Picking up after yesterday‘s love letter about Pitch, I’ve got more!
[Again, spoiler alert. But if you haven’t watched it yet, what are you doing?! Go to Hulu!]
A friend of mine was asking me why I hadn’t watched it in the first place. I had misconceptions! I thought maybe it was gonna be all about baseball. Or be heavy-handed with “girl power.” This is my looong text to him!
Nobody said it was about thrusting this girl out into the world who didn’t go to college and now wrestles with wanting to be a “normal 20-something,” but also realizing even though that’s fun and she wants that, she obviously would rather be a professional ballplayer living her dream. Or that it was about navigating hard family dynamics as you become wildly famous. Or learning how to avoid scandals, and figuring out who you’re gonna be in the public eye – are you gonna be willing to talk about a scandal in the track world when a girl was assaulted by a teammate, because you’re “supposed to” because you’re a “feminist icon,” or are you gonna stay quiet because track isn’t your sport and your teammates aren’t getting asked these questions… Plus, you’re trying to navigate life in the locker room and you’re more concerned with being “one of the guys” playing ball and doing a great job rather than trying to be a voice for all women…
And when you go on Kimmy Kimmel are you gonna be willing to do ‘Dugout Decorating Tips’ because you’re trying to poke fun at yourself and your stressful (though of course super amazingly cool) situation and be human, or is that too much of a sexist bit, setting you apart from your team in a way you don’t wanna do…
Nobody told me it was about the inner-workings of baseball and budgets and clauses and waivers and trades and statistics, and how there were so many different political dynamics at play between the manager and owner and coach. Or that it would be about the complicated dynamics of a manager/client relationship. Or that it would be about such deep friendships that had nothing to do with blossoming romance, which is a really special and cool (and rate) thing to watch on TV.
Like, PITCH IS JUST SO GOOD.
And that concluded my text, but I still have more to say about it.
Oh my goodness gracious. Like, legitimately, I just barely even know where to start.
For one thing, I like that the “girl power feminist” stuff really didn’t seem heavy-handed (to me, at least). Ginny’s (female) manager got to give this speech about not feeling appreciated enough, and then later, her (male) assistant got to give her practically the same speech! And it was like, “Huh, yeah. We can all empathize with Ginny’s manager. We see her a lot. But did any of us think about her assistant!? He’s not getting his due either!” So, I felt it was very equal-opportunity to be put down and put up.
I loved that the men were kind of keeping themselves and each other in check with questions like if they’d be so hard on Ginny if she weren’t a girl, but then turning around and asking, “Well, would you be so protective?” These were interesting questions that got me thinking.
Also, in the midst of reasons why she’d be behind the guys (biologically just not being able to throw fast enough), we also learned reasons she actually has an advantage (more flexible (ligaments? is that the word I’m looking for?), so less likely to get hurt pitching extra innings)!
I love that the one and only one time I thought the woman thing was a *little* heavy handed was when someone said, “Thanks for mansplaining that to me,” but then they even self-corrected that in the script calling the awkwardness of that line out when the character says, “I always wanted to say that.” So, if she has been waiting to say that (and never has), of course it’s clunky!
I also loved how Ginny’s manager got to be really strong. She was caring and kind and good to Ginny, so she wasn’t strong without layers. But she also really stood up for herself – both in a romantic relationship on the show, and with Ginny. And her romantic relationship just ended when it wasn’t working. Period. There was no drawn out let’s try again or will they/won’t they. It just wasn’t working, so they were done. And then with Ginny, she stood up for herself and warned she’d walk out and when Ginny said go, she did. And then when Ginny got hurt, she didn’t come back. She just got on that plane anyway!
It just seemed like people really went for what they wanted and thought was right and they meant what they said. It wasn’t constant cow-towing to each other, but there were these big deep bonds there. So they were there for each other and loving while getting to be their own people and have their own wants and needs.
I literally can’t say enough good things about this show. I love this show oh so oh so very much.
I can’t believe I didn’t hear more hype about this! Where were you all telling me to watch it?! I want 40,000 more seasons.