The series of the week: The First Lady | The lives of three first ladies under the magnifying glass

The First Lady, a series presented on Crave, immerses us in the lives of three American first ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama. Three different eras, three women who lived in the White House and who each marked history in their own way. The First Ladyit’s also the pleasure of reuniting with three very talented actresses, namely Gillian Anderson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Viola Davis.

Olivia Levy
The Press

The White House differently

This is director Susanne Bier (The Undoing, The Night Manager) who signs the 10 episodes of the series which alternates between archival documents and flashbacks where we find these women in their youth and, ultimately, in their life as first lady. We discover how influential, feminist and progressive they have been. From the beginning of the series, we have the feeling of being a privileged witness of their life and this is what captivates us until the end.

“You enter the White House through another door. It’s everything that can’t be seen and that goes on behind that is staged and it’s fascinating,” says Martine Delvaux, writer and professor in the literary studies department at UQAM. She points out that she learned a lot from watching the series.

The influence of the first ladies

We see that Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson) was a great pioneer, an activist who was to influence her husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in terms of human rights; in particular, she played a key role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She also holds press conferences, writes in a newspaper and has a radio column. It was she who, during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, spoke on national radio to speak to Americans. On a more intimate level, we also recall that Eleanor Roosevelt fell in love with the journalist Lorena Hickock with whom she had an affair. “She leads this double life at the White House, which is incredibly modern,” notes Martine Delvaux.

According to Valérie Beaudoin, associate researcher at the Observatory on the United States at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair at UQAM, even if the series lacks a bit of depth, the historical background is important. The director shows the influence of these three first ladies on the politics of the presidents. “These are three strong women who do not listen to the president’s advisers, because they want to advance important causes. Without them, American life would have been different and less progressive. They have their place in American history, because they were at the forefront, and we tend to forget that,” she says.

It was the story of Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) that fascinated her the most. “She did a lot for equality and women’s rights in a Republican administration in 1975. She spoke about abortion, but also the importance of mammograms after having breast cancer, she had nothing hidden from his state of health. She spoke openly about her problems with alcohol consumption and drug addiction, because she wanted real transparency in this post-Nixon era, ”analyzes Valérie Beaudoin.

The past, to understand the future

The First Lady also evokes the past of these three women, which allows us to better understand their motivations. “We understand why Michelle Obama got involved in the field of health. His father was ill, did not have good insurance and suffered as a result. She was also the victim of ordinary racism all her life, which forged her personality, ”says Valérie Beaudoin.

“Why do we become feminists? What is the role of feminism? The answer is there, in three different times, for different reasons, for world peace, for women’s rights, for refugee aid, for sexual freedom, whatever, there is always an importance to the fight feminist and the series shows it well. They have all been at the forefront and just for that, this series is inspiring,” says Martine Delvaux.

Reviews, good and bad

Critics have been harsh on the performance of actress Viola Davis, who plays Michelle Obama. ” It bothers. She put too much on, she didn’t have to do the same to look like Michelle Obama, it’s too caricatural, ”underlines Valérie Beaudoin. The First Lady remains a series to see, because it has many qualities.

“The aestheticism of Susanne Bier, the care of the sets and, above all, to see that these women are disturbing by their modernity. There is a community around these three first ladies, mutual aid, it is a model of solidarity between women. They challenge conventions and reinvent the world. »

The First Lady airs on Crave.