Queen’s Gambit became the most watched Netflix series attracting 62 million viewers in its first month. What starts as a soppy story of an orphaned girl turns into a powerful series about chess, mental health and female representation in sport.
In the midst of this year’s pandemic and lockdowns, online chess became the ultimate sport of the year – way before Queen’s Gambit appeared on our screens. Whilst other sports struggled throughout the global pandemic, chess thrived and the Queen’s Gambit only continued to increase its popularity.
According to the history books, chess has been played since the 1200s, with the 19th century marking its official birth as a sport after becoming popularised in the Soviet Union, with the show itself set during the Cold War.
But why is the Queen’s Gambit’s success so important? How often are coming-of-age TV series or films, about young girls owning their field, let alone the sports field, shown? TV is still heavily influential and millions of girls around the world are watching it, making onscreen representation matter even more – if you don’t see it, you can’t do it.
When asked about the critics of her glamorous style, which apparently prevent her from being a serious chess player, she unapologetically responds;
“I would say that it is much easier to play chess without the burden of an Adam’s apple”. A metaphor for women’s long rebellion against misrepresentation in sport.
It has a similar energy to Serena Williams’s famous “show them what crazy can do” quote from the Nike commercial and righteously so.
Women in sport have been for far too long misrepresented, over-sexualised and discriminated against. So it’s refreshing to see such strong female figures in a sporting context, with women’s sport seeing a huge resurgence in recent years, which will hopefully continue to flourish.
Queen’s Gambit also gambles with hot topics like mental health in young athletes and addiction. Issues lacking full exploration in the real sporting world yet are essential areas of discussion – we simply need to talk about the elephant in the room.
Although talk on mental health has normalised over the last few years, some is still considered taboo – addiction being one. It’s important for the sport community to address these issues openly and frequently, breaking the stigma and changing mentality for the better.
