With the inclusion of an "Under Pressure" documentary series in Netlix's portfolio, I was intrigued to see how the USWNT's World Cup journey was to be covered. As a follower of football and of the World Cups which transpired over the past two years - on both the men's side and the women's side - I appreciated that "the world's game" was the subject of new content for a sizable streaming platform. I figured the documentary-style narrative would do service to understanding the perspectives of various stakeholders involved in the competition - players, coaches, pundits, etc.
And having thoroughly enjoyed watching the "Captains of the World" series in its entirety, I thought the coverage and chronology on the USWNT side would be similar. Hence, I gave the USWNT's "Under Pressure" a watch. To make myself transparent, I watched every episode in its entirety, credits aside.
So, based on the rating I have given, it is clear that I finished this series disappointed, and almost disgusted. The reasons are various, but I must disclose that the conclusion of the series was outright egregious, in my opinion.
Starting off with what I felt was good, the general quality of the production, scenery, and footage - the clarity, the different angles used, and so on - were laid out nicely. It never felt like I was watching from a redundant point of view, which I appreciate. There was a level of organization with the production, so it never felt all-over-the-place or erratic.
Also, the interviews and input from sports critics, current and retired USWNT players, and the coach (whose name I don't remember but it sounded Eastern European) was, in similarity to the "Champions of the World" series, a nice way to integrate discussion and interpretation into the series without sounding narrow in perspective. I liked the way the team selection was played out.
Lastly, the coverage of the matches was satisfactory and captured the tension and stakes of each match - even if we already know what transpired. I was a bit skeptical of the music choice, but that is minor relative to all the other issues I had, which will now be discussed below.
Despite the areas of optimism, the series is somewhat inadequate on covering the critiques of the USWNT to a meaningful enough extent. This was an abject failure of a run for the former women's World Cup winners. There is not enough emphasis on that from the majority of the players. Overall, the falling short of the team should be a central issue of the series that needs to be reconciled. Unfortunately, it plays a rather reserved and minute role.
Yes, the series covers some of the criticism - most of which came from Carli Lloyd - but the players and the coach just hand-wave it off, brush it aside, and never spend a minute on what needs to be changed to improve performance. The only time there is acknowledgement and genuine discussion of the criticism they received was in hindsight - after the competition - as if the team never realized they played woefully during their matches. Aside from that, the players just ignore the criticism and assign little meaning to it, which I doubt was actually the case.
We only hear from a few players about how they felt about the criticism. And very little of it came from the seasoned veterans - Rapinoe, Morgan, and so on. Why not ask them how they felt and responded? Did they agree with the criticism? Did they not? At one point, the coach gets the last word by labelling "insane" any doubts regarding the USWNT's mentality and sub-professional attitude throughout the group stages, and perhaps prior. His claim is crazy. Why not ask the coach - in hindsight - if he stands by his critique-sidelining remark?
Even worse, the series treats Lloyd like her opinion was treasonous and complete blasphemy in one moment, when a sports "expert" - or in other words, a complete moron - implies that Lloyd was too mean and that it wouldn't help the players, coach, and staff. There is no meaningful response or address to this treatment of the USWNT as children and snowflakes, rather than as adult professional athletes who play in front of thousands. We get little on what the team will do moving forward into the Olympics, finishing off on an overly optimistic tone.
Rapinoe in this series is treated like the Demi-goddess she thinks she is, rarely ever talking about her (obviously adverse) impact she had on the team's attitude and conduct. She never gets a chance to self-reflect; and she gets no criticism, but is rather placed on a pedestal of prime role models in football, which has absolutely nothing to do with the series. None of her teammates talk about her conduct in the locker room - which was ridiculous and unprofessional just by looking at the footage - nor do they discuss their reaction to her laughing off her hilariously awful penalty against Sweden that led to their elimination (nice job, Lord Megan Rapinoe!). Was it supposed to be self-evident that Rapinoe was a liability throughout the tournament? I guess so. Nonetheless, the series should've covered Rapinoe's post-match talk more fully, about how her missed penalty was, in her pathetic words, "a sick joke" and "funny." - never once taking responsibility. The producers ultimately decided that Rapinoe was to be left mostly silent on this moment and on any of the dark moments the team faced. Lloyd spoke, but who cares about what she thinks about Lord Rapinoe?
