Completely free, the first three episodes of the series on the reverse of American beauty contests were posted last Sunday on the Facebook video platform, now available internationally. Successful bet ?
What is it about ?
Vicki Ellis, Oklahoma’s ruthless beauty pageant coach, only coaches winners. But when her filly, big favorite for the national competition, explodes her chances in flight, Vicki agrees to coach her runner-up, the very pretty but unrefined Samantha. Vicki’s entire reputation will then be jeopardized …
What does it look like ?
Who is it with?
The series is created and produced by Meaghan Oppenheimer, assisted by Paul Lee, ex-boss of ABC, and Bruna Papandrea, also producer of Big Little Lies. Entirely directed by Alethea Jones, the ten episodes of the series feature Catherine Zeta-Jones as the uncompromising Vicki Ellis, Jennifer Westfeldt (Samantha Cole), Victoria Justice and Judith Light as Regina, the former mentor of Vicki.
Well worth a look ?
Here is one of the many comments that can be read on Queen America’s Facebook page:“Wow, this is my dream of free global television come true! Watching from SPAIN!! I hate it when we have to wait for months or years to receive the new shows here or can only resort to buy dvds. THANK YOU FOR THIS!” (“My dream of free global television is finally coming true! I watch from SPAIN! I hate having to wait several months, even years, before receiving new series in my country, or having to buy them on DVD. THANKS FOR THAT !“)
This was indeed the bet of the giant of social networks: to compete with Youtube, Amazon, Hulu and others by also offering an exclusive content platform. A major advantage: since this summer, the episodes uploaded to Facebook Watch are 100% free, available everywhere in the world simultaneously, and accompanied by local subtitles. “Quality” series accessible to all through a simple Facebook account, that would seem almost too good. But let’s not forget that this is above all a major economic stake for the social network, with a sizeable audience to capture: nearly 2 billion active users per month worldwide. Their first series broadcast worldwide will therefore have little room for error.
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In line with the first “teen” series offered by Facebook Watch in the United States (Sorry for Your Loss, Five Points, Sacred Lies, and Skam Austin, US version of the Norwegian series Skam), Queen America is resolutely calibrated for an audience. young. Indeed, the insults are “beeped” there, no nudity or too trashy sequences, and his speech has educational value on issues in the air. In three episodes, the series thus tackles subjects such as eating disorders, sexual abuse and the notion of consent, in an almost too didactic way. But the rhythm is so well conducted, and the dialogues sprinkled with a ferocious humor so meticulously measured, that we are easily seduced by this guilty pleasure. The universe of American beauty contests is depicted there with realism and cruelty, all the artificiality of the environment being reflected in its characters. From the young first with long teeth ready to do anything to succeed to the sexual predators who prowl around them, passing by their depressive coaches thinking only of their career, everyone takes for their rank. The series is anchored in the bible belt America full of contradictions, where religion meets sex and vulgarity and where a majority of the population is confronted with precariousness. This aspect of America white trash is embodied in the character of Samantha Cole (the touching Jennifer Westfeldt), a young aspiring to the crown of beauty who dreams of winning the competition scholarship to pay for her university studies. The show also shines through its inclusive dimension with the character of Nigel (Teagle F. Bougere), best friend of Vicki, a homosexual African-American character who reveals an unexpected depth, beyond the simple role of foil.
But the real success of the series, the “queen” in title, it is undoubtedly Catherine Zeta-Jones, who signs here her big comeback. After a first foray into the series in 2017 in Feud alongside Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon, the British actress returns in a flashy lead role that suits her perfectly, after having been discreet in the cinema in recent years. Impossible not to become attached to this merciless pimp mother of beauty pageants and to her fragmented personal life, the void of which she fills with violent binges. Much is expected of her relationship with her niece Bella, a round teenager with her feet on the ground, far removed from the brainless and malnourished young girls Vicki trains for victory. The actress has not lost any of her presence and has some jubilant feminist punchlines and bitchy as desired. A promising start to the season, and a great success for Facebook Watch. Let’s wait and see if the platform will dare to venture outside the United States for its next projects …
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