Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

While in New York City last week, I posted on social media about the world feeling heavy right now, about the Mrs. Maisel pop-up exhibit at the Paley Center for Media reminding me how refreshing it is to laugh. In response to this, I had a friend ask me if everything was OK, as if perhaps I had hinted at some sort of life meltdown or tragedy by posting such a thing. But I'd been referring to the world in general as being heavy. Headlines, almost all of them, seem too much to bear on most days. And it can't be ignored. So what are any of us to do to feel happy?

While pondering this question I thought about, well, Disneyland, but I also thought about television, about how TV shows can serve as an escape for 30 or 60 minute intervals. And yet let's consider many of today's popular shows. I'm currently in season 6 of Game of Thrones. A great show, and I'm invested, but it's so violent, and so intense. Or how about Killing Eve? Also a good show, a great one, but equally intense, and downright disturbing. And speaking of disturbing, there's Handmaid's Tale. So, see, even the shows we turn to for an escape provide situations and circumstances that are just as heavy. 

That's why The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is so treasured. It's light, it's funny, and it reminds us of a simpler time. And what I find so enjoyable is that it's not as if there aren't crappy things happening, because there are. But it's the way the show and the characters carry on, navigating uncharted waters and doing their best to go after what they want. The Paley Center's exhibit is worth a look if you find yourself in Manhattan in the next few weeks. It will make you smile, laugh, and stay in the center's auditorium watching episodes on the big screen much longer than you'd planned. Tits up, everyone. There's always something to smile about.