Something that many of you may not know about me is that I love the “Who Was?” book series. If you don’t know about this series, let me briefly explain what it is. The “Who Was?” series is a collection of books for kids in grades 3-7 about influential people in the past and present. Although I didn’t read them as a kid, I appreciate them now as an adult because of their simple yet straightforward way of delivering information.
So, when I noticed that Netflix had released a series based on the books I was cautious at first. After seeing “The Magic School Bus Rides Again”, which I’ll review at some point, I was worried that the show wouldn’t be a faithful adaptation of the books. Nonetheless, I tried to remain optimistic and I convinced myself to watch a few episodes before judging the show prematurely. As it turns out, I had good reason to be nervous. Since so many people seem to enjoy this show, I’ve decided to offer my opinion. I’m going to be reviewing the episode about Susan B. Anthony and Frida Kahlo in order to explain why this show doesn’t work as an adaptation of the books or an original show.
First, let’s have a listen to the theme song…
While it’s certainly not the best song in the world, it is pretty catchy and it does get the point of the show across. Besides, it’s better than most of the songs this show has to offer. The only thing I don’t like about the intro is the character designs. Most of the designs are taken directly from the book covers. The only ones that seem to have had any effort put into their designs are the ones who actually appear in this season which comes across as lazy.
The episode begins by introducing viewers to Susan B. Anthony, who was born in the year 1820 to a poor Quaker family and who spent her life fighting for the rights of others. During this intro sequence, she keep reiterating the fact that everyone deserves to have a say in how the government should be run and trust me, it gets annoying very fast. The kids watching this will probably understand this the first time so there’s no need to keep repeating it. Maybe this was supposed to show that she’s slightly uptight and needs to loosen up a bit. Is that really how you want to portray one of the most influential figures in the women’s suffrage movement? I’m assuming that that’s probably a joke but what exactly are viewers supposed to find funny? The fact that she’s demanding? Most people, especially kids, tend to find people who are demanding obnoxious, which isn’t a word you want to associate with an influential historical figure. Not to mention the fact that later in the episode she flat-out states that women are better than men. If she’s supposed to be advocating for equality, why is she stating that women are better than men? This isn’t even an isolated example of misrepresenting a famous historical figure for the sake of comedy. In the second episode, Joan of Arc is portrayed as a naïve, psychotic teenager rather than a courageous warrior.
Then, the episode introduces Frida Kahlo, but I’ll get to her part of the show later. For now, I’ll be focusing on Susan B. Anthony. Since I haven’t read the book about her, this will allow me to discuss how the show works, or rather doesn’t work, on its own.
Next, we’re treated to a song which I like to call “Hey! That’s Messed up!” Why? Because the phrase is used way to much! Don’t believe me, here’s what I’m talking about:
Please excuse the poor quality, this was the only footage that I could find of the song since this is a Netflix show. At this point, I should mention that Susan B. Anthony is played by Lila Crawford. She’s also played as the title character in the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie and Red Riding Hood in the 2014 Into the Woods movie. Although her voice sounds fine most of the time, it’s definitely not up to par here. I’m not sure if it’s because of the style of music or because she’s trying to sing in a voice other than her own. And I know that I already mentioned the bad character designs, but it’s even more obvious here. Instead of designing a completely different look for Susan as a baby and a child, they just slapped her head onto the bodies of both, which brings the character design right into the uncanny valley.
Then, we’re treated to a skit titled “Ye Bachelorette.” Even though I’ve been pretty hard on this show so far, I have to admit that this segment isn’t that bad. As you can probably tell by the title, it’s a parody of The Bachelorette which satirizes 1800s gender roles. So, why do I like this better than the other segments in this show? Well, first of all I can’t stand The Bachelorette so it’s kind of fun to watch this show poke fun at it. And second, this is one of the few parts of episode that manages to be both entertaining and educational. Kids are told that women didn’t have the same rights as men, but often times the only inequalities mentioned are unequal pay and not being allowed to vote. This short also mentions that women didn’t have the right to own property or ask for a divorce. My favorite part was toward the end when Susan said “Yeah, you dudes are awful. Show cancelled, stupid premise! Rose is mine, thank you.” I wish that I had some footage to show you, but alas I couldn’t find any and I don’t have the skills to record it myself.
That’s all that I really have to say about the segments focusing solely on Susan B. Anthony. So, as someone who hasn’t read the book about her what did I learn? She was born in the year 1820, she was a Quaker, she wore pants (which was considered shocking at the time), and…that’s it. What I’m trying to say is that this show focuses so heavily on the comedy that the facts tend to get lost in the grand scheme of things. While kids may find this show entertaining, they’re going to be left with more questions than answers.
Now that I have that out of the way, let me turn your attention to Frida Kahlo. That way, I can show you how this show fails as an adaptation of the books. Before I do so, I would like to point out one thing that the show does right with Frida’s part of the show. For the most part, I really like the way Frida is portrayed throughout the episode. She has moments where she’s sad and lonely but she channels those feelings into her art. She’s also shown to have a sense of humor and she was known for her mischievous spirit especially as a teenager. Unfortunately, that’s the only positive aspect of her section.
