Quendrith Johnson

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

What can you say about Gloria Steinem that the (women’s) world doesn’t already know? One thing is her quote that echoes all through the hills, including the Hollywood Hills: “The Truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” Steinem is now the subject of a new sort of adaptation of her autobiography “My Life on the Road,” a movie called THE GLORIAS. It is directed by the amazingly talented Julie Taymor, and if it wasn’t directed by a woman, well, you’d hear about that as a separate newsflash. The movie is set to be released on Sept. 30 by Roadside Attractions.

In THE GLORIAS, Steinem gets to have Alicia Vikander and Julianne Moore play her younger and older selves respectively. Interesting choice to halve her selves.

Perhaps indicative of the sea change in her own life as a woman in the “Man’s World,” as described by the likes of James Brown in a song of the same name during this period.

This movie portrays Bella Abzug as... Bette Midler, perfect casting. Also you see Dolores Huerta, an activist few people understand the importance of, brought to life by Monica Sanchez. 

Here's the truth of the Women's Movement? Gloria Steinem had to hide who she was to become who she was meant to be.

This statement will make sense to a lot of women out there who still remember the grip of that Old School Sexism that almost kept you off the playing field and out of the Boardrooms. No sports, no upper management, those bleak days for women.

Steinem kicked in that door in a PlayBoy bunny suit, among other things. 

Not bad for someone who stood at the 1963 march, as an ordinary woman, and saw that equality means for all. But even today we hear these famous words? More than a few (male) politicians have said this: “I’ve done more for blacks, latinos, and women.”

Half the population is not a minority, but imagine if you are a triple threat: a woman, a woman of color, and a woman of conscience. Gloria Steinem was two out of three, although she broke down the gender barrier for women of every persuasion, even the married housewives who just wanted to work outside the home, and raise their kids.

Steinem did this for you, and you, and your mother, wife, sister, grandmother, daughter, aunt, little girl, #STEM woman, and female stranger. THE GLORIAS catches a little of her reflected glory as Steinem reflected in our world.

All Her Glory Here

Roadside Attractions Sees THE GLORIAS This Way…

Journalist, fighter, and feminist Gloria Steinem is an indelible icon known for her world-shaping activism, guidance of the revolutionary women’s movement, and writing that has impacted generations. In this nontraditional biopic, Julie Taymor crafts a complex tapestry of one of the most inspirational and legendary figures of modern history, based on Steinem’s own biographical book ‘My Life on the Road.’

THE GLORIAS (Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, Ryan Keira Armstrong) traces Steinem’s influential journey to prominence—from her time in India as a young woman, to the founding of Ms. magazine in New York, to her role in the rise of the women’s rights movement in the 1960s, to the historic 1977 National Women’s Conference and beyond.

THE GLORIAS includes a number of iconic women who made profound contributions to the women’s movement, including Dorothy Pitman Hughes (Janelle Monáe), Flo Kennedy (Lorraine Toussaint), Bella Abzug (Bette Midler), Dolores Huerta (Monica Sanchez) and Wilma Mankiller (Kimberly Guerrero).

Taymor gives us her singular take on that rare genre- the Female Road Picture, one in which the female leads do not die in the end, and where the “narrative” is not driven by romance or a bad marriage, or unrequited love or, for that matter, men.

Gloria’s road story is about her “Meetings With Remarkable Women”. And that is a love story in itself.

Directed by Julie Taymor

Written by: Julie Taymor and Sarah Ruhl

Based on the book ‘My Life on the Road’ by Gloria Steinem

Stars: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Bette Midler, Janelle Monáe, Lorraine Toussaint, Lulu Wilson, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kimberly Guerrero

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