R E S P E C T: or, why I'm watching Bomb Girls (and you should too)
So you may not know this, if you're a first-time reader here, but I'm Canadian. As such, I'm pretty invested in our film and TV industry, which is a place with a lot of ups and downs. Sure we produced Hayden Christensen (and we are so, so sorry) but we also make some damn fine TV! Corner Gas, for instance, is an excellent Canadian TV show. So is Lost Girl. And then you've got our brand-new World War II drama, Bomb Girls, which- and I say this without exaggeration- is one of the best period dramas I've seen some out of the last few years.
Q. Okay, so what's it about?
A. Bomb Girls is about a group of women- there's about five core characters, and several more supporting ones- working at a bomb factory during the second world war. See, while the war was on, the nominal factory workers- men- were all overseas fighting. With bombs and weapons that desperately needed making, employers fell back on the other half of the population, and women came streaming into factories all over the country. You know Rosie the Riveter? These girls are who inspired her. This specific show takes place in Toronto, and draws inspiration from the real-life bomb factory in Ajax, as well as the testimony of real-life "bomb girls" who worked during the war.
Q. So it's about making bombs? Sounds boring.
A. But it's not! The bombs and the factory themselves are just the backdrop. What this show is really about is how the women were affected by the war. One woman is on the run from her abusive father and is making a life for herself with her factory wages. Another is trying to struggle free from the confines of her family and participate in the war effort by working on the factory floor. Another is a recent war widow trying to feed her children. It's about them, not the work. And it's about what went on on the home front during the war; how women found themselves emancipated by the work they got to do, how Canadian citizens of Italian descent were discriminated against by the government, and how these relationships shifted and changed in the new social climate.
Q. Okay, who's in it?
A. Meg Tilly- you may have heard of her from the 1985 film Agnes of God, for which she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar. Also starring are Ali Liebert (Harper's Island), Jodi Balfour (Final Destination), Antonio Cupo (Elegy) and newcomer Charlotte Hegele.
Q. Wait, you said this show was about women? And it's a period drama?
A. Yep! Strong women, weak women, powerful women, shy women, and everywhere in between. Women starting a life and women running away from it. Women who are in charge of their sexual autonomy and have mature discussions about it with their partners. Women whose agency and desires are respected and treated with importance by the narrative. And- if I'm not mistaken- queer women.
Q. Bullshit.
A. Oh really?
Q. AWESOME.
A. I KNOW, RIGHT?
Q. So where can I watch it?
A. It airs on Global every Wednesday as 7/8 Central time. If you miss the show when it airs, you can watch it on the official website. And if you're not in Canada, and can't watch it on Global's site, you can get episodes from iTunes for $2.99.
Q. Excuse me, I have some marathoning to do.
A. Godspeed, my friend.
Q. Okay, so what's it about?
A. Bomb Girls is about a group of women- there's about five core characters, and several more supporting ones- working at a bomb factory during the second world war. See, while the war was on, the nominal factory workers- men- were all overseas fighting. With bombs and weapons that desperately needed making, employers fell back on the other half of the population, and women came streaming into factories all over the country. You know Rosie the Riveter? These girls are who inspired her. This specific show takes place in Toronto, and draws inspiration from the real-life bomb factory in Ajax, as well as the testimony of real-life "bomb girls" who worked during the war.
Q. So it's about making bombs? Sounds boring.
A. But it's not! The bombs and the factory themselves are just the backdrop. What this show is really about is how the women were affected by the war. One woman is on the run from her abusive father and is making a life for herself with her factory wages. Another is trying to struggle free from the confines of her family and participate in the war effort by working on the factory floor. Another is a recent war widow trying to feed her children. It's about them, not the work. And it's about what went on on the home front during the war; how women found themselves emancipated by the work they got to do, how Canadian citizens of Italian descent were discriminated against by the government, and how these relationships shifted and changed in the new social climate.
Q. Okay, who's in it?
A. Meg Tilly- you may have heard of her from the 1985 film Agnes of God, for which she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar. Also starring are Ali Liebert (Harper's Island), Jodi Balfour (Final Destination), Antonio Cupo (Elegy) and newcomer Charlotte Hegele.
Q. Wait, you said this show was about women? And it's a period drama?
A. Yep! Strong women, weak women, powerful women, shy women, and everywhere in between. Women starting a life and women running away from it. Women who are in charge of their sexual autonomy and have mature discussions about it with their partners. Women whose agency and desires are respected and treated with importance by the narrative. And- if I'm not mistaken- queer women.
Q. Bullshit.
A. Oh really?
Click to viewQ. AWESOME.
A. I KNOW, RIGHT?
Q. So where can I watch it?
A. It airs on Global every Wednesday as 7/8 Central time. If you miss the show when it airs, you can watch it on the official website. And if you're not in Canada, and can't watch it on Global's site, you can get episodes from iTunes for $2.99.
Q. Excuse me, I have some marathoning to do.
A. Godspeed, my friend.