We have just finished watching the 8 episodes of the miniseries called Lessons in Chemistry. From IMDb, “In the 1950s, Elizabeth Zott’s dream of being a scientist is challenged by a society that says women belong in the domestic sphere; she accepts a job on a TV cooking show and sets out to teach a nation of housewives way more than recipes.”
Elizabeth Zott (masterfully portrayed by Brie Larson) is a genius chemist, has a Master’s Degree from UCLA in order to prove it but, unfortunately, lives in the 1950s, a time when gender equality didn’t exist (and, probably, still does not). That’s why she’s only employed as a lab technician and has to make tea and coffee for everyone. Women were considered as a minority then.
Fortunately, she stumbles upon the equality genius Dr Calvin Evans (by Lewis Pullman) and, in addition to doing research together, fall in love. Unfortunately, time will be cut short. They form another minority: intelligent people in a sea of mediocrity.
Madeline Zott, Elizabeth’s and Calvin’s daughter, fantastically played by Alice Halsey, who was only 7 at the time the series was filmed, is a revelation. I’m sure she’ll have a great career as an actress in the years to come.
A third minority in the movie are black people. They are in a neighbourhood which might be destroyed to make way for a highway and they have to fight against the establishment. In parallel, Martin Luther King Jr. is being arrested in another part of the USA. Harriet Sloane (by Aja Naomi King), Dr Charlie Sloane (by Paul James) and Reverend Wakely (by Patrick Walker) are Calvin’s neighbours (and, eventually, Elizabeth’s). They are the ones fighting against the highway and become Elizabeth’s and Madeline’s best support when things become difficult.
The antagonist is Dr Robert Donatti (by Derek Cecil). He heads the lab where Calvin and Elizabeth work and is adamant: a woman cannot be a research chemist. As he is quite mediocre, he resorts to stealing the work of Calvin and Elizabeth. Dr Alfred Boryweitz (by Thomas Mann) works with Dr Donatti and, while he likes Calvin and Elizabeth, he has no spine and cannot prevent these bad things from happening. On the other hand, Dr Leland Mason (by Marc Evan Jackson) is not a chemist but rather the gynaecologist of Elizabeth and also one of her rowing instructors. Rowing is used as a metaphor for balance, teamwork and persistence throughout.
Finally, there are the TV people. First is the shy Walter Pine (by Kevin Sussman) who is the director of the cooking TV show Elizabeth Zott agrees to participate in. At the studio, he meets Fran Frask (by Stephanie Koenig) who, initially works in the chemistry lab but then loses her job until Elizabeth offers her one at the studio. In a reversal of how things happened in the 1950s, Fran asks Walter out.
A second bad guy in the series is the misogynistic and vulgar Phil Lebensmal (played by Rainn Wilson). After Donatti, the thief, he is the one always insulting women and treating them badly. He finishes badly.
Conclusion
This miniseries condenses many important topics in eight episodes: gender equality, minorities, the value of one’s work, plagiarism, stealing, lying but, at the same time, also touches upon humanism, respect, the way to raise a child properly, etc.
And I have to say that all of the good lessons apply to the 2020’s too.
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