Netflix’s new series Glow will arrive the streaming service Tomorrow (June 23) and it’s already been called as one of the best Netflix original productions.
The half-hour dramedy is set in the 1980s, inspired by Glamorous Ladies of Wrestling, also known as G.L.O.W. This was a women’s wrestling program that ran from 1986 to 1990, composed by actresses that were hoping to make it in the show business, even if that meant pretending to be tough, mean pro-wrestlers.
Produced by Jenji Kohan, the series star Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin and Marc Maron. In the role of filmmaker Sam Sylvia, Maron casts a group of 14 women to teach them how to dominate the art of faking hits and punches, avoiding flying elbows and body slams, and developing a character for their in-ring performances and the big TV debut. On the meantime, the girls have to deal with personal issues, like the financial crisis failing as an actress brings.
Brie portrays Ruth, a stage-trained actress who didn’t do so good in Hollywood and now has only $83 to survive. She’s joined by Gilpin as her best friend Debbie, who just quit her awful role in a soap-opera. They see an exciting opportunity in the wrestling world with Sylvia, and quickly adopt their ring characters: Debbie becomes an all-American wrestler, with the likes of Hulk Hogan, while Ruth opts for a Soviet supervillainess.
A serious stand against sexism in the ‘80s
‘Glow’ does an amazing job celebrating the ‘80s elementary characteristics. Especially in a world like the wrestling one, where the haircuts, the costumes, and the tacky personalities were key.
However, from the beginning, the show addresses important issues around sex and race that were the norm in the ‘80s.
Creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch grew up in the ‘80s but missed the G.L.O.W. movement. After they found out about it, they were attracted to how empowering – and exploitative – wrestling can be.
“We try to lean into both because that tension is where a lot of the nuance of the show lies in terms of how exposed the women are, in leotards and half-naked, but also who’s watching them, and who they are wrestling for,” says Flahive.
Maron described the wrestling world as “an amazing theatrical spectacle that’s emotionally charged and completely unique.” He said, “How can you not love watching the big hair and the leotards and the women going at it yelling and screaming? It’s very powerful.”
Nevertheless, the series’ sharp humor plays the main role. Each character of the quirky, female cast was thoughtfully written and developed, and they all know how to deliver great comedy while they still have important things to say.
If you like ‘Orange Is The New Black’ – and honestly, who doesn’t? –, you can’t miss ‘Glow’ and its amusing stories.
Check out the series’ trailer below!