Michelle Obama Update: How Mary Tyler Moore Influenced The Former First Lady [VIDEO]
Former First Lady Michelle Obama was influenced by Mary Tyler Moore growing up.
Many celebrities have been paying tribute to Moore, who died on Wednesday. But Obama spoke about Moore several months ago in an interview with Variety, about how The Mary Tyler Moore Show had an impact on her.
"She was one of the few single working women depicted on television at the time," Obama said in the August interview. "She wasn't married. She wasn't looking to get married. At no point did the series end in a happy ending with her finding a husband - which seemed to be the course you had to take as a woman. But she sort of bucked that. She worked in a newsroom, she had a tough boss, and she stood up to him. She had close friends, never bemoaning the fact that she was a single. She was very proud and comfortable in that role."
Obama saw this at a young age and came to the realization that there were many options open to her as a woman, despite how pop culture so often says otherwise.
"I was probably 10 or 11 when I saw that, and sort of started thinking, 'You know what? Marriage is an option. Having a family is an option," she said. "And going to school and getting your education and building your career is another really viable option that can lead to happiness and fulfillment."
Obama fulfilled this idea, graduating from Princeton and Harvard Law School. She went on to work for the Sidley Austin law firm and later served as the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago. She married eventual President Barack Obama and had two children, Sasha and Malia.
