Not So Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Our discussion about preserving a certain image in the life of the suburban family is comparable to a TV show I’ve been watching, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, except for the fact that it’s set in New York City.  The show is about a young Jewish family, Joel and Miriam Maisel, who live a seemingly luxurious life on the Upper-West Side of town in the late 1950’s.  After Joel leaves his wife for his secretary, Miriam moves back in with her parents, who are also very wealthy and live in the same building. While in the elevator one day, Miriam and her mother run into a neighbor from the building, who is curious as to why Miriam is not in her old apartment anymore. Her mother immediately comes up with a lie about how Joel got a big promotion at work and is traveling all the time and they’re redecorating their apartment so they had to move in with them while all this is happening.

Miriam’s mother tries to maintain a perfect image to everyone on the outside, when in reality the family is broken. I think this is interesting because during that time in the city, people were more familiar with their neighbors (whenever there is a fight in the show, Miriam’s father is always saying “shh we have neighbors!”) and concerned about their opinions.  Nowadays, I have a feeling that people don’t even know their neighbors in cities anymore and therefore are not as concerned with what they think or how they present themselves.  This may be connected to the fact that there is a growing lack of ownership in cities- not very many people own homes in cities. Whereas most people in the suburbs are homeowners.  Maybe people feel as if they should protect what is actually theirs by creating this front.

The seemingly perfect family.

Miriam, after she has just found out that her husband is leaving her for another woman.