Taking ‘Fleabag’ Inspiration into 2020

Empowered women empower women --T-shirt I bought in the Newseum

I never heard of Phoebe Waller-Bridge until one day when I was watching the Emmys. Who is this woman who keeps winning and seems utterly and charmingly incredulous that she’s standing there holding the hardware?

I soon found out she was being honored for writing and acting in Fleabag, a BBC and Amazon series. I hadn’t heard much about it, but now it was on my radar.

In the very first episode, she’s in bed, laptop open, watching Barack Obama give a speech. Soon you realize her hand is under the covers. Yes, she is masturbating to Obama.

The artist in me was instantly at attention. Who admits that? Apparently the answer is Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emmy-winning writer. (Has she seen the Al Green moment? Hahahahahaha).

Over the course of any artist’s career, we are told to be scathingly honest and unflinching in our expression. But it is the rare few who have the courage to bare all on the page, the canvas, the stage. We temper, modify, hedge. We want to be fearless. We do. But so often we don’t succeed. I rank myself pretty high on the “be naked on the page” goal, but I could still strip away a few layers.

As I watched Season 1 and then Season 2 of Fleabag, I was entertained, aroused, saddened…