables at her mom’s cafe, but her mother hounds her to finish school. Coco concedes to her mother’s wishes and signs up for classes at her local community college. Only a few credits shy of getting her degree, she decides to take what she assumes will be an easy course called Poetry 101. Immediately Coco and Professor Dixon (Jill Scott) butt heads ove...

Handling Rude Service Professionals

by Tri-County Woman Magazine Staff Most people have probably come in contact with a less-than-friendly cashier, waitress or salesclerk at one time or another, but is it expecting too much not to be made to feel like a bother? “For service professionals, rude behavior could be ignoring you, not giving you any eye contact, talking to someone else while helping you or what have you,” says Lydia Ramsey, business etiquette expert and author of Manners That Sell: Adding the Polish that Builds Profits . “It doesn’t matter if that person had a rough night’s sleep or fought with their boyfriend. It should never affect the level of service you receive.” So even if your server just got evicted from his home, just had difficulty with the customers in front of you and has a toothache, you should not be treated as if those difficulties are your fault. And suffer in silence you shouldn’t, either. There are plenty of things you can do to keep the ugly behavior to a minimu...

The TCW Archives

Search This Blog