Throughout all eight episodes of Season 1 of Adult Swim’s Women Wearing Shoulder Pads, not a single male character speaks a word. Men are mentioned and discussed, but all the series’ lines are spoken by women. It was an effective decision, and one that series creator Gonzalo Cordova revealed he committed to extremely early in the show’s development process. Centering women helps make Women Wearing Shoulder Pads an insightful show that focuses on themes of motherhood, women in business, queer romance, and more.
Gonzalo Cordova’s Decision Was Inspired By The Works Of Pedro Almodóvar
Legendary and prolific Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is known for writing stories about women, including his breakthrough hit Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and more recent offerings such as Parallel Mothers and The Room Next Door. In a conversation with Game Rant, Cordova described his experience watching Almodóvar’s films and how they helped him realize that Women Wearing Shoulder Pads should be an all-female show:
“In Almodóvar’s work, you forget about the male characters. With the exception, occasionally, of Antonio Banderas or Javier Bardem, you kind of forget them. You forget the love interest, and you’re just into these women. In Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, some of the male characters are barely visible. And I wanted to heighten that.”
He also admitted that the title Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is actually one of the first elements of the show he came up with, and it strongly motivated his decision to commit to the all-female cast. “That title, if you notice, has the word ‘women’ in it,” Cordova said. “So I really wanted to commit to the initial idea.”
The Show’s Female Cast Is Multi-Layered And Fascinating
Throughout the conversation, Cordova repeatedly highlighted that he wanted to make Women Wearing Shoulder Pads a heightened version of a typical melodrama, and the show’s core female cast appears to have accomplished that. In just eight eleven-minute episodes, they fight, fall in love, stalk one another, reveal secrets, attempt to take down each other’s businesses, and much more. The queer romance story between cuy (guinea pig) fighter Espada and businesswoman Marioneta is particularly compelling, as is the growth of Nina Quispe, a young girl and passionate cuy rights activist.
None of Women Wearing Shoulder Pads’ women feel like clichés or one-dimensional stereotypes, and nowhere is that more true than in Marioneta Negocios. Arguably a villain protagonist in many ways, Marioneta is a ruthless businesswoman who will do anything to get ahead and genuinely (and perhaps rightfully) believes that everyone she meets is obsessed with her. Throughout the show’s first season, she’s portrayed at both the height of her power and the depths of despair, and it’s a journey that is consistently fascinating to watch.
When asked about the inspiration behind creating Marioneta, Cordova cited Carmen Maura, an iconic actress who appeared in many of Almodóvar’s films, as well as Joan Crawford, who famously portrayed unashamedly unsympathetic, self-motivated women in films such as This Woman is Dangerous, as well women who undergo complex, stressful situations such as her character in What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? Marioneta is a fascinating character who viewers can relate to even if they don’t necessarily empathize with her.
Women Wearing Shoulder Pads’ first season debuts on Adult Swim on August 17, and Cordova is both nervous and excited to see how viewers react to the show’s all-female cast. He admitted that he loved every one of them, finding Marioneta “so funny and charming” and feeling that “a big part of [her charm] is that she does so many unlikable things.” It remains to be seen how viewers will react to Women Wearing Shoulder Pads’ man-less, woman-centric world, but one thing is certain: they will definitely remember these characters and their melodramatic journeys.
