What I Watched -- The Iron Lady

I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but I didn't actually know much about Margaret Thatcher before seeing The Iron Lady.  To be fair, I was eight years old when she left office.  However, I was a history major.  And I studied in London.  But my focus was American history and the British history I focused on while I was there was older - World War I and the British Civil War.

[Aside: I've noticed a general lack of historical knowledge in lots of people of my generation stretching from the end of World War II through to whenever we were old enough to start remembering for ourselves, with the exception of the Civil Rights Movement.  In fact, probably 10 years ago or more, Hasbro released a 20th Anniversary Edition of their popular Trivial Pursuit game, which covered events that had occurred in the two decades since its original release.  It was ridiculously hard; even Dad thought so!  But that goes to show that my knowledge is lacking.  Apparently they now also have a 25th Anniversary Edition; maybe I'd have better luck with that one.  We played the Master Edition over Thanksgiving, and us young kids crushed it!]

But back to the Baroness Thatcher.  She's played in the movie by Meryl Streep, who deservedly won an Oscar for best actress for her performance.  Thatcher is an old woman, remembering some of the important events of her life with a focus on her rise to the post of prime minister.  She starts out as a much maligned "grocer's daughter," but drives hard against the political machine and makes a name for herself, meeting her husband Denis along the way.  I found these historical snippets fascinating even if somewhat out of context, and wish there had been more of them.

The other branch of the story was the personal side: a lonely old woman whose husband had died and whose son lives half a world away.  It's a poignant reminder that even the most famous and powerful people in the world still face the same troubles in the end as the unwashed masses, even if they have cheery hired help to make it easier.

Bottom line: I would've like more background in history and politics (I can't believe I just said that - I hate politics!), but I enjoyed the story of the woman.