State Of Mind: "'Community': Why I Love One Of The Most Frustrating Shows On TV"

State Of Mind: "'Community': Why I Love One Of The Most Frustrating Shows On TV"

Upon the request of a friend, I watched the entirety of the TV series "Community". It was amazing, and I am now a full-fledged fan. However, there are still certain things that bug me about the show...

The show follows a study group (nicknamed the Greendale Seven) as they come together to take classes at Greendale Community College. This group is made up of seven people (hence the nickname): Jeff, the not-as-apathetic-as-he-seems leader; Britta, the incapable and overenthusiastic rights activist; Troy, the fallen high school football star; Abed, the odd and media-absorbing savant; Annie, the tightly wound, yet sugary sweet, heart of the group; Shirley, the devoutly Christian and secretly rage-filled mother; and Pierce, the racist, homophobic, and cruel old guy.

What makes this show great is that these seeming disparate characters grow together over the course of the three (going on four) seasons. Though each may seem like a cardboard character trope, they grow out of their molds rather quickly. "Community" may seem to be too cool for school on the surface, but its characters always provide a window into its big, warm heart. However, it is these same characters that cause me to have issues with the show. I'll give each character of the Greendale Seven their own section (along with an extra two sections for the incompetent Dean Pelton and the outright insane Ben Chang) to explain my grievances.

Jeff Winger: Jeff is supposed to be the straight man on the show. He's supposedly too cool to be bothered with the problems of the rest of the group, but we all know that, deep down, he cares. The issue is that he keeps regressing to the point that it seems as though the lessons he's supposedly learning at the end of each episode are pointless. Because he's the straight man, he also sometimes ends up being the least interesting (though not the worst) character on the show and the one that it's hardest to get emotionally invested in. I actually don't have many problems with Jeff beyond his occasional blandness and inability to learn lessons, though.

Britta Perry: I may stand in a minority here, but I love Britta. That may come down to Gillian Jacobs jumping through flaming hoops to make the character great, but I just can't bring myself to dislike her as much as the characters on the show (and certain portions of the fanbase) do. I do, however, take issue with her characterization. She started the show as a smart, capable woman who could see right through Jeff's crap. She was the original heart of the group, as well as it's voice of reason. As time went on, however, she got significantly less capable and more idiotic. It didn't make her any less funny, but it did make it harder to take her seriously. She had suddenly become the buffoon character, and she can't do almost anything without messing it up. I still like her, but I do wish that they'd bring back a bit of that intelligence and cunning that made her so appealing to Jeff in the first place.

Troy Barnes: Troy is probably the character I have the fewest issues with. He's funny and ditzy, but he's grown significantly since the series began. If I do have an issue, it's that sometimes Troy just becomes Abed 2 as opposed to staying his own character. That's been becoming less and less the case now, though, as Troy is growing to realize that he has to grow up, not only for his sake, but for Abed's as well. Other than that, though, I don't really take issue with Troy, even if he's not my favorite character on the show.

Abed Nadir: Abed is the resident "meta-guy", the one who points out all of the hackneyed plots and tropes that the Greendale Seven go through. My main problem with him is that he can be kind of a dick. I understand that he has some issues, but, at the same time, he still sometimes recognizes the bad consequences of his actions and continues with them anyway, hurting his friends in the process. The show has begun to address this more, which I like, even if it does seem to be making a bigger deal out of Abed's condition than it was in the first two seasons.

Annie Edison: I really like Annie. She's sweet and tightly wound, which makes her great for certain comedic set pieces. I also really like Alison Brie, who does a great job with this character. My issue with her, though, is that the show kinda forgot what made her great for a bit in the middle. She became not much more than someone to stare at Troy and later Jeff. As with Troy, however, she's begun to grow back out of this through he moving in with him and Abed and her positioning of herself as the heart and matchmaker of the group.

