Mabel Mora from “Only Murders in the Building” (2021-Present)
Mabel Mora from the series 'Only Murders in the Building'. Cool, composed, intelligent, delightfully sarcastic, kind, honest, lovely Mabel. (Also proprietor of the coolest collection of sweaters I have ever seen!)
She is one of my favourite female characters from fiction. What I love most about her is her utter originality. She’s a rarity. She’s a 75-year old stuck in the body of a 30-year old. She’s unlike most people her age. She chooses to take life slow, figure things out in her own time, and do what she loves. And most importantly, she doesn’t give in to hustle culture, even under pressure. (Granted it takes a certain amount of privelege to be able to do that. But even influencers these days that come from very rich backgrounds promulgate and endorse it.) She chooses to spend time with her two madcap geriatric best friends and solve murders, while getting herself into the funniest situations, because that’s what her calling is.
She dresses in a classic, timeless, chique way, that is also unique and entirely her own. And most importantly, she doesn't seem to dress for the male gaze, which I think we do a lot subconsciously. She doesn't seem to spend too much time on social media, because she's busy being present in the real world solving crimes. In fact, she doesn't do anything at all that would suggest that she seeks to fit in or requires validation from anyone. She simply does her own thing.
She's a nerd. She's a true crime podcast junkie. She is brave, inquisitive, incredibly intelligent, and has so much integrity. A timeless wonder, in my opinion. An anomaly. Albeit, a beautiful one. She is just... herself. And that's why she's so interesting.
Mabel is an example that you don't need to have it all figured out. It's okay to take as much time as you need. And you certainly don't need to fit in. You don't have to have a large circle of friends and go to parties all the time, just because you're young. If listening to podcasts, solving murders, hanging out with 70-year olds, and wearing the most fluffy, preppy sweaters is your thing, then you should just do that.
I’d like to embrace, honour and give space to the 75-year old part of myself buried beneath my layers of gen-z and millennial. I want to read, bake, listen to podcasts, and go on walks. I want to be a giant nerd again. I don’t want to follow social media trends, diet fads and the latest celebrity fashions. I just want to be me in all my messy, nerdy, awkward, confused glory. Because discovering who you are without all the peer pressure and need to conform may produce some interesting results. Mabel Mora inspired me to cut my hair in season 2. I believe in season 3, she has inspired me in other ways.
(Image from Google.)
