If you ignore the first season, this show deserves a lot of credit. It clearly paved the way for MTM. Five years in, CBS still wanted the show, but Day quit when her deal had run its course. But Day is justifiably seen as a conservative figure (she was politically more or less a right winger, and her movie roles convey pretty old fashioned ideas about women), so we tend to ignore her influence in increasing the visibility and range of (white) female characters.
When this topic has come up, i've often pointed out how reactionary some counter culture figures actually were. The Beatles were quite misogynistic, as were most rockers, and the original lyrics of Get Back feature anti-Pakistani sentiments. Taxman is basically a libertarian anthem.
I'm not scoring points here... I happen to be on the left end of things myself. What I'm pointing to is that we retrofit people's later views or their public image onto their work and their significance. Whatever Day thought about feminism, she opened up a lot of space for women in Hollywood.
When this topic has come up, i've often pointed out how reactionary some counter culture figures actually were. The Beatles were quite misogynistic, as were most rockers, and the original lyrics of Get Back feature anti-Pakistani sentiments. Taxman is basically a libertarian anthem.
I'm not scoring points here... I happen to be on the left end of things myself. What I'm pointing to is that we retrofit people's later views or their public image onto their work and their significance. Whatever Day thought about feminism, she opened up a lot of space for women in Hollywood.
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