Kim Cattrall Slays in Her Return to TV for This New-to-Netflix Comedy (original) (raw)
Published Jul 7, 2023, 9:45 PM EDT
Riley Presnell is a Features Writer for Collider. Her specialties are Horror and Reality TV. She's had an obsession with horror, specifically slashers and meta-horror, since she can remember and her comfort movie is the 1996 Scream. Her other favorites include Bride Of Chucky, Evil Dead (2013), and Nightmare On Elm Street II. She believes that everyone can be a horror fan, they just have to find the right subgenre for them. Each horror film has a deeper meaning if you can look beyond the bloody surface. Aside from writing horror, Riley seeks out new knowledge regarding LGBTQ and women in horror via books and articles online. Horror is what helped her understand her power as a woman (or final girl) and discover her sexuality. She is currently based in Chicago where she lives with her girlfriend and two needy dogs. Riley is a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community and is passionate about making everyone feel welcome, exactly as they are. She's also likely to be creating never-ending to-do lists to appease her inner worker-bee.
Summary
- Kim Cattrall plays Madolyn Addison in Glamorous, who breaks stereotypes as a non-angry female executive tired of the angry boss trope.
- Madolyn shows humility and vulnerability by asking for help with her makeup company's growth.
- Madolyn reveals her real self and deals with pressure gracefully in Glamorous, a refreshing portrayal of a female CEO.
Kim Cattrall made a major TV comeback this past year, from first reprising her role as Samantha Jones from Sex and the City in the second season of And Just Like That to stepping up as makeup mogul and CEO, Madolyn Addison, on Netflix's Glamorous. In the world of Glamorous, Cattrall's Madolyn is a former model who has wielded her fame and status to build a legacy makeup company—Glamorous by Madolyn Addison—from the ground up with her son, Chad (Zane Phillips). Alongside her team of racially and sexually diverse individuals who love their jobs, Madolyn is determined to keep her business afloat. A chance encounter brings the creative Marco (Miss Benny) along as Madolyn's second assistant, and what conspires is a story that showcases Cattrall in her new era of television.
Glamorous
Release Date
2023 - 2023-00-00
Cast
Kim Cattrall, Miss Benny, Graham Parkhurst, Damian Terriquez
Seasons
1
Kim Cattrall's Madolyn Shows That Women in Power Don't Have To Be Angry To Lead
Cattrall's role as Madolyn is certainly reminiscent of _Sex and the City'_s Samantha Jones when it comes to being career-driven and inclusive, but her Glamorous character is a breath of fresh air in terms of representing fictional female executives on screen. Women in positions of power in film and TV have always been portrayed as brash, unsympathetic, and usually lonely; at the top of that Ice Queen list is certainly Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) of The Devil Wears Prada.
While we love a girlboss and support women being career-minded and high-achieving, sometimes that stereotype can get tired, denying women in positions of power the right to express any emotion that makes them appear less strong or dominant. If a woman expresses frustration, she's angry and must be on her period, but if she's calm, collected, and in charge, she's acting rude. And if she happens to be a mom? How dare she have a career and not spend every waking moment staring at her child. It's a double standard that needs to be wiped out, and on Glamorous, Madolyn Addison subverts the expectations of what a CEO has to be if she also happens to be a woman.
Madolyn Knows How To Ask for Help in 'Glamorous'
Cattrall's portrayal of Madolyn is also a portrayal of the duality of women, specifically those in business or executive roles. Madolyn always strives to be on top of her game and as perfect as one can be, but she has moments of humility, embarrassment, anger, and sadness without having to go through a mental breakdown for the purposes of drama. One specific moment of unexpected humility comes in the very first episode where Madolyn is taking a gander at her makeup line in a department store. That store just so happens to be where Marco works, and Madolyn asks Marco to give her a fierce makeup look.
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While this is happening, she's also inquiring about her customers and trying to get insight into how she can grow her company; sure, she doesn't have to listen to Marco, but she's humble enough to know that an outsider's perspective can be helpful in her makeup company's growth. When presented with new ideas, she doesn't scoff and think that she knows best. Instead, she considers someone else's perspective while still trusting the instincts that have gotten her this far. As a whole, Madolyn shows that even the most successful need help sometimes.
Kim Cattrall Is Vulnerable and Open as Madolyn in 'Glamorous'
Later on in the season after Marco joins the team, he's tasked with running Madolyn's social media account, determined to portray her as relatable. With Madolyn's background as a model, she has always been taught to be camera ready, but Marco tries to catch her off guard for a "real" photo. Right at the perfect moment (as Madolyn is in mid-sneeze), a photo is snapped, and she asks for it to be deleted. Eventually, though, that photo gets posted online, with Madolyn expressing embarrassment over the picture, though she restrains herself from asking for it to be taken down. Later, It's revealed that Michelle Obama herself has commented on the post, along with many other women who feel that it's relatable and real. The expectation to be perfect when a certain level of achievement has been made is strong, and Madolyn isn't impervious to feeling that pressure to be perfect. When your life is in the public eye 24/7, it feels like you can't take a misstep without it being publicly blasted, but even though Madolyn is embarrassed over the less-than-flattering photo of herself, she handles it with grace and with a moment of realization that even the most perfect people do have bodily functions.
One of the other more vulnerable scenes on the show occurs when Madolyn's driver, Teddy (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), shows up at her home to ease her through the anxiety of meeting fans at a pop-up shop to save her business. Madolyn runs from Saks Fifth Avenue back to her home because she can feel the pressure mounting, but when no one else can find her, Teddy knows exactly where she'll be. The two share a tender conversation about how many people look up to and draw inspiration from her. It can indeed be lonely at the top, but having the gumption to admit it takes a lot.
Cattrall's performance as Madolyn Addison is wonderful to watch unfold on screen, as longtime fans of Sex and the City experience the nostalgia and similarities to Samantha Jones while getting a chance to see someone who is just like them. Madolyn has her moments of inspiration, confidence, and strength, but she's also prone to being flaky, jumping to conclusions, and letting her emotions get the best of her. Seeing those varying qualities captured on screen is the show's greatest reminder to viewers to just be themselves, flaws and all—there's always a little concealer to cover those flaws, anyway. Plus, we love a girlboss who is inclusive of all races, genders, and sexualities. For those that loved Samantha in Sex and the City, you may just have a new favorite in Madolyn Addison.
Glamorous is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.