November 9th, 2020
There was a thing about The Queen’s Gambit for me.
It’s the reason I’m making a whole post about it. This is more than just a review, if you read on. Though my review just basically consists of telling you: if you decide to watch a show this year, watch The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix.
I saw overwhelmingly positive reviews from my friends, family, and critics, but that’s not what finally convinced me to watch it. No — it was Jamie Lee Curtis. I’m kind of obsessed with her and her journey, as her experiences speak to mine as a fellow sober human being. The plot is boring on paper: an orphan discovers she’s good at chess. But it is so brilliantly executed, exciting and powerful and moving. And Jamie said that it was a story that was about a person’s struggle with addiction and alcoholism. That was the push that got me in.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but towards the end of the journey, Beth (our genius protagonist) is going through the game of her lifetime. Being an addict means you often feel like you’re absolutely alone; she discovers, as they reach out, that she had touched so many other people’s lives, and they end up being there for her in her time of need.
And that was the thing for me.
That was a lot of you for me.
I haven’t always been a good (or even decent) person. I still have my days. But, odds are, if you’re reading this, you stuck by me. And you have no idea how much that has meant to me, but it was a special kind of wonderful to see that represented in a television show.
So, thank you. Thanks for not bailing, thanks for your kind words and big hugs, thanks for seeing things that I don’t always see myself.
This is a terrible review.
But you are a terrific friend.
The Den 