The Queen's Gambit (2020) - Family, Feminism, and Addiction

(spoilers for every show and every movie in the world)

Alright, I'm way late for this party, but I finally got around to watching all seven episodes of The Queen's Gambit, and it just did not go the way that I thought it would. I was hoping that I could take all of my thoughts on the show and coalesce it into a singular theme ("Feminism in The Queen's Gambit" or "Addiction in The Queen's Gambit"). However, I think I can honestly say that the narrative itself is not even that coherent (but, please don't take that as a criticism). There's a lot of things going on here and I don't think the story is as straightforward as it first appears.

To Be Clear...
I should say from the start that I greatly enjoyed most of my viewing experience with this show in a way that I almost can't even articulate. Especially during her the first few episodes, I was constantly scared for this poor girl. Every thing that happened, every new character, every new location, I thought, "oh god, this is going to fuck her up even more, isn't it?" Even if my pessimism when mostly unrealized, I was happy to be engaged. So, just to be completely clear before I start shitting on this movie, it's great and I recommend it.

What is Chess?

Ok, so what is this show even about? "Well, Kevin, you dummy, it's about chess. After all, the show is called The Queen's Gambit" Yeah, kinda. Like all movies (literally all movies) the method of conflict is a metaphor for something else. This is not just lightsabers; this is about forgiveness vs. revenge. This is not just about Avengers vs. Thanos; this is about utilitarianism vs. deontology.  You get it. So what is chess? What is this show?

Chess as Addiction

Your first thought might be that chess is used for our main character to overcome her dependency on alcohol and pills, but this doesn't really track. For most of the movie, the pills seem to encourage or even enhance her skills at playing chess. Only for the final episode does she really start playing completely sober at the international level, which means that the pills, alcohol, and drugs had no real effect on about 90% of her chess career. What's the message here? "If you're an addict, you might only be the second best chess player in the world?"

I think the evidence supporting the idea that this show is "chess as a metaphor for addiction" is somewhat weak, mainly because her addiction itself seems somehow weak. I don't want to gatekeep substance abuse here, but from a narrative perspective, her alcohol and pill dependencies don't really hurt her in any way. And I think it's easy to imagine how the show might have gone in a different direction with this.

In the real show, she slightly alienates her friends, but they all come together in the end to help her and nothing is changed in their relationship. In our hypothetical addiction story, those relationships would be permanently damaged or irreparably broken. In the real show, she is slightly hard up for cash and can only afford most of an international trip. In our hypothetical addiction story, she would be destitute, homeless, and/or jobless due to her addiction. In the real show, her sobriety elevates her from being, like top 5 in the world of chess to number 1. In the addiction story, she would just be completely expelled from chess, the thing she loves most in the world.

To be clear, real-life addiction takes many forms. Harry Beltik's short speech about his father falling asleep with his clothes on was, I thought, one of the best dialogues about the various and subtle ways that chemical dependency can affect us and those around us. Not every story has to be Requiem for a fucking Dream, you know? But in this narrative the actual damage caused by alcohol and pills amount to nothing more than breaking her watch and wearing stupid make-up out in public. 

But that's "chess as a metaphor for addiction". What if the chess is the addiction?

Again, here, evidence for this is pretty weak. We see that Beth tends to alienate her friends, especially Harry Beltik and her adopted mother, but all of those relationships are completely (and I would argue inexplicably) fixed by the end of the series. Indeed, it seems to be Jojen Reed's obsession with chess that pushes her away. So, no, her love of chess didn't really harm her life.

Chess as Feminism 

"Ok, so maybe chess is about competing with men. She's a young woman in a male-dominated game in the 1960s, so chess is used a metaphor for women's struggles. After all, the show is called The Queen's Gambit." This too is also an interesting idea, but I think there's just not enough evidence in the text to support this theory. If chess were really a big "men vs. women" analogy, we would have seen a bit more misogyny.

There's definitely a bit though. In the promotional material, there's that line about "There's no girls league for chess" or whatever. There's a couple times where it seems like her male opponents underestimate her due to her gender.

But again, compare what happened in the real show with your hypothetical feminist show in your mind. "Ha ha ha, what's this? A girl? Playing chess? This is a man's game, baby." or the guy who is staring down her dress the entire game. People refusing to play against her, or throwing violent temper tantrums when they lose. Stalkers. Guys trying to molest her. Catcallers. We didn't see any of them. Instead, a lot of the male characters in the show are largely supportive and caring towards her. At least 5 semi-professional and professional chess players offer to help. Many of her opponents (especially in the final episode) seem to be overjoyed to lose to her, offering fatherly hugs and expressions of gratitude. There are adoring fans of hers everywhere. 

Now, you might be thinking, "but Kevin, feminism is certainly not defined solely by its opposition and competition against men" and you are totally and completely correct. So...

We Need to Make a Short Detour and Talk about Feminism in Queen's Gambit

I think I've shown that using chess as a metaphor for "men vs. women" doesn't hold much water, but how about the show itself? Is the show itself trying to say something about women?

Well, I'm not really sure, to be honest. I don't know if the statement is absent, clumsy, or negative.

