Lately I have been drawn to Netflix series that are relatively less known in this part of the world, series about women who happily stray beyond the societal norms and question authority, series that don’t feature technological marvels and superheroes, but an ordinary teacher at an ordinary school in Denmark or a flamboyant detective in 1920s Melbourne.
The plots don’t vary much and follow a pattern with predictable flaws and some self-sabotage thrown in. But I was tired of watching female characters wearing baggy trousers and mustard sweaters, making coffee in a dozen different ways in enamel mugs, and curling up with a book and a knitted blanket in a minimilastic, disinfectant-level clean home, because I am one of them. And the loud, brash or cold characters of daily sitcoms weren’t exactly a delight to watch. Then, I discovered these everyday rebels.
Wearing outrageous bling and French perfume or the same plaid shirts everyday but walking with a self-assurance that I crave. Who is okay with standing upto authority even when it comes with unpleasant consequences, who pursues causes worth living and working for…however trivial and doesn’t give up, who nurtures relationships beyond family, who aren’t apologetic about sexual desire (yet often self-sabotage a relationship by acting on an impulse), who aren’t tied down by societal norms and yet are fully aware of their real obligations, who are confidence personified, and who have a wicked wit. But, most importantly, no matter what convoluted emotional mess, self-created or circumstantial, they get into, they survive. ‘Like weeds’, as one character puts it.
Miss Fisher, Rita… The delightful everyday rebels
(photo courtesy: Google image search)
Dialect of Heart 