For seasons there has been a discussion about the sexuality of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel character Susie Myerson (Alex Borstein). The character, who plays Midge’s faithful manager, is often referred to as looking like a boy and is styled in a masculine way. Usually, I would say this doesn’t mean anything and is a very gendered way of viewing sexuality, but this is Mrs. Maisel and sometimes the surface is what you get.
In episode four of this season, the show finally decides to put a label on Susie. Sorta. Kinda. Maybe.
Spoilers for Mrs. Maisel 4×04: “Interesting People on Christopher Street”
In the previous episode, Jackie (Brian Tarantina) passed away in Susie’s apartment (Tarantina, the actor, passed away in 2019). Susie is staying at Midge’s house and driving her family a little bit crazy. Worried about Susie being alone, Midge goes to Christopher Street to find a lesbian bar for Susie.
Everyone thinks she’s a cop, but thankfully she finds a delicious cameo in an appearance by director John Waters, who gives her directions to a gay bar.
Midge takes Susie to the bar without telling them where they’re going, and then she tells Susie that “she doesn’t care” and it “doesn’t bother her,” while Susie just sort of asks dismissively if Midge thinks she can’t find a lesbian bar on her own.
It was instantly hilarious to have Midge go on Christopher Street (a know queer hub in NYC) and try and find a bar. With the fourth season set in 1960, we are a bit away from the Stonewall Riots in 1969 that will make it the main street of gay New York.
Part of the allure of Maisel is that it is fantastical, but Midge’s ignorance and sort of laughing off the “cop” stuff just feels a bit … cringe. If we are to see Susie as a butch lesbian, which Susie doesn’t confirm or deny, it is important to note that lesbians were absolutely harassed at this time and at risk of being brutalized at the hands of the cops.
I think of Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg and I just wonder, especially with how they still dismiss the danger Midge potentially put Shy into, if the show really gets homosexuality during this time period. It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, but it mostly seems to be a way to show Midge learning or for comedic value than as a weighty topic.
As for actor Alex Borstein, she told Page Six that she sees Susie as a “bit of a 40-year-old virgin” and that she doesn’t “prioritize her sexuality.”
“I feel like Susie doesn’t know,” Borstein said. “I feel like Susie has never taken the time or had the luxury of figuring that part of her life out. I think she is a bit of a 40-year-old virgin.”
About the intense relationship between Midge and Susie, Borstein made sure to state that it’s a love story, but a platonic one.
“She is in love with this woman, with her mind, with her talent, with her chutzpah but I also think she wouldn’t pass up a night with Lenny Bruce,” Borstein said. “I think Susie would sleep with talent whatever the package.”
She added: “It’s a show about a time when people didn’t deal with that if they didn’t want to, aired in a time where everyone wants to talk about it, so it’s interesting.”
Where to watch: Prime Video
We will see if it gets any more interesting.
(via Page Six, image: Amazon Prime)
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