Admittedly, I have never seen (or even heard of) the series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend before reading Jones’ work. However, having watched the suggested clips and read her entry, the series seems exactly like something that would have a widespread appeal. A relatable main character, Rebecca, turned wacky and interesting from an impulsive decision, and pursuing a brand new life as a fish out of water. Classic scenario that has such a wide range of possibilities. The series follows Rebecca, a woman bored of her life until following her ex-boyfriend from decades ago across the country to set up a new life. Just relatable enough to be enjoyable.
This subject, similarly to most others that have been written about in this course, relies heavily on both the superiority and incongruity theories. Superiority is expressed in having a main character that uproots her entire life in the fruitless quest to regain an ex-boyfriend out of desperation for an interesting, or at least not boring and depressing, life. We can look upon this character and laugh at her decision making skills because of just how blatantly far fetched they are, and how unlikely it is for anything to turn out right. Though this is would be a pretty sad idea if shown in a legitimate, realistic light, the show presents it in a comedic way.
The incongruity comes into play when we think about these decisions that Rebecca makes. For example, if someone comes across an ex-boyfriend in real life, the most that the average person would do is engage in some, most likely painfully awkward, small talk. Most of us would simply hide our face and continue on with our lives. However, Rebecca chooses to follow this man back to the city in which he lives and uproot her entire basis of life in hopes that maybe rekindling this romance could save her life from being so monotonous. What a rollercoaster of a plot.
What do you think makes things that are relatable funny? I've always wondered if we should not come up with a relatability theory. Or perhaps that is already implicit in the others. Did you personally like it?
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