One of my favourite moments of the series barely registers as an actual ‘event’ (and spoilers – though do I have to say that for a series that ended 15 years ago?!). Not only do the two of them become friends under the most difficult of circumstances, they continue to look out for each other no matter how bad things got. Friends who are able to talk about their feelings, even when it does involve the same man. And despite this apparent immediate rivalry, Ally and Georgia become friends. With Ally McBeal, the initial series set-up involves Ally meeting the love of her life’s wife. One of the most popular TV and film tropes that I despise is pitting female friends against each other as they fight over the same man. In Ally McBeal, the peripheral female friendships showed strength and resilience in ways rarely depicted on television even today. Marginalising inter-female relationships or reducing them to hollow formulas is one of the ways women are majorly under-served in our media. Yes, Ally might have been obsessed with finding the right man, but at the end of the day, she always relied on and looked out for her friends. It is what she wants out of life, not what she thinks every woman should want.īut putting that debate aside, most of the commentary on the series overlooks one very important aspect of the show: female friendships. Yes, Ally centered her life around men, but as she repeats so often in the show – that is her choice. Women can want to fall in love, get married and have children and still be feminists. After all, feminism is about giving women choices. Which is it? Personally, I always fell into the positive camp. This female-led show was both applauded and derided for being feminist and anti-feminist at the same time.
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