Shirley Bennett: I think Shirley is really underrated and underused. I love Yvette Nicole Brown, and I sometimes feel as though she's being underutilized. That's not my issue with her, though. My issue is that she is probably the least fleshed out of these characters. She hasn't gotten a chance to branch out too much beyond the Christian mother stereotype she started with. The show has gotten slightly better with this with the foosball and marriage episodes, but she stills feels a bit underdeveloped, especially when surrounded by other characters who are as rich and rounded as these characters are. Hopefully, the show will give her a bit more rounding in the coming season.

Pierce Hawthorne: Pierce is in a two-way tie for my least favorite character on the show. He's hateful and villainous and has almost no redeeming qualities. That's my problem with him. His jokes are almost completely one-note (yeah, we get it, he's old and bigoted), and this is despite numerous episodes fleshing him out. To be perfectly clear, he's not a flat character; he's just an extremely annoying and almost infuriating character. He also got a bit better in the third season, but I still don't like him nearly as much as I like the rest of the Greendale Seven.

Dean Craig Pelton: I used to dislike this character a lot more than I do now. The zombie episode almost pushed him off the deep end for me, but he managed to claw his way back into my heart. My issue with him used to be that he was so stupid that he was putting people in danger (and also his one-note jokes, but, for some reason, it never bothered me as much with him as it did with Pierce), but that seems to have been evened out a bit as time goes on. By the time the second fake clip show with the therapist rolled around, I was rooting for him to make it out okay. I even started to like his different outfits after a certain point.

Ben Chang: Here's my other pick for least favorite character. I don't quite understand why this character exists. I almost never find him funny, and he doesn't fit in with the rest of the show's universe. When a character is too crazy for a world as ridiculous as the one created by "Community", you know something is very, very wrong. By the time he was living with Jeff, I had basically decided that this character was pretty much beyond me liking him, and this is one case where the third season probably made him worse in my eyes.

Beyond the characters, this show's writing is impeccable. It mixes intelligence with heart and never talks down to its audience. I know that "Community" is known for its high-concept episodes (and, trust me, "Epidemiology", "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons", "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas", and "Remedial Chaos Theory" are possibly my four favorite episodes), but I think the show is just as good when it has its feet firmly planted on the ground. I like when the show calms down a bit and really puts its characters under a microscope. For as crazy as this show can get, it's the realness of the characters that keeps you coming back for more.

The reason that the title of this article is what it is is because this show really does frustrate me sometimes. I know that it's capable of so many amazing things, so when it kinda half-asses an episode or does something that was obviously meant to appeal to a wider audience, I just have to shake my head. I understand that it needs more viewers, but I'd honestly prefer a shorter show that was great the whole way through than a show that compromised its ideals for a few more episodes that ended up being only mediocre. There's also the occasional character moment (or character in general, in the case of Pierce and Change) that I just can't get on board with.

For now, though, I'm glad it got a fourth season. I'm interested to see what happens with the Greendale Seven. I'm a bit worried that Dan Harmon is around anymore, but I'm confident that the show can still stay good. While I don't know if the show can (or should) make it to six seasons and a movie, I'll enjoy it while it lasts. "Community" is an experience that should be had by everyone. I can't count the reasons I should stay.

Hi. So. I know we've never really talked or anything but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy reading all of your reviews. Keep doing what you're doing, man!

Thanks so much! That means a lot to me. I'm glad people are enjoying my ramblings. lol

11 of the dwarves' actors from "The Hobbit" (taken at an advanced screening of the movie)

Underappreciated Film: "Scott Pilgrim"

I absolutely adore this movie. It's basically exactly what I want from a video game movie. However, it's not actually based on a video game. It's based on a comic book series, which is itself underappreciated.

