Holes We Fall Into & Cracks We Fall Through
Netflix’s Limited Series: Maid Takes on Emotional Toll of Poverty and Generational Trauma
Right before lockdown, I tried going to the gym with my boyfriend. One of my first attempts at motivation on the treadmill was an audiobook. I flipped through what was out and Maid caught my attention because Barbara Ehrenreich wrote the introduction. I didn’t know who the author, Stephanie Land was, but I kew about Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America.
As I listened to Stephanie Land’s memoir about trying to raise her daughter on her own without steady housing, income, or anything else, I often caught myself questioning why she even wanted her kid, but she did, and that should have been enough. It’s just a shame that once a woman has a child, she’s stuck with an even smaller selection of unpleasant choices.
While Land’s book focused on the delicate dance of obtaining and maintaining various types of aid, taking classes for utility vouchers, and being talked down by her daughter’s doctors because all the housing had mold. Her mother, father, and even her ex-boyfriend took more of a backseat.
Stephanie’s cleaning clients were emphasized more in the book. Regina was more of a composite of clients, and I don’t recall any of them taking the steps she did to help. However, if it gets anyone more interested in reading the book: the porn house is in there.
The show focused more on a lot of issues that I discussed with clients today:
Domestic violence
Toxic family relationships
Generational trauma
Untreated mental illness
Alcoholism
Depression/hopelessness
Relationships that are dead ends
While I can be a purist about books being adapted to shows, I think that Netflix gave the audience what they needed and they did it in such a convincing way. Even though most of the characters are composites of Stephanie Land’s experience, they feel like fully developed real people, and all of the experiences feel painfully real.
This is a show to watch and hold close to your heart. Then you can go back and think of all the people throughout your life who have helped when you were down and send them a note.
