Mary Tyler Moore, what can I say. She was an icon, an inspiration, a role model. I can safely say, Mary Richards is one of my favourite television characters of all time. Even though I was a little girl when the Mary Tyler Moore Show was was first on tv, I always knew it was something very special that I was watching. Undoubtedly it was an well written, entertaining sitcom, but overall it was a groundbreaking television program. I was completely in love with the time period, of course the wonderful 70's fashions. However, when you re-watch the episodes as a woman you realise what a brilliant inspiring character Mary Richards was. Here was a woman in her 30's, unmarried, living alone, trying to have a career in a male dominated field. The episodes didn't concentrate on her romantic life and a desire to get married, and her job was just something she did until she met Mr Right. No, she was more concerned about being taken seriously at work and fighting for equal rights with regard to pay and promotion within her job. When you think about it, the way Mary looked, she should have been a character in front of the camera, but instead she was a woman who was working behind the scenes in a less glamour field, a news room.
I only mention my love of Mary Tyler Moore in my blog because she is without a doubt my all time favourite fashion icon. Maybe when I was in my early 20's I could pull off some of her wonderful fashions. But alas I'd have to work very hard to achieve that super svelte physique. I remember how much I loved re-watching this show, particularly for the fashion. I now own the complete series so I shall be spending many a weekend catching up on the series and enjoying it all over again. I started watching season 3 this weekend and no matter how many episodes I watch in a row, I never can skip the opening theme song. Again, that theme song is most possibly the best theme song any television show has had (though Rockford Files comes a close second). And one of my favourite bands, Husker Du, did a wonderful version of Love is All Around . Who can turn your world on with a smile, Mary Tyler Moore that's who!!!
The most interesting thing about her passing is how many women have been inspired by her. It didn't matter if they weren't an attractive, skinny, middle class white girl, she was an inspiration to all women and what they could achieve. I'm sure many a young girl or woman watched this show and realised that women finally had a place in the workforce. As a person, and as her character she broke a glass ceiling which all women should be grateful for.
As the Mary Tyler Moore Show came to it's conclusion in 1977, another icon was being born. It was a princess from a galaxy far far away who was going to be a role model for another generation of women for decades to come.
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