"Grace and Frankie!" : A Review

Major procrastination lead me to recently getting addicted to a show called "Grace and Frankie". While thinking about what to write for this odyssey article, all I wanted to do was talk about Grace and Frankie.

A show revolving around the lives of two white, heterosexual women, “Grace and Frankie is an American comedy-drama web television series created by Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris for Netflix. The series stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the title roles of Grace and Frankie, two unlikely friends who are brought together after their husbands announce that they are in love and plan to get married.

As I got a glimpse into the world of white liberals, I was surprised at the conversation around ageism, and the subtle defining of a kind of womanhood.

Grace and Frankie often refers to systemic injustices. Their age, along with their gender, render them in a position in society that marginalizes them and hinders their growth. While the show is extremely enjoyable to watch with examples of battling society by living to the fullest, I can’t help but get stuck on the lack of acknowledgment of minority lives and privilege.

While the plot makes you question life and what society has come to (not in a good way), the subtle sense of humor and direction makes me keep watching the show.

As a minority, I often struggle with finding shows that are not only relatable but make me feel represented and my identity acknowledged. With the strong global presence of western media, the whitening of Hollywood and the television industry is felt and ingrained in, well, at least my life and I imagine numerous other women of color. While I continue struggling to find awesome PIC shows, Grace and Frankie is moderately recommended.