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People Are Just Finding Out Netflix's Maid Is Based On A True Story

Joanna Freedman

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People Are Just Finding Out Netflix's Maid Is Based On A True Story

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Netflix fans are just finding out that Maid is based on a true story, and it makes the whole series all the more poignant.

The seven-part series is actually adapted from Stephanie Land's 2019 memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive, which gives a sharp insight into the struggles of a single mother on the breadline.

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For those who haven't yet watched, the series centres around 25-year-old Alex (Margaret Qualley) - a mother who is burnt out, and worn down at the hands of her emotionally abusive, alcoholic boyfriend Sean (played by Nick Robinson).

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After things hit breaking point, Alex decides she has no choice but to leave her partner, taking her two-year-old daughter, Maddy, and fleeing their home.

Alex leaves her abusive ex in Maid (Credit: Netflix)
Alex leaves her abusive ex in Maid (Credit: Netflix)

A government worker tells Alex she can file a police report, but this is where the dangerous grey area is illuminated.

“And say what?” Alex asks, "That he didn’t hit me?”

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It turns out that in the absence of her partner's physical violence, there is much less that can be done, despite his vile, and all too serious emotionally abusive behaviour.

The series from then on follows Alex's experiences as a single mother going it alone, and the struggles she faces.

Alex can't get subsidised housing without a job, but without daycare she's at a loss of what to do - and to get that you need proof of employment. It really seems like an endless loop.

Stephanie Land with her book, Maid (Credit: Twitter)
Stephanie Land with her book, Maid (Credit: Twitter)
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Eventually she gets a job as a maid, and the story shows the day-to-day battles she faces to keep herself and her daughter afloat.

Stephanie's story is painfully similar. In her memoir, Land writes: "Years ago, when I thought about my future, poverty seemed inconceivable, so far away from my reality. I never thought I would end up here. But now, after one kid and a breakup, I was smack in the middle of a reality that I didn't know how to get out of".

She also talks of being sent to an emergency shelter where she's faced with a huge list of rules - seemingly punished just because of her financial position.

"I was moving into a place with rules that suggested that I was an addict, dirty, or just so messed up in life that I needed an enforced curfew and pee tests.

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Maid retells Stephanie's story (Credit: Netflix)
Maid retells Stephanie's story (Credit: Netflix)

"Being poor, living in poverty, sounded a lot like probation—the crime being a lack of means to survive," the memoir also reads.

Like Alex, struggles obtaining daycare got in the way of her job prospects, and meant she couldn't work in restaurants like she had previously.

She eventually begun cleaning houses, and went on government assistance, too.

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After finding out that the show was a true story, viewers flocked so social media to comment on Stephanie's remarkable story.

"Watching Maid on Netflix…. Loving it so far, just found out it’s based on a true story woooow," said one.

While another penned: "#MAIDNetflix #Maid is based on a true story which provides even more inspiration. So many beautiful scenes of triumph yet many heartbreaking realities for women and children in desperation for survival and dignity. Love this series @netflix".

A third said that the fact the series was a true story struck too close to home...

"Could only make it through one episode of MAID… the fact that it’s based on a true story tugs at my heart even more!," they wrote.

"In writing Maid, I hoped the book would change the stigmas that surround single mothers, especially those living in poverty," Stephanie added, on her website after releasing her memoir. "The stigmas that say we somehow deserve hardship because of the terrible decisions we made to get us there."

Here's hoping that the Netflix drama also helps to do just that...

Topics: TV And Film, Netflix

Joanna Freedman
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