The Problem with “Community”

People have been ragging on me lately because I quit watching Community. Here’s the problem. Er, problems.

1. I no longer understand the characters’ motives

One basic rule of writing a story is that the characters’ motives need to be clear, and their secret desires make them act in ways that drive the plot. More and more when I watch Community do I feel that this is not happening.

First of all, the plot centers more and more on allegiance to the study group, and the politics of that exact group. I have a hard time believing that anyone going to a community college would give that much of a shit about a group of people they have little in common with from a class that ended long ago. (Yes, I know they still try to sign up for at least one class together every semester.) I’ve been in study groups – working on a tense project where you count on bored, lazy college classmates to help you out is not a petri dish of friendship.

I also don’t understand the constant vilification of Pierce. He’s an old dude, kinda weird and rude, but not horrible enough to inspire weekly ire from a study group that is no longer conceivably worth such passionate allegiance.

2. It doesn’t feel like “a show about a community college” anymore

At first, Community was funny because it was about people in hard-knock positions in life putting down their dignity and going to a shitty school. There were chicken nuggets! Dorm video games! Uh, study groups. But then Community was like, “What we should really do is make weekly parodies of movies, and if they have nothing to do with being at a community college, who cares! Let’s beef up the insane politics of their study group and make these plots about that.”

3. I feel like they destroy their set as often as possible

Let’s gas the school. Let’s have a war. Let’s cover the whole set in paint! This just seems so expensive, not to mention beyond all manner of probability in a real community college.

4. Kinda racist

Can anybody write a character for Ken Jeong that isn’t “Amoral, pesky, annoying Asian guy?” This girl put it better.

Believability is important to me, and I see many shows occasionally meandering outside of that realm. Turning distinct characters into extreme characters has its costs, and few writers can do it without relying on stereotypes. This is why I’m worried about Parks and Rec’s new subplot about Tom Haverford’s business that prints its own money. Come one guys, Tom knows better.

–Becky Lang