Being Mary Tyler Moore

[DanaK]

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With unprecedented access to Mary Tyler Moore’s vast archive, Being Mary Tyler Moore chronicles the screen icon whose storied career spanned sixty years. Weaving Moore’s personal narrative with the beats of her professional accomplishments, the film highlights her groundbreaking roles and the indelible impact she had on generations of women who came after her.

HBO documentary that premieres Friday May 26, time currently unknown, on HBO and streams on HBO Max

[DanaK]

Official press release and trailer http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/05/09/hbo-original-documentary-being-mary-tyler-moore-debuts-may-26-426415/20230509hbo01/

Debuts May 26 at 8pm on HBO and streaming on HBO Max

[Supagirl]

Wow, this was….not good. Not only do we find out that Mary Tyler Moore is not Mary Richards or Laura Petrie, but an intensely private person who is actually more like Beth from Ordinary People. So that’s a little disappointing: she’s just an actress. I can’t help thinking that if the filmmakers were a little more skilled, we would have gotten a better look at & analysis of her charm and charisma. 
 

Also, the director chose to use music to underscore every damn scene that drowned out the clips and the voiceovers. It was laughably bad music and VERY LOUD.

One thing I did appreciate was not showing the talking head interviews of contemporaries and random modern-day actors who were commenting on her & the shows’ influence on them, etc., because it’s a tired documentary trope anyway and who cares what Justin Timberlake thinks of the BeeGees (for example of another HBO doc). The voiceover and chyron were plenty, and didn’t pull focus from Mary.

[chediavolo]

On 5/30/2023 at 3:11 AM, Supagirl said:

Wow, this was….not good. Not only do we find out that Mary Tyler Moore is not Mary Richards or Laura Petrie, but an intensely private person who is actually more like Beth from Ordinary People. So that’s a little disappointing: she’s just an actress. I can’t help thinking that if the filmmakers were a little more skilled, we would have gotten a better look at & analysis of her charm and charisma. 
 

Also, the director chose to use music to underscore every damn scene that drowned out the clips and the voiceovers. It was laughably bad music and VERY LOUD.

One thing I did appreciate was not showing the talking head interviews of contemporaries and random modern-day actors who were commenting on her & the shows’ influence on them, etc., because it’s a tired documentary trope anyway and who cares what Justin Timberlake thinks of the BeeGees (for example of another HBO doc). The voiceover and chyron were plenty, and didn’t pull focus from Mary.

Well, like most actors, she was playing characters, who apparently were nothing like her in real life. In real life she was a raging alcoholic, a serious diabetic, which, unfortunately, I’m sure the alcohol did not help.  A not so great mother and had lots more issues than the two famous  sitcom characters she played on TV. And I always find it a little strange and a lot icky when a woman marries a man that’s 30 years younger than her. But I guess in this case it worked out they were married a long time. I actually like when they reveal the real person behind the characters that they played. You may like them more, and you may like them less.

[Pop Tart]

On 5/31/2023 at 11:52 AM, chediavolo said:

Well, like most actors, she was playing characters, who apparently were nothing like her in real life. In real life she was a raging alcoholic, a serious diabetic, which, unfortunately, I’m sure the alcohol did not help.  A not so great mother and had lots more issues than the two famous  sitcom characters she played on TV. And I always find it a little strange and a lot icky when a woman marries a man that’s 30 years younger than her. But I guess in this case it worked out they were married a long time. I actually like when they reveal the real person behind the characters that they played. You may like them more, and you may like them less.

Robert Levine was 18 years younger than her, not 30 years. He was 29, she was in her 40s and given how they described one another and how they felt, it appears it was a strong relationship. 

As to the documentary, I really enjoyed it. Of course I knew MTM was not Laura Petrie or her sitcom namesake MTM, but I did not know all the losses she'd had. Losing both her son and her sister (who were months apart in age) in possible suicidal deaths? She says not as regards her son, and not known for her sister. And that she became close to her brother after they had been estranged and then he died? That's a whole lot of weight to carry. And given that her mother was an alcoholic, no surprise MTM was susceptible.

