Mena Suvari Portrays Modern 'American Woman' in Throwback Series
*By Alyssa Caverley*
The producers of "American Woman" set out to create a period drama about three women confronting sexism, changing gender roles, and female empowerment. Though it is set during the second-wave feminist movement of the 1970s, the series, starring Men Suvari, could just as well be about the #MeToo movement in the era of Time's Up.
"This show has actually been in development for about five years now, so obviously it's an amazing day and age that we are living in because of these conversations, but it was sort of happenstance for us and I think it's really wonderful," Suvari said in an interview with Cheddar. "It has the potential to create and furthermore of these conversations about where we were at."
Suvari plays a wealthy, single Beverly Hills socialite looking for love from all the wrong men. She's best friend to the show's main character, Bonnie, played by Alicia Silverstone.
"It's 1975 and this is right around the time of the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) trying to pass and there's this huge wave of feminism that's sweeping through the country and it's woven throughout the entire series," Suvari said. "You really see each of these women coming up against all sorts of life challenges."
The character of Bonnie was inspired by "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Kyle Richards's mother, and Richards is a co-executive producer of the series on Paramount Network. Bonnie is trying to raise her two children on her own after her marriage fell apart.
The show also stars Jennifer Bartel as Diana, who is trying to climb the corporate ladder in the male-dominated finance industry.
"It's such a wild ride with all of these women," Suvari said, adding she hopes modern women will see something relatable in the portrayals of the 70s versions of themselves.
"I think it's highly relatable and what I love about it and hope for, is that it creates more conversation about where we were and where we need to be and where we want to go as women," she said.
The show had its debut on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/mena-suvari-talks-feminist-themes-in-american-woman).
A survey by the BMO Real Financial Progress Index found that 25 percent of Americans are pulling back on retirement contributions to offset the cost of inflation. This comes as market volatility reduced retirement savings with the S&P 500 shedding more than 12 percent this year alone.
Catching you up on entertainment headlines with Johnny Depp winning more damages in his defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, Jada Pinkett Smith addressing the infamous Oscars slap that her husband Will Smith laid on Chris Rock, Queen Elizabeth II celebrating her platinum jubilee on the throne, and more.
Eric Cervini, executive producer of 'The Book of Queer,' joins Cheddar News to talk about the new show on Discovery+ that's celebrating LGBTQ+ history.
New York drag queen DD Fuego, joined Cheddar News to discuss her journey to drag, sharing the coloring book "Find Your Fuego" to explain to kids and adults alike what drag is all about, and describing the Big Apple scene. "It's incredible because you're meeting people for the first time, and you're also sharing a piece of you, and they're sharing with you back, and it's instant, and it's so intimate, but it's also art," she said. "It's theater!" In celebrating this spirit, Cheddar employee Shannon also received a "fantastic" makeover from DD Fuego.
Memorial Day rang in the unofficial start of summer here in the United States -- and with it, the unofficial start of summer travel. Whether consumers traveled by air or by land, they probably experienced some form of frustration over the weekend. Flyers faced delays and cancellations, and drivers faced the most expensive gas prices ever recorded on Memorial Day. Zach Griff, Senior Aviation Reporter for the Points Guy, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Next-generation gaming ecosystem Joystick recently raised $8 million in a seed round and is in the process of raising a $110 million Series A funding round. Gaming ecosystems are a relatively new type of platform in the Web3 space, allowing users to maximize their play-to-earn gaming opportunities, exchange crypto-currencies, and sell their digital assets. Joystick says its platform is flipping the current model on its head by giving players the opportunity to keep 100% of the revenue they earn. Robin Defay, co-founder and CEO of Joystick, and Michael Le, co-founder of Joystick and TikTok content creator, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The dating app Bumble has sponsored bills and pushed lawmakers to criminalize the online practice of sending unsolicited nudes or “cyberflashing." Payton Iheme, Bumble's head of public policy for the Americas, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the app was going after the harassing behavior beyond its own platform. "Now, while we went to work internally in the company, and we created something called private detector to automatically blur those images so the user can decide if they want to see them, there's nothing for the rest of the internet," she said. "And so that's why we went to work with these laws."
