Glamorous Ladies of Wrestling. That's what GLOW actually stands for and it is not exactly a new idea. In 1986, a scripted all-female wrestling show, the first of it's kind, emerged, full of glitter and big hair. It's almost like the 80's cartoon JEM, but with real people and wrestling! For real. You can google it. At the time it's only real competition for ratings was the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) which sometimes featured women and dwarfs. Those were always highly rated shows, but it was never very pretty. I saw my fair share of WWF in high school, thanks to my male friends who just enjoyed the testosteroney melodrama and body slams. A dazzling all-female wrestling competition piqued the public's interest and became an international hit by 1989. Sadly, in 1990, it was cancelled suddenly at the height of its popularity. If you're interested in the real-life saga, catch the 2012 documentary, GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling on Netflix. I think it's important to note that this is based in actual reality, along with all the misogyny, sexism, racism and prejudice of the time (which may have been somewhat worse than it is now...?)
The fictionalized reinvention starts at the beginning of the show's development, following Ruth Wilder, an aspiring actress in Los Angeles played by Alison Brie. Marc Maron plays the director of the show, Sam Slyvia with every bit of his natural cynicism, (which I love.) Since GLOW is a character-driven show, both (semi) professionally and personally, we get to see the entire development of personas, costuming, plot-lines, good guys, bad guys, and real friendships that form and fall. Oh yeah and learning how to body-slam. Each wrestling persona is designed to be big, bright and a completely reductive representation of Cold War characters and other political/social stereotypes, some of which are begrudgingly accepted by the ladies. (This is pretty accurate after seeing the doc.) Added to the very real-feeling misogyny from the producers, and it feels like it could just be a big hot mess. The entire first season centers on the question of whether or not this idea is going to work and there's a lot on the line both for the wrestlers and the producers.
The first season certainly sets the tone and expectations for more seasons, although co-creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch have not said how many seasons are planned. Executive producer, Jenji Kohan, (Orange Is The New Black) has ensured that GLOW follows suit in it's storytelling style. It teeters delicately on the line between comedy and having something significant to say about gender, identity and politics. WARNING: if you don't like Orange Is The New Black, you probably won't love GLOW. If you don't love the 80's, you may not love GLOW. If you don't want to think about whether that crass joke was funny or insulting, you may not like GLOW. I think the tension is an achievement and allows the viewers to decide what they think. How empowering. Decide for yourself.
The real-life Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling