Sunday, December 13, 2020

The Queen's Gambit Gambit

In a nutshell, here’s the problem I was trying to identify in my December 11 post about the Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit. If the show had presented cartoon-like figures, it would have been one thing. Unfortunately, the show presents realistic character and pretends to be offering a realistic portrayal of the chess world, of the way people behave therein and of women’s place in it.

Consider this quote from The New York Times story about how many girls are now trying to become chess champions:


One teenage player said that the series makes chess “look very glamorous and very luxurious, that women can be rock stars.”


Unfortunately, girls are being sold on false hope and are being set up to fail. Even though, let it be said, learning to play chess is certainly a good thing. Making it a glamorous profession where luxury reigns and where women become rock stars is simply a lie.


2 comments:

trigger warning said...

"women can be rock stars"

This is a priceless comment. Female rock stars rely more on outfits than musical talent to attain stardom. For example, a quick review of Rolling Stone's Top 100 Rock Guitarists includes exactly one (1), no more, no less, woman: Bonnie Raitt @ #89. The recent megahit "WAP" (i.e., "Wet Ass Pussy") by rapper Cardi B illustrates precisely what the women are selling, and it's not musical talent. However, rap is doggerel accompanied by computer-generated "music" and strippers, so I'm not sure it counts.

Lowghost said...

Rock stars are ostensibly everywhere these days. Hedge fund managers, physicians, chess players, you name it; they're all "rock stars." Is that the American Dream? Rock Stardom? Lol. Trigger Warning, to be fair, stars of either sex aren't stars for their musical talents. They have something else -- star power -- and were it otherwise, Carol Kaye could be #1 on your list.