The making of Miriam Midge Maisel is laced with clumsy mistakes. Midge has earned quite a reputation for misjudging audiences, hiring a joke writer for herself, and revealing peoples’ secrets at huge gatherings.
Midge’s life as portrayed in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is not only too good to be true, but it is also full of the following hilarious impracticalities and instances of oddball behavior.
Took Last-minute Advice From Reggie
In “A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo,” Midge was given the opportunity of opening for Shy Baldwin in his hometown of Harlem. She was immaculately dressed in a pink and magenta ensemble and seemed excited about Shy’s comeback show. At the event, she ran into the reputed comedienne, Moms Mabley, and shook hands with her. Things seemed fine until Moms’ manager questioned her white privilege.
Midge easily crumbled at the words of a total stranger who told her she didn’t deserve the primetime spot. Thereafter she experienced stage fright and questioned her worthiness in front of Shy’s manager, Reggie. Earlier, Midge had used humor to deal with difficult situations but this time around, she decided to take last-minute advice from a complete novice in comedy.
Outing Shy Baldwin
A novice, after all, Reggie suggested Midge use her riffing talent to talk more about the singer and less about brisket. “It’s not something you should do anywhere, but here, in Harlem, his hometown, they’ll eat it up,” he advised.
Even then, Midge had no right to feed the crowd intimate details of Shy’s personal life. Besides being an inch shy of directly revealing his sexual orientation, Midge was blithely unaware of the risks associated with outing a public figure in the early 1960s.
No Knowledge Of Her Money
Midge is guilty of financial illiteracy and has no knowledge of where her money goes. In “A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo,” it was revealed Midge’s manager, Susie Myerson controls her finances.
The college-educated comedienne is yet to find out Susie has gambled away all of their earnings. Midge has been urging women to assert their independence for quite a while now. Yet she hands over her paychecks to her manager without any accountability, whatsoever.
Negative Body Image
In the beginning, Midge had concerns about her body image. She’d spent the early years of her marriage catering to her husband’s needs. She’d quietly wake up before him to freshen herself up. She’d also kept a diary to record her body measurements.
Midge’s idea of beauty never really changed through three seasons. Her perception and attitudesurrounding body image are not only unrealistic but also unhealthy.
Parents Cover Her Living Expenses
At the time of separation, Midge had no choice but to move back with her parents and bank on them for while. She understandably needed Abe and Rose to cover her basic expenses such as food and housing. Midge eventually got a job working at B. Altman’s and made some money as a comedienne.
In “A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo,” she reveals she has been steadily earning for a year and hasn’t spent a dime thus far. Furthermore in “Strike Up the Band,” Rose tells her husband she pays for Midge’s fabulous clothes from her trust fund. It’s hard to fathom how Midge claims to navigate her newfound independence without asserting her financial independence. For someone who is committed to watering down gender stereotypes, Midge is unwilling to contribute to the everyday expenses of the Weissman household.
Disrupted Her Parents’ Lives
As an adult, living with one’s parents can have both advantages and disadvantages. For Midge, the whole arrangement seemed favorable. She was able to ensure quality childcare and save every penny of her earnings.
However, in doing so, Midge overlooked one important fact – her parents had their own lives. Abe Weissman wasn’t being evasive when he said his daughter had laid waste to everything and everyone around her.
Judged Her Parents For Their Life Decisions
Midge moved in and disrupted her parents’ lives to an irreversible extent. The Weissmans were constantly at odds over how to save their daughters’ marriage. Rose went to a fortune-teller who read tea leaves and assured her the separation wouldn’t happen. Her denial upset Columbia maths professor, Abe.
Disagreements in the Weissman household went on for a while until Abe decided to quit both his jobs, downgrade their lifestyle, and vacate their plush apartment to kick-off his self-discovery journey. This difficult time taught Rose how precarious a woman’s life was when it was dependent on the whims of a man. So she set out to get their life together. It’s a shame Midge failed to see her parents had the right to live life on their own terms. She expressed strong disapproval when she found out Rose had given up on her trust fund entirely.
Ended Things Abruptly With Benjamin
Throughout their relationship, Midge treated Benjamin Ettenberg unfairly. After getting the offer to tour with Shy Baldwin, she left Benjamin without a proper explanation.
Midge lacked the courtesy and decency to end their engagement over a phone call. Though it was her right to chose between Benjamin and her career, she could have ended things face-to-face, instead of writing him a cowardly letter. None of Midge’s fans pegged her for a coward. Well, neither did Benjamin.
Left Benjamin Out Of The Equation Altogether
Midge treated Benjamin like an afterthought and in the process caused him a great deal of suffering. Midge had tried to reason with Joel a couple of times before finally realizing their differences were unworkable.
But she did quite the opposite with Benjamin. She denied him his agency by deciding to act on his behalf. Because Joel hadn’t been supportive of her comedy career, Midge assumed the same for Benjamin’s and stopped herself from trying to access her partner’s feelings.
Gave A Filthy Toast At Mary’s Wedding
There’s something about Midge and weddings. She can singlehandedly ruin people’s wedding experience – from the guests at her wedding to those at her co-worker, Mary’s. In “The Punishment Room,” Midge excitedly volunteered to help Mary with her upcoming nuptials. Because of her timely invention, the reception was held in an airy room with appetizers, champagne, and flowers.
Shortly after the brides’ wedding speech, Midge hogged the limelight and delivered a filthy bridal toast. She alluded to a shotgun wedding and, in the process, humiliated her friend. Thanks to Midge’s inability to read the conservative Catholic audience, Mary was deeply hurt and forced to leave her own reception in tears.