The most abysmal and disgraceful part of the series is encapsulated entirely by the final episode, which attempts to use the Spanish coach's sexual offense debacle as a means of enlightening the audience on all the USWNT has done from its inception, outside the football field! This felt like a bait-and-switch, and turned the series from covering the USWNT's time at the World Cup, to an abstract and arbitrary closure of the team's legacy that is blown way over the top. Why did this need to be covered? Was it because the team played awful and the producers had to come up with ideas on how to avoid making the USWNT look bad?
And what is this legacy, you ask? The USWNT credits itself for the rise of all women's sports and athletics (forget everyone else!), and seems to claim itself the catalyst of modern "women's rights" advocacy. What are these rights they are fighting for? Who the hell knows! I know I sure don't - the players never mention them! The USWNT is portrayed as an example for other countries to follow, while the players never discuss what they are doing to help their fellow female footballers around the globe, including Nigeria and Jamaica. That would be asking for too much, though, right!? Just complain and complain! You'll have what we have someday, third-world peasants! We'll sit back and enjoy our privileges :)
As usual, the USWNT and "equal pay" become synonymous, so that had to be covered, once again in complete irrelevance to the purpose of the series; and Rapinoe is thanked for her Godliness, while other women's teams lack such wondrous luxuries or assistance from their American counterparts. The series actually acknowledges this, yet fails to realize the blatant hypocrisy in its coverage. Here's an illustrative example involving Alex Morgan: She is being interviewed and is probably asked about equal treatment or whatever. She answers that the treatment is quite unequal and that the USWNT doesn't have access to the same facilities and whatnot that the men have. Ok, great! What is the issue with this? Morgan is voiding all of these complaints in the middle of a professional interview, in her huge San Diego house, with a dog on a plush bed, with her makeup and hair being done by a professional stylist, with a stable family, access to food and clean water, clean clothes being worn, in preparation for a "food and wine" event, about to go to the beach, in sunny San Diego, in peacetime, for a Netflix documentary...
I don't know how the producers overlooked this lunacy. Poor USWNT, first-world-country women aren't paid enough! That is the agenda of the final episode, and it comes off as bratty entitlement for material opulence. It's as if no one on the USWNT is grateful for anything. More, more, more, please! End our "oppression"! :(
The lack of awareness was appalling, to say the least. I wonder why the USWNT played so poorly...
If you want to watch a series to gain respect for the USWNT, you'd be better off watching them from 2016 backward, instead of giving this series viewership. If you want to despise the USWNT even more, then, by all means, watch this show and be pissed off at the privileged hypocrisy. If you follow Megan Rapinoe-ism - the new first-world religion in narcissism - and wish to worship her some more, you've come to the right place. You'll get to see her happy and jolly, while she makes fun of tense and emotional situations, in all her blue-haired perfection! What a treat!
Jokes and biases aside, the last episode ruined it for me. It seemed like the producers anticipated the USWNT to win it all, or to go very far, but their expectations fell short. In any case, both myself and the producers can ridicule the USWNT for disgracing the badges they volunteered to wear.
Some of you will find this review extremely biased. Ultimately, my issues surrounded the hypocrisy and lack of thematic consistency of the content itself. Merits, or lack thereof, of the virtue-signaling and fights for "equal pay," were irrelevant to what the series was supposed to cover. Otherwise, the "Captains of the World" series would have covered the poor working conditions in Qatar, along with the all the cultural controversies. But we didn't see any of that. Why? It was irrelevant, unlike the USWNT, whose contributions have come less from their football and more from their unrelated advocacy for material self-benefit. And let's ask ourselves, who are truly the selfish ones here?
The agenda is where this series falls flat.
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