Are You a "Mary" or a "Rhoda"?

That's Rhoda Morganstern (Valerie Harper) on the left and her best friend, Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore).

I remember when Sex and The City was still on the air. There was a section of the HBO website where you could go and take a quiz and the site would tell you if you were a “Carrie”, a “Miranda”, a “Samantha” or a “Charlotte.” I remember thinking that the whole thing was a confounded waste of time. There is only one question a girl has to ask herself: Are you a “Mary” or a “Rhoda”? For those of you with absolutely no concept of 20th Century American pop culture, Mary was the spunky main character and Rhoda was her neighbor and best friend on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 70s. It’s pretty easy to tell which one you are. You either turn the world on with your smile…or you shock and amuse it with your brashness and brightly colored caftans. I think you can guess which one the Bitching Beauty is.

Man, she really rocked those scarves!

Now don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against you if you are a Mary. But sometimes I just feel like the Rhodas of the world go through life unappreciated and undervalued. They’re either relegated to “best friend” status with no real identity of their own, treated as clowns to be mocked, or walking cautionary tales – the Anti-Marys; the woman your mother warns you not to emulate. And Rhoda played that part for 4 long years. But after a while something wonderful happens to the Rhodas of the world. If we hang in there long enough, we get to star in our own show! Rhoda eventually got to be the star…and so can you. Valerie Harper called it a spin-off deal with CBS – I call it my 30s.

So no matter which of these women you identify with, embrace it and really try to Rock That Look. I think it’s high time we bring back The Rhoda Look, by the way. And hey, if you’re a fan of Mary or Rhoda, you can see re-runs of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on MeTV.

Filed under: Random Thoughts