Figuring out what makes people tick is really what great art is all about. And while we here at The A.V. Club have no delusions of grandeur, we’d like to think we contribute to that conversation by providing a few of our musings about pop culture, and giving you all a place to share your thoughts as well. (That is, when the comments section works properly, which should be more frequently now—and we’re continuing to make back-end tweaks to make that experience smoother, we swear!)
Now we want to be even more part of the conversation with our new series Why We Love. Launching this Thursday, the ongoing video series examines the (sometimes subconscious) reasons we’re drawn to our pop culture obsessions. Produced by The A.V. Club, the series features interviews with celebrities and thought leaders going beyond nostalgia to explore the sociological and psychological reasons we are drawn to certain types of entertainment and personalities. Equal parts VH1’s I Love The… and Vox’s Explained, each episode explores a different concept or theme.
In honor of Pride Month, the first four episodes—which will be released on our site the last two Thursdays and Mondays of June—feature LGBTQ talent and academics discussing everything from their obsessions with James Bond and the X-Men to why loving musical theater and The Golden Girls is more than just a cliche. Check out the opening of the first episode here:
The idea for the series evolved from a staff meeting conversation in which one of our video-content producers, Cameron Scheetz, revealed he’d recently discovered he was not alone in feeling that his love of the James Bond series was somehow tied to his queer identity. He wanted to go deeper than the obvious and explore why this hyper-masculine spy was so appealing to other gay people. That germ of an idea snowballed into Why We Love, which we decided to launch during Pride Month so it could kick it off with the idea that started it all.
The first four episodes—which we’re billing a miniseries titled Why We Love: Pride Edition—center on action heroes, divas and dames, magic and monsters, and musicals. But we’re already planning more, non-Pride episodes to be released later this summer. And we want to hear from you, what topics would you love to have us explore? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to check out Why We Love when it launches Thursday.
Why We Love: Pride Edition features Kalen Allen (actor, digital creator), Guy Branum (comedian), Rhea Butcher (comedian), Wilson Cruz (activist, actor, E.P. of Visible: Out On Television), Cameron Esposito (comedian, actor), Laurie Essig (professor, author) Ezra Furman (musician), Jonica T. Gibbs (actor, Twenties), Michael Grassi (writer/E.P., Katy Keene), Harvey Guillén (actor, What We Do In The Shadows), Dave Holmes (Esquire Editor-At-Large, Homophilia podcast host), Rahne Jones (actor, The Politician), Joe Lipsett (Horror Queers podcast host), Keiynan Lonsdale (musician, actor, Love Simon), David Lowbridge-Ellis (writer, Licence To Queer), Ira Madison III (TV writer, Keep It podcast host), Jenny Owen Youngs (musician, Buffering The Vampire Slayer podcast host), Peppermint (activist, actor, Head Over Heels), Leo Sheng (actor, The L Word: Generation Q), SA Smythe (professor, poet), Trace Thurman (Horror Queers podcast host), Karen Tongson (professor, Waiting To X-Hale podcast co-host), Julio Torres (writer, SNL, actor, Los Espookys), and Nina West (performer, RuPaul’s Drag Race).
18 Comments
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and other media like it (Archer, Bond, Eastbound and Down, etc). Why are we so invested with and/or love characters that have zero to close to zero redeeming qualities? Is it due to seeing our own worst tendencies and impulses taken to such an extreme that we can then console ourselves and say, “At least I’m not THAT bad”? Is it the ultimate “guilty pleasure” (god I hate that term)?
And when you say that you’re improving the comments section, does that mean a return to Disqus?
I feel like it’s the same reason why otherwise intelligent and moral people watch reality trash: “I’m glad I’m not them, but I enjoy watching them be cruel/dumb/snarky/qualities I (hope) I don’t have”
But that doesn’t necessarily explain our affection for these characters. Take Charlie from IASIP. Easily the easiest one out of the bunch to root for, but he’s still objectively a terrible person (pretends to have cancer to score a sympathy screw, for example).
I also avoided including reality TV in my original post, as RTV tends to take “real” people and edit and twist the “real” things they say and the “real” situations they find themselves in in order to create “characters” and “situations”, as opposed to fictional media where how sympathetic or not a character is is all up to the whims of the writers and creators.
I don’t feel like I like Sunny or Archer because of their rich character work. At their peaks, they’re just really fucking funny. In part, letting the characters be awful people uncuffs the writers to prioritize laughs over preserving a character’s likeability or relatability. If there’s something funny that only a dick would say, they can say it when it might not play on a sitcom that was more concerned about audience sympathy.
Sometimes, we develop sympathy for funny characters just by virtue of the fact that they’re funny and familiar, but I would argue that’s more a quirk of human nature than something the shows were actively striving for. In fact, I think those shows work far better for the fact their creators know their characters are assholes, and so they’re usually the butt of jokes. We’re laughing at them, not with them, which is, for me personally, kind of a prerequisite for enjoying awful person comedy.
And there’s a transgressive element to it. “jesus, did she really just say that??” A lot of reality TV is based on people unleashed to say whatever awful thing pops into their heads, with no repercussions. It creates freedom through unpredictability (which is also true of scripted series).
All my favorite characters are awful people – Jerri Blank, Forrest MacNeil, Kenny Powers. It’s nowhere near as funny to watch an upstanding character. The audience is capable of distinguishing between right from wrong without a role model lead character and a storyline that end with A Lesson.As for why we feel sympathy for them, I don’t know if I root for them. I just don’t want them to die so that the story can continue.
It doesn’t matter whether we like it or not, it’s going to autoplay on every page anyway.
I honestly don’t know why they have a site design that encourages people to use ad blockers for reasons beyond advertising.
Christ, Entire Website a Video
Whenever the autoplay video’s not on screen, all the other characters should be asking “Where’s the autoplay video?”
I know that’s what I’m saying since half the time I have to scroll around to find it – after muting my speaker.
Sounds like a great idea and one I’d reall- reads: “The ongoing video series” – and I’m out. But good luck!
Reducing so many Random Roles to videos rather than long form written articles is one of the biggest losses to this site.
We’re doing them as both now. Both a video, and the written story underneath.
I’ll be honest, the video previews put me off clicking on any of them so this is good to know, thanks.
I prefer reading RR articles. However, the Margo Martindale video was worth it to see her get weepy over The Americans.
I’m a sucker for movies/shows involving tight knit friend groups. Animal House, Buckaroo Banzai, Ed Wood, although ironically not Friends. I’ve been friend-deficient most of my life and particularly in my youth, and I’m drawn to stories about friends that display loyalty especially.
Video? Ugh. Can you guys post transcripts as well?