Why? She was incredibly nervous before her set at the Apollo. She’d gone up to Moms Mabley after her set to meet and praise her. Mabley’s manager broke in and dragged Midge because, ya see, Moms should have been the comic directly opening for Shy in Harlem at the Apollo – not some white girl.
Midge feels horrible AND scared. How is she going to win over the audience. Reggie, Shy’s manager, suggests Midge talk about Shy and the upcoming tour.She does but in true Midge over-the-top, foot-in-mouth tradition, she goes too far, focusing on his love of extravagant fashions and fabrics. She even mentions Judy Garland’s shoes. *cough* Friend of Dorothy *cough* Inadvertently? Thinking only of how beautiful and sparkly they were? DOH!
Her act is well received. By the end of the show there doesn’t seem to be any blowback – no tabloids of gossip columns rumormongering about how Shy Baldwin is not just Black, he’s a *gasp* homosexual! I expect the fallout may be coming in season four unless, now that Midge has been ditched, Baldwin’s story arc is over. We'll see.
This ep was set in 1960. The Stonewall riots were nine years down the road. In 1960, homosexuality was still listed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. Baldwin’s career as a crooner would be over if the papers found out and blew up his personal life (and they would).
Here in real life last week, Prez Pedo and the evil Heritage Foundation machine behind him, had the Pride flag removed from the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village. The flag has since been re-raised. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed making the Pride flag a congressionally authorized symbol (meaning such flags would be safe from removal countrywide).
"Rights that are not secured in law can be threatened and symbols that are not protected can be stripped away. The flag that lies here is not decoration," Schumer said.House Rep. Dan Goldman will sponsor it in the House.
In other Maisel character doings – I’m falling farther and farther out of love with Midge’s mother, Rose. When she left her family and went off to Paris to have her own life, unencumbered by bourgeois trappings and rigid mores, I thought, “YEA Rose! Such brave growth. What a hero.” When she rejected her misogynistic, hidebound male relatives and her trust fund (controlled by them), I cheered her bravery. THEN I watched as she callously condescendingly, snootily even criticized Midge’s comedic aspirations and performances. In last night’s show, she actually juxtaposed Midge’s stand up comedy routines to prostitution!
That, mes ami, went over the fucking line. Ya see, my own mother did that to me. In fact, she accused me of being a hooker in front of company in our house. Why? It came out that I was an art major (which she should have known. I mean, I made no secret of the fact that I changed my major from music to art) and that I took life drawing classes. These are figure drawing classes where the student draws from a live, usually nude, human model in order to study anatomy, proportion, and form. In fact, I modeled for a lot of classes myself. Why? I needed the money for books, art supplies, food and clothes. Plus, I was socking away dough so I could get out of town as soon as I graduated.
In case anyone is at all unaware, there’s a HUGE difference between the sort of nude modeling that’s done in art schools and the kind that’s done in bordellos or by a certain, current First “Lady.” Modelling for art classes does not involve sex. Mostly it's about numb limbs from sitting in one position for hours on end. Also, boredom.
So, Rose is dead to me now. Mother wounds – do those fuckers ever heal?
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