By OLIVIA BURGER
a&l editor

Amazon Studios’ latest original series release, “Good Girls Revolt,” captures the spirit, spunk and scandal of the late ‘60s.
The show, based on the book written by Lynn Povich, released its first 10 episodes on Oct. 28 exclusively through Amazon Video.
Based on real-life events, “Good Girls Revolt” follows the story of a group of young female researchers from an American weekly news publication called “News of the Week.”
Despite provisions in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, female researchers at “News of the Week” are prohibited from becoming reporters or from writing stories for the magazine.
While the publication title is made up, the story itself is based on a very real case filed against the famous Newsweek magazine in March of 1970.
In “Good Girls Revolt,” the female researchers, who in many cases are more educated and talented than their male co-workers, begin to form a group that explores legal actions that will allow them to become writers, all while sneaking behind the backs of the magazine’s writers and editors.
The show focuses on three main researchers, Patti Robinson (Genevieve Angelson), Jane Hollander (Anna Camp) and Cindy Reston (Erin Darke).
Patti, a thin, free-spirited, forward-thinking researcher, acts as the initial leader of the women’s revolt.
Cindy, a timid housewife battling between her career and her husband’s desire to start a family, acts as Robinson’s sidekick in starting the revolt.
The friendly go-to girl and office beauty, Jane, is reluctant to join the revolt at first, but then becomes a major component in later episodes.
“Good Girls Revolt” is reminiscent of the pool of social problems associated with the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, with sexism and gender discrimination being the most prevalent.
The female researchers in the show were expected to make their reporters look good while they look pretty, doing all the grunt work and sharing none of the byline.
Reluctant to pursue reporter positions because they were afraid of turning into “career girls,” many of the women worried that they were wasting their time on themselves when they should’ve been focused on finding suitable husbands and starting families.
If the viewer can get past dozens of cringing sexist scenes, there is an overall positive message and hope of social change as brought forward with the researcher revolt.
“Good Girls Revolt” also showcases the nation’s political problems with the Vietnam war.
Without giving too many details away, the season’s last episode includes a heartbreaking and twisted scene that reveals just how personal and traumatizing the war was.
As an homage to its time period, “Good Girls Revolt” includes its fair share of sex, drugs and scandal.
Relationships between female researchers and male reporters and editors create an interesting plot as many of the women are considered to be “sleeping with the enemy.”
Party scenes and household altercations keep the show full of fluff drama, which balances the seriousness of the newsroom and gives a realistic portrayal of the issues of the time period.
While its first season focuses mostly on the negativity of the era and doesn’t do much to boost feminism morale, “Good Girls Revolt” succeeds in presenting the issues and sucking viewers into the storyline.
If picked up for a second season, it will be interesting to see how the case plays out and how the dynamic of “News of the Week” changes.
News of a second season has not been confirmed or denied by Amazon Studios but the show has been gaining support among various websites and has earned a 7.8 out of 10 score from IMDB and a 71 percent score from “Rotten Tomatoes.”
“Good Girls Revolt” is available to stream free for Amazon Prime members and can be watched for free with a 30-day trial of Prime membership.

OLIVIA BURGER
[email protected]