Community, and a question
Aug. 2nd, 2013 05:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitI've finished watching Community season three. Mostly I thought it was great, although sometimes it veered out of meta and into parody (the Law and Order episode was pretty pointless, although I was amused when I figured out why it was called "Basic Lupine Urology"). Two things I didn't like are under the cut because they're more spoilery.
First of all, poor Britta deserves better than what was done to her this season. Admittedly, I think most of the show has been unfair to her considering how awesome she was in the pilot, but this season she was the zeppo, and that's just wrong. They can try to fucking rehabilitate Pierce as a character and they can't do something with Britta?
Second . . . Abed. I love Abed. I love Abed SO MUCH, ALWAYS. But . . . it felt like season three patholgized him in a way that hadn't happened before. The show has always implied that he's on the autism spectrum, but season three started giving him behaviors like shrieking or retreating into himself when he's upset, and as I understand it, these things are common in people with severe autism but pretty damn rare in someone who can attend college, hold conversations, make friends, etc. It didn't make sense, it wasn't consistent with how he's been shown before (not that characterization consistency is something Community's good at), and worst of all, this new portrayal of Abed seemed designed to make us feel sorry for him. There was never any reason to feel sorry for Abed in the first two seasons (I mean, apart from things that could have happened to any character, like his grief when his mother said she wouldn't visit for Christmas), because Abed was the most awesome of all!
At the time, I was really moved by the scene in "Contemporary Impressionists" when Troy asked Abed to trust him enough to let Troy tell him what to do sometimes, when necessary. But in the context of the rest of the season I'm less happy about that scene, because it seems like part of a process of Abed being infantilized and pathologized. I notice, too, that we didn't see as much of Abed as a creator in season three--just Abed the fantasist, which isn't quite the same thing.
And, wow, did I not like the conversion of the Dreamatorium to a bedroom for Troy at the end of the last S3 episode. Yes, Abed still has a Dreamatorium, but it's much smaller. It's a Dreamatorium for one. The implication is the Troy is moving on, "growing up," and specifically moving into a heterosexual relationship which of course takes priority over his relationship with Abed. The idea that maturity for a man means prioritizing a heterosexual relationship and breaking or profoundly loosening his ties to any other man is a trope (though not, alas, one that TV Tropes has named); you can see it in Shaun of the Dead and a lot of other movies about immature, loser men who have to grow up to deserve the women in their lives. (It's the comedy version, where the man really is a loser and his male friend is horrible, that's by far the most prevalent. Otherwise the cruelty of the trope, the way it denies men any emotional connection outside of heterosexuality, would be obvious.) Given how metacritical Community is, I'm surprised that this trope didn't come in for any subversion or critique. And it's not just Troy and Abed's friendship, but the huge value the show has placed on imagination, fantasy, and pleasure that seems to be being dismantled in that last scene. *sadface*
And now the question: should I watch season four? I've heard that because the idiot network replaced Dan Harmon and a whole bunch of other people who'd worked on the show, season four is very different and not nearly as good. Will I be happier not knowing? Not that I don't have criticisms of S3, as you've seen, but they're not problems that ruin the show for me.
First of all, poor Britta deserves better than what was done to her this season. Admittedly, I think most of the show has been unfair to her considering how awesome she was in the pilot, but this season she was the zeppo, and that's just wrong. They can try to fucking rehabilitate Pierce as a character and they can't do something with Britta?
Second . . . Abed. I love Abed. I love Abed SO MUCH, ALWAYS. But . . . it felt like season three patholgized him in a way that hadn't happened before. The show has always implied that he's on the autism spectrum, but season three started giving him behaviors like shrieking or retreating into himself when he's upset, and as I understand it, these things are common in people with severe autism but pretty damn rare in someone who can attend college, hold conversations, make friends, etc. It didn't make sense, it wasn't consistent with how he's been shown before (not that characterization consistency is something Community's good at), and worst of all, this new portrayal of Abed seemed designed to make us feel sorry for him. There was never any reason to feel sorry for Abed in the first two seasons (I mean, apart from things that could have happened to any character, like his grief when his mother said she wouldn't visit for Christmas), because Abed was the most awesome of all!
At the time, I was really moved by the scene in "Contemporary Impressionists" when Troy asked Abed to trust him enough to let Troy tell him what to do sometimes, when necessary. But in the context of the rest of the season I'm less happy about that scene, because it seems like part of a process of Abed being infantilized and pathologized. I notice, too, that we didn't see as much of Abed as a creator in season three--just Abed the fantasist, which isn't quite the same thing.
And, wow, did I not like the conversion of the Dreamatorium to a bedroom for Troy at the end of the last S3 episode. Yes, Abed still has a Dreamatorium, but it's much smaller. It's a Dreamatorium for one. The implication is the Troy is moving on, "growing up," and specifically moving into a heterosexual relationship which of course takes priority over his relationship with Abed. The idea that maturity for a man means prioritizing a heterosexual relationship and breaking or profoundly loosening his ties to any other man is a trope (though not, alas, one that TV Tropes has named); you can see it in Shaun of the Dead and a lot of other movies about immature, loser men who have to grow up to deserve the women in their lives. (It's the comedy version, where the man really is a loser and his male friend is horrible, that's by far the most prevalent. Otherwise the cruelty of the trope, the way it denies men any emotional connection outside of heterosexuality, would be obvious.) Given how metacritical Community is, I'm surprised that this trope didn't come in for any subversion or critique. And it's not just Troy and Abed's friendship, but the huge value the show has placed on imagination, fantasy, and pleasure that seems to be being dismantled in that last scene. *sadface*
And now the question: should I watch season four? I've heard that because the idiot network replaced Dan Harmon and a whole bunch of other people who'd worked on the show, season four is very different and not nearly as good. Will I be happier not knowing? Not that I don't have criticisms of S3, as you've seen, but they're not problems that ruin the show for me.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-03 12:33 pm (UTC)*nods* The only So Heterosexual moment I didn't mind was the one where he and Troy are both interested in the librarian (and actually I did mind her ridiculously low-cut outfits in the workplace), they ask her to choose, and when she picks Troy, Abed is completely unbothered. And then Troy dumps her because she says mean things about Abed. Obviously, what I liked about the whole sequence was NOT its amazing level of heterosexuality.
Watching the first three seasons as fast as I did made the change in Abed's characterization really noticeable. In S1 I remember thinking, "By fannish standards, Abed is no more than mildly odd." That's not true at all by S3.
I think I'll wait on S4 and see what you think.
I guess Dan Harmon is coming back for S5, so maybe that will help. Maybe.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-03 12:36 pm (UTC)