I’m always looking for great new shows to watch and I found that these two female-forward shows had a lot in common. Check out my reviews of Moxie on Netflix and Good Girls Revolt on Amazon!

Review of Moxie on Netflix:

Moxie premieres on Netflix on March 3, 2021. It’s a two-hour movie starring Amy Poehler (who also directs), Hadley Robinson, Lauren Tsai, Alycia Pascual-Pena, and Alex Hiraga.

Thanks so much to Big Honcho Media for inviting me to a virtual premiere of the movie and sending me a fantastic gift basket (check it out on Instagram!) This post contains affiliate links.

What’s Moxie on Netflix About?

Moxie was based on a YA book of the same name.

I reviewed Moxie the book here . The movie was pretty true to the book as far as I can remember.

Moxie in a nutshell: A shy teenager is outraged by the sexism at her high school and, inspired by her mom’s past as a 90s Riot Grrrrl, decides to create an anonymous ‘zine that criticizes what she’s seeing at school. She sneaks copies in the women’s bathroom, hoping that other girls at her school with join her.

90s glossary for you young Millennials and Gen Z-ers: Riot Grrls were young feminists and musicians in the 90s. A zine is like a homemade photocopied pamphlet.

Moxie on Netflix kept the main strands of the story: Vivian’s secrecy about her ‘zine; the way her newfound activism strains her friendship with her straight-laced best friend Claudia; her uneasiness with her mom dating again; and her budding romance with Seth. The show did change the school principal from a man to a woman, and I thought that worked really well.

Will You Like Moxie on Netflix?

Overall, Moxie was a fun and empowering movie that I think teens will really love. My favorite part of both the book and the movie was the friendship subplot between Vivian and Claudia. I think that it’s common for female friendships to strain at times when one person experiences a major life change or tries something new. Will your friend support you and try to understand, or will it drive you apart? The romance plot was interesting too, as it (very lightly) touched on issues of men as potential feminist allies.

While Moxie is a great starter movie for those just dipping their toes into feminist issues, it didn’t do much of a deep dive, or talk much about intersectionality. The sexism in the movie is mostly limited to things like girls being singled out for dress code violations. However, as someone who participated in a dress code protest in high school, that’s a BIG deal for teens and can definitely be a gateway into feminism and activism. At the very end of both the book and the movie, there’s a bombshell accusation that goes in a darker direction. The issue of sexual assault is raised but not really addressed.

But if you have teens or work with teens, I think they’d like this movie! Be sure to have them check out the make your own Moxie site here!

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Review of Good Girls Revolt on Amazon Prime

Good Girls Revolt is a one season, ten episode streaming show on Amazon Prime. Good Girls Revolt released in October 2016 and got cancelled two months later (more on that juicy story later.) It stars Genevieve Angelson, Anna Camp, Chris Diamantoupoulos, Erin Darke, Joy Bryant, and Hunter Parrish.

Why did it take me five years to watch this show? I hated the name. Hated it. I’d see it and think it sounded so awkward and just … bad. But my streaming queue was getting really empty.

What’s Good Girls Revolt on Amazon About?

Good Girls Revolt takes place between 1969-1970 at a weekly news magazine. After being denied the opportunity to write articles (and learning how shockingly underpaid they are), a group of female researchers files a complaint with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) that demands they receive the same career opportunities as men. It’s also based on a book, The Good Girls Revolt by Lynne Povich, which draws from real events.

Good Girls Revolt follows three very different women in the newsroom: Cindy (who’s basically the 1970s version of Vivian) is shy and newly married. Patti is a young woman from a big New Jersey family and came to New York seeking excitement. Jane is well-educated and great at her job, but she’s also from a prominent family who expects she’ll work a year or two before quitting and getting married.

Will You Like Good Girls Revolt?

Good Girls Revolt dives a lot deeper into the issue of feminism and women’s rights. (To be fair, it’s a ten episode show vs. two hours for Moxie.) It was shocking to me to be reminded that in my lifetime, qualified women were denied the same job opportunities and salaries as men. I had no idea that, at that time, a woman might not be able to get a mortgage. And that women couldn’t wear pants to work!

If you loved Mad Men, definitely try Good Girls Revolt! I was obsessed with the vintage New York City settings, the vintage costumes, and the 1970s music. The show also incorporates lots of real historical events, like the Vietnam war, the activism of the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground, the U.S. Postal Strike of 1970, and much more.

Like Moxie, the show focuses mainly on white women and feminism, though there are a few black women characters who participate in the lawsuit and the women’s lawyer is lawyer and politician Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Good Girls Revolt was well-reviewed and (imo) ended much too soon! According to the show’s creator, the (male) head of Amazon Studios wasn’t a fan of the show and cancelled it. BUT WAIT. Not even a year later, this same head of Amazon Studios resigned following accusations of …sexual harassment. Pretty ironic, huh?

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Have you seen either of these? If you have, tell me what you thought in comments!