Parents' Guide to Queen of the Ring

Mildred Burke is a feminist icon who's well deserving of a biopic, and while this one is all ham and cheese, so is wrestling, so perhaps it's perfect. Hokey it is, with Bett Rickards' Dust Bowl accent coming off like a New Yorker playing Annie Oakley, but there's much to be celebrated in Queen of the Ring, from a female point of view. While the limiting attitudes of the time are reflected, the way that Mildred and the other female wrestlers see themselves and treat each other rises above the sexism. For instance, Mildred is a single mother in the 1930s, and she makes it clear that the only person who should feel shame about that situation is the man who abandoned her and their baby. And her romantic/business partner, Billy Wolfe, is a philanderer, but Mildred doesn't blame or resent her teammates who sleep with him in hope of securing employment. These women are in it together, they're never catty, and they're always supportive—with one notable exception.

True to life, Mildred is portrayed as being at odds with fellow wrestler June Byers (Kailey Farmer), and the two did actual damage to each other during a "shoot" (wrestling without a predetermined outcome). And while Mildred advocates for herself and the other female wrestlers, she can be mean, which likely is true to life as well. Wolfe is at times "a face"—a good guy helping Mildred achieve her dreams and create opportunities for women—and at others "a heel," in every way. Ultimately, Queen of the Ring tells Mildred's story like a WWE plot: It's sometimes full of heart and high stakes, and other times over-the-top and unbelievably ridiculous but still thoroughly entertaining. Here's hoping that through Mildred's unabashed embrace of and pride in her own strength and ability, little girls and young women may see their own, drawing more to the sport.