Online premieres: James Adolphus’ “Being Mary Tyler Moore” review (HBO Max)

Greetings to one of the pioneer comedians in American television, Being Mary Tyler Moore It falls within a series of productions that attempt to highlight the importance of female role models throughout history, especially in pop culture. This necessary revision of history is no doubt prompted by all that has come after #Me too But in Moore’s case it wasn’t a discovery: an actress The Mary Tyler Moore Show She’s been a celebrity in life and has been recognized as such since the ’70s, when that series became one of the most popular in the country.

The HBO documentary covers the life and career of this young woman using as its centerpiece a few long interviews she gave at two very different phases of her life and accompanying her words with images and scenes from her most famous shows and performances, as well as family and press material. Furthermore, as usual, nearly two dozen interviewees – From those who collaborated with her to those she influenced – they contribute their views and opinions, so it’s not clear if the interviews were done for the documentary or a file (I’m betting they are both).

From someone who was sweet and likable in his public life, but like many celebrities had some “demons” and secrets to deal with, tv lady (as the documentary is dubbed here) moves carefully, with respect and plenty of affection, prioritizing the amiable, let’s say, progressive parts of the character and leaving in the background the less, if you will, likable parts. But Moore was candid and honest enough to admit that she never felt quite as feminist as she was portrayed at one point, and that she was also much darker than she seemed, starting with her years-long alcoholic stint.

Moore rose to fame, after a period without finding acting directions, playing Dick Van Dyke’s wife in Legendary The Dick Van Dyck Show from the 1960s, giving a more natural and accessible image of the neighborhood girl than the regular wives seen on TV at the time. His wearing pants, for example, was indeed a revolution. The show itself made her a celebrity, perhaps the most beloved and valued comedian since Lucille Ball, who also claimed to be a fan of hers.

When the popular show ended and after a period (1966-1970) of failure in theater and film, Moore returned to television and got her own show playing Mary Richards…a single woman. Not only that, but it wasn’t a fleeting thing either, and it wasn’t her goal to get a husband. No, I was single, I went out, I worked, I had friends and that was it. It was almost revolutionary and became popular in parallel with the culturally sweeping second wave of feminism, even if militant groups didn’t feel entirely their own. It is, let’s agree, it was a huge show for the whole country and it had its limits as to what had to be said and what had to be shown.

The life of the actress will feature dozens of anecdotes and situations before, during and after these two big blocks of her career that the film analyzes, in some cases, in depth and in others, not so much. This is the kind of documentary that highlights her role as a feminist icon and although this choice is more than understandable – because of the time and because it was -, Moore was a character with many other sides to investigate. And above all, a very talented comedian.

Among the many interviewees here are her colleagues such as Carl Reiner, James L. Brooks, Betty White, and Ed Asner, as well as her children, stepchildren, and recent husband and “heiress” such as Lena White, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Rosie O. Donnell and Reese Witherspoon, among many others. The best, as always, are the gems from different eras, both scenes from her TV shows (two of which are classics) and moments in her interviews in which we see her answers to questions that might now be humiliating. Always with grace and elegance but with that mixture of mischievousness and darkness which gave her public persona extra interest, Moore manages to smile at her interlocutors and one can see in her gesture a certain annoyance due to the incomprehensibility that surrounds her. In this sense too, he was an influential figure.