Totally Morgan: Lucille Ball. Mehhhhhhh.

Many of the show’s plot foils are stressful because of Ricky’s chauvinism—I remember screaming at the television when I was twelve, whenever he would squash her or trick her — and the societal context in which the show came to be developed means many people at the time probably never saw his dominance for what it was. But, thankfully, Lucille Ball managed to bring humor to the cult of domesticity, a humor that transcends decades. (This is an understatement.) Most of the plots were driven forward by her desire and attempts to evade the background.
I think it’s often said that complicated, dark, serious stuff is best served when it’s coated with sugar, and while I’m not implying that it’s satire, it has these moments where it frames and makes fun of human nature. It’s completely remarkable that this show happened, that it could be so inspired and devastating and that the non-sexist humor holds up over time.
Sorry, yo, but I’m pretty sure, it’s all because of Lucy. Happy Birthday!

poupak:

I can see Morgan’s point and he definitely has one… But I agree with Caitlin there. Also, don’t forget that in the 50s, the US entertainment business had an agenda: returning women back home so that men could go back to work, after WWII during which women basically were the workforce of the country. So, she might not have had much choice in the story lines of the show, but she was the producer, she imposed her husband Desi, a man but a latino man with an accent, on the show, and she made it a huge success, opening many doors for many generations of funny women (and diverse individuals) to come. Sometimes, you gotta pick your battles, even in feminism.

caitlintime:

totallymorgan:

After you read this, you might be asking, and rightly so, why I took the time out of my day to type a passage verbatim from a fairly esoteric book no one I know has read. Well, I was bored, and also today is/would be Lucille Ball’s 100th birthday. I understand that the following passage is fairly…

But don’t forget the phrase “fake it till you make it.” She may have faked it, but we made it. She walked the first step.