ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME: BETTY FRIEDAN WOULD PLOTZ
4 / 10
Friedan’s magnum opus is not the easiest gateway tract, but no matter: it’s only cited as a shorthand signifier. What Friedan in the supposed flesh is doing in this jukebox musical is the real puzzler. Let’s hope that her estate is being duly recompensed for the use of her personage, because her message has been perverted here into mere tokenism. If you really want to honor Friedan’s legacy, consider sitting this one out and contributing instead to one of the causes she fiercely espoused, such as the ever-elusive Equal Rights Amendment promising bodily autonomy – a basic that Spears herself no doubt holds dear.
