MAID (2021): Tale of The Toils of a Mother

"You lost your dog for five minutes and I lost my daughter. You can go f*** yourself.”

I first heard about the show from this clip which was flooding my feed on Facebook upon release. Later there were numerous posts and reviews about this series on the internet and according to the reviews, it was a sad portrayal of the lower class people in America and domestic violence affecting the households. And apparently, it was based on a true story memoir which became a great adaptation. But with all these reviews and phrases I was reluctant to continue this show but now I had the time to finish it and all I can say is I should have watched it a lot earlier because it deserves all the praise.

There have been shows with miserable characters who have gone through worse phases in the past or have PTSD but successfully recovered from that. Sometimes they didn't but there was a redemption they came upon. The closest memory of me watching this kind of show where folks have gone through miserable history was in 2019. That year gave us two fantastic mini-series about characters who had the worst event possible happening to them and even showed us how it happened or how it impacted their lives forever. One was Unbelievable which showcased a rape victim who was falsely accused of lying about being raped and another one was When They See Us where five young black boys were accused of raping a girl back in 1989 and sentenced without giving a proper trial. And both were based on true stories. 2021 gave us another show called Maid. Although it did not include rape, it is no less than misery porn that includes themes like the shitty lives of lower-class people and domestic violence.

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The lead character here is Alexa played by Margaret Qualley who is a young mother of a 2-year-old girl. She was fallen in love with the man whom she married but after having been mentally abused by him she decided to leave his house. Without any support from her husband and her parents, she has no other options but to go to the shelter houses for accommodations and food. If she was on her own it would be rather easy but she was with her 2-year-old child while she had to provide for her food and clothes. Which was all fine but things get messier because if you cannot provide properly for your children then the social service will take custody of your child on behalf of the father or on behalf of the government. To provide for her child she started to do maid work. And then the troubles started because she cannot be a full-time mother without any support while she is trying to provide food for her girl’s mouth.

Domestic violence is known for wrecking homes and affecting kids' upbringing poorly. Alexi is domestically abused and so was her mother. Her mother left her father during Alex was a young adult but she never really addressed the abuses and those experiences forever altered both of them but this time Alex spoke up. Despite the #metoo era relevancy, the experiences of her mother played a part here. Maid brought out how domestic violence impacts the victim and how it can hamper the upbringing of a child. But what the show was more successful in putting was the misery and horrific life the lower class of the society had to go through. Especially if you are homeless there is nothing you can do about it. Meaning when you need money it is just impossible because you have no solid options to do it except to hang on to minimum-paying jobs. That also remains troubling when you have a child at your responsibility because you cannot handle both at the same time adequately and at least one of them is going to be snatched away from you. The constant anxiety, fear, and trauma of this complex situation is visible through every frame and scene of the show.

The style of this show is also commendable. Remember having not enough money when you are going out or when you have a limited budget and you are constantly doing calculations after buying a single thing or expending any amount of money? So whenever Alex is buying or expending any money she is calculating the remaining money of what little she had and we can see that on the screen happening. And as calculations happen, sometimes there is no money or very little or sometimes it got over her paycheck and we see her face and see her getting worried about how she will get through the day or the week without having any kind of money. That constant tension and anxiety were brought up by Margot Qualley tremendously. The pain of having absolutely nothing, failing at every point, and fearing her child might go away - Margaret performed all these emotions bravely. And alongside her, almost every actor did a fantastic job in their role especially The mother with her personality disorder and dealing with her abusive - alcoholic husband. And Regina turned out to be quite a character, a beacon of hope.

Maid is an essential show for all. Especially to acknowledge the tragedies one has to go through despite living in a developed country whether it is financially or physically. The show is also a great showcase for motherhood and caring despite not getting proper love. And those who stick to the end, will surely get a message of hope from this.