She seems like a person who probably suffered from depression and self medicated with alcohol. 

The two moments in the movie that really showed me who she was: the view of her at the Oscars, nominated for playing a woman who has lost her adult son, just weeks after she lost her adult son. And the video of her at her bachelorette party when Betty White is speaking, where for a few moments her face just showed so much sadness - even while celebrating her marriage to a man she loved. In both of these small moments the false front she displayed to the world dropped away.

Was it the most earth-shattering expose of MTM? No. But it did give me a few things to ponder about this woman who always had to show a happy face to the world. 

[One Imaginary Girl]

Worth a watch just for the interview at the start of the doc, from The David Susskind Show in 1966.  His comments about wives (using Laura Petrie as an unrealistic example of one) were so horribly misogynistic, and you could see that MTM was disturbed but had to answer tactfully.  

[heatherchandler]

Not great.  I didn’t learn anything new about her.  In fact I feel like I know less.  Wasn’t she a huge animal rights person?  Did they even get into that?  If so I missed it.  She came off icy and annoyed to be interviewed.  

[txhorns79]

17 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

Not great.  I didn’t learn anything new about her.  In fact I feel like I know less.  Wasn’t she a huge animal rights person?  Did they even get into that?  If so I missed it.  She came off icy and annoyed to be interviewed.  

Yeah, I didn't love it.  I expected it to feel more intimate and it simply didn't.  I did like seeing her bachelorette party, but otherwise everything felt very surface level.  Heck, we heard her sister died tragically and I don't think we even learned if Mary was close with her sister, given how far apart in age they were.    

[Sweet-tea]

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And the video of her at her bachelorette party when Betty White is speaking, where for a few moments her face just showed so much sadness - even while celebrating her marriage to a man she loved. In both of these small moments the false front she displayed to the world dropped away.

I had the same reaction. This seemed like a glimpse of the real Mary. I also wondered if she was drunk and that's why she fell. She was laughing but I did see the sadness and a faraway look in her eyes. 

I enjoyed some of this, especially the scenes of her on the two shows. But they glossed over a lot of serious stuff including her alcoholism. I wish they had more fully explored her family relationships more, her mother's alcoholism, her brother's alcoholism (I believe this was briefly mentioned) and Mary's alcoholism.

She looked stiff and uncomfortable in the interview with Rona Barrett. It was only near the end that the real Mary behind the image was spoken of a little bit. And I know she was diabetic, but I didn't get a clear sense of what led to her death. I guess it was ongoing medical issues and at 80 her body just gave out?

I remember her performance in Ordinary People. She was excellent. It's interesting that she said much of the Mary Richards' character--the sunny, upbeat person--was her while some people close to her implied she was more like Beth from Ordinary People. Even her best friend described her as "steely." Not a bad term but made me think of Beth, not Mary Richards. 

MTM was a great show. I understand her role was considered a breakthrough for women. I think I've seen every episode of the show. That aside, some of the comments about her seemed hyperbolic to me. 

One other thing: she was a beautiful woman. As Laura Petrie, she was so girl-next-door pretty. She looked like a beauty pageant contestant. 

 

 

[ChicksDigScars]

I never realized it, but looking back at photos of my mother in the 60's and 70's, her hair and clothing styles basically mirrored that of MTM. The brunette flip style, whether it be short or long. Mary was an icon for dark haired, brown eyed ladies who mostly had blond bombshells to emulate. And kids like me who loved to watch Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore reruns, and who had to put up with blond Barbie's, when we really just wanted someone and something that looked more like us.  

HBO did docs on both idols that my mom (and I) followed, MTM and Natalie Wood. Both led troubled personal lives. And yes, I also got the impression that MTM was actually more like Beth Jarrett than anything. I was disappointed that she lost the Oscar, but you can't really argue with Sissy Spacek winning that year. I was more shocked that Donald Sutherland was overlooked for a nomination. Timothy Hutton? *Chef's Kiss* That movie is as close to perfect in casting and performances as you can get.