The story follows Scott Pilgrim as he tries to win the love of Ramona Flowers. In order to do so, he must defeat her seven evil exes. The world of "Scott Pilgrim" runs on video game logic, in which it is totally okay for people to have superpowers and in which people explode into coins when they die. I love both the movie and the comic series for different reasons. The movies is hilarious, and the special effects are top-notch. The performances are great, and the music is varied and memorable. The comic, on the other hand, is more thoughtful and focuses more on the characters and their development and growth. They are both exceptional in their own ways, but I think I like the comics just a bit more. They are both still very underappreciated though. I personally think that this had to do with an odd marketing campaign for the movie combined with its relatively small target market. The comic's performance and general obscurity can simply be chalked up to generally lackluster sales for comics in general in any demographic that's not nerds and geeks like myself. It doesn't help that, in order to get the most out of the movie and the comic, you also have to have a relatively deep knowledge of classic video games. This tightens the demographic even further. It's also not really meant for older audiences. For example, I went to see this movie with my mother and my younger brother and sister. While my siblings and I enjoyed it, my mother didn't quite understand the movie. The tinge of hipster and slacker mentality also slims down the target audience. At this point, the film and comics will appeal to young hipsters, slackers, and nerds who play video games and read comics. While the movie and comics obviously appeal to people outside of this demographic, it is still usually only liked by people who fall into at least one of those categories. That's enough to keep most people away. I'd say give them a try. I love "Scott Pilgrim", and I think more people should give it a look. Maybe you'll find something of yourself among the hipstery slacker nerds.

P.S. In case anyone is wondering, I also love "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game". It's a great throwback to old-fashioned beat-em-ups, and it's totally worth the price you pay to download it, especially if you can get a group of friends together to play with you.

Great Songs From Great Musicals: "How Glory Goes"

Once again, the title of this segment is tested. I've never actually seen "Floyd Collins", the show that this song is from. I haven't even listened to all of the songs (despite the fact that I have the entire soundtrack on my iPod). However, I've heard that the show is great, and, if the rest of it is nearly as good as this song, I'm inclined to agree. 

The musical tells the story of Floyd Collins (crazy, I know), an explorer who gets caught in a narrow crawlway while inside a cave in 1925. His entrapment and the efforts to rescue him become a media frenzy. After a few days during which he can get food and water from the people outside, the cave collapses, leaving him nothing but voice contact from the outside world. This is the final song of the show, sung by Collins as he prepares for his imminent death. It involves him asking God what happens next, what heaven is like, and if there even is a heaven. This song is absolutely beautiful, and it perfectly marks how people would actually react if they realized that they were going to die soon. The song is composed almost completely of questions. Floyd starts out shyly before becoming more agitated near the middle of the song. It's clear that his rapidly approaching demise is beginning to sink in. Near the end, however, he realizes some of the good things that might be waiting for him in heaven, such as his mother. What started out as a series of existential questions becomes a calm acceptance of his fate, and one might even say that Floyd's penchant for exploration excites him even now as he prepares to venture into the unknown. I literally have no criticisms for this song. Performed correctly, this just might be the perfect song. It's sad, triumphant, insightful, emotional, simple, and gorgeous. I almost cry every time I listen to it, and, for those who know me or have read my opinions on the Oscars, that's saying something. What makes this even more moving is that the story of Floyd Collins is real. He really existed, and all of these things really happened to him. That's what makes this song perfect. I can completely imagine exactly this going through his head as he died. When a song can illustrate thought processes and complex emotions as well as this one does, that song deserves all of my praise. My one issue is that the version used in the recording is not the best version that I've heard. While opinions will differ, I just don't like the way the actor on the CD sings it. I prefer this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCYQ3ewIpUs. The orchestration are magnificent, and his voice is just the right mixture of country and showtune. I could go on forever about how much I absolutely adore this song. It's one of those songs that you listen to, and, as soon as it's over, you want to start it over. I try not to listen to it too much because there's no way to spoil something great than by overindulging in it. I'm going to end this now because, at this point, the song can't possibly live up to my praise. Either way, prepare to be incredibly saddened yet compelled to listen to it several times.