Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate women in all their unadulterated glory! The beauty, the joy, the pain, and all things in between that come with being a woman–or any minority–in this world is something to be celebrated. What better way to do so than to develop a show highlighting the innate humanity and ugliness of imperfection within a flawed female protagonist?
For so long, TV shows used female characters as plot devices, motivation, or as a way of servicing the main male characters, which they often do without becoming fully fleshed-out characters. In recent years we’ve gotten many more female-led shows to enjoy and, while they are often hit or miss, every once in a while there are some true gems that illustrate the complexity and struggles of being both a woman and just another person in this world.
Fleabag is a show that I added to my list of Valentine’s TV recommendations which–for anyone who has seen the program–might sound a bit counter-intuitive. It’s not a very outwardly romantic show because it embraces the cringe and awkwardness that comes with the themes it wants to portray. While the protagonist’s real name is unknown, the audience knows her as Fleabag, which says a lot about her character. That’s exactly what makes it a great show for when you want to feel the true authenticity of life, whether that’s during the month of love or not.
The heart of the show is seeing Fleabag learn to navigate the lot she’s been given in life. We watch as she connects and disconnects with people in her life and continues to do self-destructive things, at times being her own worst enemy. One of the main people we see her build a stronger connection with is her sister. They go from a frayed relationship at the start and slowly learn to become close like they were before they had to experience the ugliness of life. They go from distant sisters to each other’s support systems.
Throughout the show, we are taken through Fleabag’s current day-to-day routines and learn how she got to where she is, which–at the start of the first season at least–is not very far. We then understand why she’s so stagnant in one place and how the trauma she’s been through has led to things like guilt and self-loathing in the present. The show’s goal is to feel real and, despite (or at times because of) the slight unrealism in its recurring use of breaking the fourth wall, it creates an intimate connection between the main character and the audience.