There's a lot of evidence to suggest that this movie is "pro-women." I think a huge part of this comes from Beth's way of speaking, mannerisms, and confidence when dealing with and confronting men. I'm just going to gloss over this right now, because if you've seen the show, you know what I'm talking about. She's not focused on being "polite and ladylike" in her conversations with men to the point where she really only laughs and smiles around women. (Seriously, watch the show again and notice how even with the men she likes, she rarely smiles or laughs, compared with how she laughs around Jolene and her adopted mother.) She doesn't seem too interested in a romantic relationship, and instead seems to be bored by the men giving her affection. She relishes in intimidating people. She like "serious" things like math and chess, and does not notice her own beauty. In fact, the only traditionally feminine thing about her is her penchant for nice dresses.

But is this "pro-women"? Personally, I don't have a clear answer for this in my mind, but at the moment, it seems that instead of embracing and celebrating traditionally feminine traits, she is embodying traditionally masculine traits and then celebrating those. She's a great character to watch. Her confidence and determination, especially in the face of hardship, make her an easy character to root for. If I met a person like her, I would like them. But is she celebrating femininity? Is this show celebrating femininity?

Let's look at the other female characters in the show. Here, I will attempt to show that these characters are, in some form or another, disparaging traditional feminine traits. I'll leave it to the reader to decide whether that's positive or negative (while still sharing my own opinion).

I'll start with the girl in high school and her friends, "The Apple Pies", especially compared to another character the same age, Annette, Beth's first professional chess opponent. 

So, queen bee high school girl's scenes are her bullying Beth for her clothes, enjoying music with her friends, being interested in guys, and going to second in the library with some dude. Aside from the bullying, this all seems like pretty standard high school student stuff to me, regardless of gender. When we encounter this character later in the series, she has gotten married and had a child (presumably at or before the age of 20), is either an alcoholic or married to one, and seems to generally be dissatisfied with her life. She is wearing a stupid hat. Her presence at this point in the show is only to contrast her with Beth, who seems to be living a full life, because her appearance in the show doesn't seem to advance the plot at all. The message this sends is clear: marriage and childbirth, especially at an early age, is a bad thing.

Beth's adopted mother is a bit similar. Her life also seems to be in shambles, although I think the movie is ambiguous about whether this is due to her marriage, her alcohol dependency, her stage fright, or her seeking approval from men to validate her self-worth. Either way, she doesn't engage in anything "serious" like chess so her life sucks.

Next, we have Annette. In contrast to queen bee high school girl, Annette seems to be friendly, patient, kind and understanding. When we encounter her later in the series, she is also friendly, patient, kind, understanding, and also pre-med. Pre-med! What a fancy and prestigious major for such a likeable character. There is no mention of her romantic interests.

Cleo is a character that seems to also hate women or at least ideas about traditional femininity. When we first meet her, she goes on about how attracted she was to two men passionately arguing about chess to the point where she decides not to kill herself. Then, she goes on a two-minute rant about how models are vapid, vain, and stupid. She seems to be fucking everyone.

Now, ok, I need to slow down here and explain a bit. In my heart, I hope every person waits until the right time to get married and have kids, if they so choose. In my heart, I hope that every person has access to education, and in my heart, I hope that they can be successful in their chosen career. In my heart, education holds more value to me than child-rearing. However. However! I welcome the freedom for every person to make that decision on their own and would never disparage anyone for their choices. If you or someone you know made the decision to get married early and have kids, that's fine. That's not what I would choose for myself, but if you did it, I'm not going to make a whole fucking TV show about how I think you're dumb for doing so.

To put it another way, for a piece of art to be pro-education, being pro-success, or pro-politically minded is totally fine, but being anti-marriage or anti-child is a step in the wrong direction. You can actually be married and be educated at the same time! You can be a mother and be successful at the same time! You can be a model and be smart at the same time!

Ok, So Back to Chess

I think we're running out of options here. Chess is not a metaphor for addiction, it's not a metaphor for feminism, and the show itself is arguably not even pro-women. What are we left with? What is this fucking show?

Well, out of process of elimination this show is about...family.

No, seriously.

Ok, so hopefully I argued that misogyny and addiction were not huge hurdles for Beth to jump over, but what was? What were the things that haunted her and what were the challenges that she had to overcome?

1. Biological father abandons her

2. Biological mother abandons her via murder/suicide

3. Adopted father emotionally abandons her

4. Adopted mother abandons her via death

5. Adopted father legally abandons her

This is it. These are all of the negative things that happen to her that are irreversible.

And what happens at the end? What gives her a happy ending?

Near the climax of the film, Towns, Beltik, the twins, Jojen Reed, and the other guys all help her win her final chess game. Shortly before this, Jolene loans her some money to go to Russia. Both of these situations do not really involved misogyny or addiction at all. After she wins the match, she has this fatherly hug with Borgov, who has previously been shown to be a family man.

The conclusion, the final shots of the movie are of Beth surrounded by a community of chess players. She received protection from her 7 male friends and 1 female friend (which equals 8, exactly the number of pawns on one side in chess). She found a family through all of this. Her want throughout the film was chess; her need was for community.

And...yeah, that's it. I don't think I need to explain it any more than that, and to be honest, I've been writing this for a few hours and ironically, I'm hungover from last night, so ok, bye.