After introducing viewers to Frida Kahlo, the show then takes us to her bedroom where she’s recovering from the horrible injuries she received after being in a bus accident. The episode wastes no time with its desperate attempts at humor by showing how incompetent her doctor is. That would be funny if they weren’t talking about a real victim in a real and horrifying accident. Also, the amount of pain that the actress shows comes across as too relatable to be funny. Even though most people haven’t been in as bad of an accident as Frida, they’ve probably suffered a really painful injury at some point in their lives. Since they can relate to the pain that Frida is in, it comes across as cringe-worthy rather than funny. Not helping is this “joke”:
Doctor: “Hey, I brought you something to cheer you up.”
Frida: “Flowers?”
Doctor: “Better! It’s a piece of the bus that got stuck in you.”
In case anyone is wondering, that actually happened. The book even states that “The metal arm from one of the bus seats had gone through Frida’s body.” (Fabiny, Sarah. Who Was Frida Kahlo? p.25) Perhaps it’s because I’m personally not a fan of black comedy, but I found this segment more disturbing and uncomfortable than funny. On top of that, they don’t even mention that the injuries caused by the accident left her unable to have children. At first, I was willing to forgive the writers for this due to their desire to remain tasteful. As you’ll see later, that idea soon went completely out the window.
Next, we’re treated to “Frida’s Joy of Painting” which showcases some of Frida Kahlo’s art in the style of a YouTube video. It actually isn’t too bad the first time around, aside from the uni brow joke. Even then, it’s rather subtle and it’s the only one out of the endless amount they could have added. The second time however, it’s much worse. This time, it opens up with Frida stating that she hasn’t been painting lately because she’s been taking care of her husband, Diego Rivera, who has been painting murals in America. Then, Diego comes in asking for his socks and Frida decides that she’s had enough and wants to leave him. This inspires her to paint what she says is one of her most emotional paintings obviously based on Las Dos Fridas (The Two Fridas in English.)
She states that the one part of the painting is who she was before, bright and colorful and full of life, while the other one is who she became when she found out her husband kissed her sister and many other women.
Oh boy, where do I begin? First of all, this is a painful over-simplification of the relationship between Frida and Diego. It’s true that Diego had many affairs during their marriage but the way it’s portrayed in the episode makes it seem like Frida was the victim in the entire situation. In reality, she was also unfaithful. The book even makes note of the tension between the both of them until “Frida decided that the only way she could still work and stay friends with Diego was to move into her parents’ home, the Blue House.” (Fabiny, Sarah. Who Was Frida Kahlo? p.85) The kids that this show is aimed at are too young to understand the complicated circumstances which lead to infidelity in marriage and even most adults don’t fully understand it. Which is why Sarah Fabiny (the author of the book) wisely chose not to mention it and the writers of this episode should have done the same since they’re clearly unable to depict it in an honest and respectful way. I’m also confused why they believe that this is an appropriate subject to cover with children yet they don’t think they can handle the fact that Frida couldn’t have a baby because of her injuries. If the writers were trying to be tasteful earlier, they lost all taste here.
Sadly, that’s not the end of the stupidity. The next skit opens up with the narrator saying that Frida Kahlo was once brought to one of her gallery openings in her bed. She then proceeds to drive her bed around like it’s a race car and even takes it for a ride on a roller coaster. I really, really wish that I was kidding you! I have no idea what the writers were going for with that segment. My first guess was that it was a reference to Frida Kahlo’s painting Henry Ford Hospital (The Flying Bed). For those not familiar with her work, this is what it looks like:
This is obviously something that you wouldn’t want to show to kids, so I highly doubt that any kid watching this show would understand the reference. Although the adults might understand the reference, they probably won’t find it very funny. The next thought I had was that they were trying to make the fact seem more interesting to the kids. In that case, they could have just told the viewers what really happened. Trust me, it’s much cooler and make much more sense.
After all of that ranting, I would like to give this episode one last bit of credit. Although I would hardly call it one of my favorite songs of all time, this one is pretty decent.
Although the lyrics leave much to be desired, the music is pretty good. Seeing Frida and Susan holding signs pressing for equality is a simple yet effective representation of the song’s overall message of persisting through difficulties and standing up for your beliefs. It’s not award-worthy but it’s a nice change from the last song I heard.
As you can tell, I’m not a fan of this show. The humor is juvenile and dated at times, the characters are oversimplified and cartoony, and the information is delivered in a very sloppy manner. If you want your kids to learn about some of these important historical figures, I recommend that you stick with the books.
Information Sources:
Fabiny, Sarah Who Was Frida Kahlo?
http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/life/people.html
Image/Video Sources:
https://decider.com/show/the-who-was-show/
https://www.fridakahlo.org/henry-ford-hospital.jsp
The Two Fridas – Las dos Fridas – Art Prints
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpfIgbvSkWE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUV7Qf3Dc3k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZxzJGgox_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bYEziFji9o
Life with Anne 
I love it
LikeLike