The Queen's Gambit garnered over 62 million views in its first month. It was the top limited series ever produced by Netflix and even made it onto Obama's "best of 2020" list. Yet, many critics were split. They gushed over the lusciousness of the set, the shots, and especially Anya Taylor-Joy, but they denounced the message it sent -- the celebration of Beth Harmon as feminist icon and female genius. "Allow me to shout from my lone perch at its summit that Beth Harmon is not pretty, and there is no story about her that can be told if she is",