'A Teacher' will see Kate Mara as predatory school teacher mirror her roles in 'AHS' and 'House of Cards'
In television and films, there is always the trope of “that woman”. She can be a “home-wrecker”. She can be a detached ambitious figure. She can be the one who always has casual relationships. She can be the one who has an inappropriate relationship. She is always viewed with contempt because the script poses her as a character worthy of derision and hatred. Even when something bad happens to her, you’ll find yourself saying, “oh, she had it coming.”
Kate Mara, it would seem, has become something of an expert at playing characters like these. She plays the parts with so much conviction, sometimes it is hard to separate her face from a character like that. She did it as Zoe Barnes in ‘House of Cards’. She did it as Hayden McClaine in ‘American Horror Story: Murder House’. But now, we’ll see her in a role that is altogether similar and shockingly different in ‘A Teacher’, and we’ll explain this paradoxical statement below.
‘A Teacher’, a limited series created by Hannah Fidell based on her 2013 film of the same name, explores the complexities and consequences of a predatory relationship between Claire Wilson, a young teacher at a suburban Texas high school, and her student, Eric Walker. Mara, of course, plays Claire. And you can already tell why this role feels similar.
As an adult having a relationship with her high school student, Claire will obviously be the subject of ridicule in society. Especially, if set in a post-#MeToo era, there is a lot -- just within the show’s universe -- that would be against her. At the same time, society looks at women in relationships with younger men in an inherently negative light. So, even barring the possible statutory sexual abuse in this scenario (it’s unclear if Eric is a minor), she will be judged for just this one facet of her life. But we cannot at all sideline the predatory nature of this relationship, even if it is, as we see in the trailer, a seemingly happy one.
So, Mara will definitely play “that woman” here again. But things are also, in many ways, the exact opposite of what her roles were like in either ‘House of Cards’ or ‘AHS’. As Zoe Barnes, she has an affair with Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) to further her journalistic ambitions. He feeds her information that serves both their agendas. And when she demands more from him outside the pre-agreed boundaries of their relationship, when she begins to suspect him of many illegalities, Frank murders her. Over there, the character is written in such a way that it is hard to sympathize with Mara. In ‘AHS’, she is the nubile mistress of Dr. Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) who is outrightly written as an antagonist. Hayden, even in her death, continues to harm Ben’s family as a ghost.
But here, in ‘A Teacher’, there is a chance that we might actually get to sympathize with Mara’s character for once. While she has never in the aforementioned two roles been in a position of power, she has been a vicious person in both characters. But here, she is shown as a good person, even if this time, she is the one in the position of sexual power. Despite the hugely predatory nature of her relationship, it would seem that the show tries to examine the nuances of such a thing. Hopefully, it won’t dismiss or even short-sell the exact wrongs in what a relationship such as that entails.
‘A Teacher’ just might be a rare occasion for not just Mara but for any “that woman” character where one can, if not condone, sympathize and understand her position and her actions.
The first three episodes of ‘A Teacher’ will air on November 10, only on FX on Hulu.