‘Good Girls Revolt’ is ‘Mad Men’ for Smart Women

If you want a history lesson combined with a scary reminder of how crappy things can still be for anyone who isn’t a straight white man, all wrapped up in the drug-, alcohol-, and sex-fueled setting of the late 1960s/early 1970s, then Good Girls Revolt is the show for you.

I saw a preview for Good Girls Revolt while catching up on another TV show, and that brief look into the Amazon original show had me intrigued. Needless to say, I was hooked before the end of the Pilot, and let me tell you, it was a whirlwind ten episodes for me. I gushed about this show basically every day while I was watching it, and as you can see, I’m still excited about it.

Now, there have been other reviews of Good Girls Revolt that compared it to Mad Men. Most of them are in the “it tries but it’s no Mad Men” camp…and I’m here to tell you that I don’t think Good Girls Revolt is trying to be Mad Men and therefore that’s not really a fair comparison at all.

While the men of Good Girls Revolt could be more than a little bit frustrating at times, more often than not they are relegated to the sidelines as the women’s characters are revealed, and it was good to see some of them grow and change throughout the show. While some of the minor female characters aren’t explored very much, there are levels upon levels to most of the main characters – and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Yes, the three main characters can be “categorized”, but who they are runs deeper than that. Patti may be the quintessential hippie, but that’s not everything about her – her respect for and treatment of Jane is one of the most revealing factors regarding how much more there is to her than smoking weed and having affairs. And yes, Jane clearly follows the true “good girl” stereotype – except for all of her quiet, yet important, acts of rebellion. And I can’t see how anyone would root for Cindy to fail, because of all the main characters, she is the one who is continually evolving in the most human ways possible.

We are living in troubled times right now, there’s no doubt about that, and while Good Girls Revolt speaks some hard truths that, I believe, make it a bit more difficult to watch with everything that’s been happening recently, it does this in so many beautiful ways. I laughed, I gasped, I even CRIED (and no, I don’t do that much while watching television shows).

The clothing is great, the hair is great, and above all, the setting and the plot were awesome at keeping my attention. On top of that, Good Girls Revolt is [loosely] based on a true story – that being the EEOC suit pressed upon Newsweek magazine by its female employees, who weren’t allowed to be reporters (you know, despite that being against the law since the Civil Rights Act of 1964). And to top it all off, there are women involved in practically every aspect of Good Girls Revolt – executive producer Darlene Hunt, many of the episode writers and directors, almost all of the costume department…I could go on and on.

It’s been a while since I finished watching a show and wanted to immediately re-watch it, but Good Girls Revolt is one of those shows, and I highly suggest checking it out!

Author: Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.

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