It's a choice of no return to start watching "I Love Lucy": let yourself enjoy this adventure through all the sexism and the catastrophic provincial matrimony that made Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz eternal in television history, creating one of the most important situation comedies ever. Understand how even in its dated construction there's a special espace in this series for us to be fascinated by its potencial. Especially as a TV historical document, portraying cigarette advertisement with glamour and luxury which bring us to a contradictory relationship between home and show business by Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.
These curious creatures never seem to be victimized, in spite of the social stratification in the 50s, both the celebrity obsessions and the depreciation of women's role in society. There's something fascinating about Lucy's figure between the subversive and the submissive, both hidden behind her plotting redheaded mind and social business desires. Behind the impediment to what Lucy wants the most and the dilemma of her life: join Ricky's tropicana show with his permission while in fact there's also the pleasure in manipulating her farce into going there with masks and disguises, there's also his insecurity and her xenophobia, the accent jokes.
They provoked their way into most american's home television in the early 50s, bringing complex discussions disguised by their comic acts. For instance, the emergency and importance of TV (only some years before Douglas Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows"), the patriarchal family and the half-sourly sweet american way of life in its most flamboyance. A disguised little housewife Lucy, that goes onstage each night with a different mask to avoid being rejected of his husband's shows, she represents one way or another the theatricality of american life, besides bringing this idea in sarcastic and ironic manners.
Although it's discouraging Ricky's impediments regarding her wishes to perform, the conniving and scheming Lucy uses all her accident-prone talents to escape him in a kind of Marx Bros. farse if they were directed by a drunk Lubitsch, do you know that evil trickery that seems to be build with smiles and promises of love? It's vitameatavegamin on the house and by all means, do not fool yourself with the simplicity in Lucy's crying and laughing out loud, see that you doubt everything and do not trust anybody until you receive your breakfast in bed.
