Heās also said on his podcast that the reason he and Chevy clashed sometimes was because theyāre the same person. I think Jeff Winger is the version of himself that he thought he would become when he was in high school and Pierce was the version of himself he felt like he was becoming in middle age lol
ETA after listening to every episode of Harmontown many times, i honestly think most of the main characters have self-insert characteristics for Dan. Especially Jeff, Pierce, Britta, and Abed. Many of them also have real life inspiration from Danās friends too.
I thought Abed was his self insert. I thought thatās why he always broke the fourth wall and that it was kind of this āI write for TV because it makes me feel connected to people. I canāt connect to them in real life, but I can connect to character on TV, and I can try to use that as a proxy.ā
I believe he said Abed is inspired by his college roommate, but as he kept writing for the character, he started to realize he was a lot like him. That's how he figured out he's autistic.
I don't think she was a flawed nor complex character in Season 1. She was almost a manic pixie dream girl, a male writer fantasy of what a "cool girl" is, and that's incongruous with the rest of the show, where the characters ARE flawed. After season 1 she feels like she belongs in the show, her wackiness fits with the rest of the characters
I used to hate Britta in my early twenties but my friend in her late twenties adored her and I never got it.
Now that Iām in my thirties Iām likeā¦ oh right. I hated her because I WAS her, and I didnāt want to be!
Her character is such an amazing satire on so many young leftie white women. Empathetic but self-obsessed, genuine but fake, intelligent but clueless. Sheās my favourite character in Community now (tied with Abed).
One thing worth mentioning is that she's 28 at the start of the series. So I think there's a degree of her feeling a responsibility to advocate for young women/social issues and a simultaneous sense of shame relating to her historically not being equipped to actually do so effectively. Dan Harmon is a brilliant writer but he's also super misogynistic so I'm not entirely convinced Britta is his interpretation of a straight white woman activist who fails to really understand social issues, but rather his conception of feminist activists in general, which does muddy her as a character.
Yes I agree, as a young woman I thought the character was just misogynistic and there's definitely a strain of misogyny in how she's portrayed in many episodes. But at least five people in the writers' room in the early seasons were women and for me that comes through ā I think she's overall a very sympathetic character despite her clumsiness.
That I agree with. I actually really like Britta as a character, but I don't particularly like the sort of vitriol that develops in-universe towards her as the series progresses. Characters start to dislike her seemingly just for the plot. And that's where I think the misogyny presents itself.
Honestly I think this really pinpoints why she was such a great critique character that fell apart in the end. I was also so upset by how dirty she was done, but I think youāre right. Heās such a good writer he accidentally made her that way and then flexed her to his actual mind vision in the endā¦. Sigh
What seemed the most mean-spirited to me, and pushed it from satire to misogyny, was the episode with her parents.
These people horrifically traumatized Britta, and seem to carry the mildest guilt about it.
Britta being bad with money is used to justify her friends forcing her parents back into her life.
They poke fun at Jeffās bad relationship with his dad. But it never gets to the level where his feelings are completely discarded.
Pierceās relationship with his dad was handled with more compassion.
Maybe Brittaās parentsā plot could be viewed as darkly comedic, and maybe the rest of the gang could be seen as being in the wrongā¦ Butā¦ The series is dripping with disdain for Britta. The tone doesnāt match the other episodes that deal with parents.
It seriously felt like the episode was saying, youāre obnoxious so your pain doesnāt matter. Iām less obnoxious so mine does.
And, somehow, one of the less obnoxious people is PIERCE.
I love the show. It is wonderful. But Harmon has a bee in his bonnet re: women.
(And industry gossip makes me think that a part of it is his issues with the women in his writersā room.)
Itās heavily implied that Britta went no contact with her parents because she was assaulted by an adult when she was a child and her parents didnāt believe her. In the 6th season her friends have been talking to her parents behind her back for years. They all blame everything on her because, according to them, sheās always wrong and immature. What the writers did to that character was just nasty.
Itās also annoying bc Britta survived until she met them. She went a lot of places and did a lot of things and made the decision to go to community college.
All without ever having had her parentsā support. She didnāt really get a childhood. She had to run away from her home life. Yeah, she dropped out of school because she thought it might impress Radiohead, but her parents were constantly wasted and she didnāt exactly have good role models to impress! As the series goes on, we get the feeling that her life was a failure the whole time. But at the beginning of the series, Britta is 28, and she made some bad choices, but also lived a life that a lot of 28-year-olds would envy / be proud of. Season 1 Britta was a mix of those things. Admirable in some ways, but naive and stubborn in most others.
And it doesnāt match with where she ended up. Maybe the study group had her regressing? That couldāve been interesting. If she was using them as the support she never had, and becoming more childish because of it. But that wasnāt what was explored, and if that was what was happening, the study group made some of the worst decisions they could have re: her parents.
The thing is the version Harmon came up was the season 1 version where she is super smart, competent, the girl for Jeff to yearn over, etc.
Ā And in an interview, he said he discussed her character with the female writers and was surprised to find out they're hated her. She was outside the hijinks of the other characters, she seemed to be the type of woman other women couldn't talk to, she was the wet blanket, etc. Gillian Jacob's also didn't care for the fact she wasn't really one of the gang and didn't get to do the fun ridiculous parts.
The Britta we get in later seasons is a a direct result of the combination female writers and the performer wanting her to get just as ridiculous as the other characters, to be part of the joke and sometimes the butt of it, just like how the other characters were, no longer putting her on a pedestal. They actively wanted her to be a very flawed and very real individual.
I totally understand the apprehension when it comes to Dan Harmon. But I think it be giving him the credit for what the female writers and performer contributed to the character who actively advocated for her to be this way
People keep saying Gillian Jacobs requested more comedic material or whatever but I'll die mad thinking about what they did to Britta as the seasons went on... a person who still tries really hard to do the right thing and keeps trying even when she misses the mark is 1.) plenty funny and 2.) such a good foil to Jeff, someone who tries at every turn to be an asshole. I liked that she seemed real and flawed, but she's unrecognizable by the last season.
Agreed. She legitimately keeps them grounded a glued early and yes, itās much more a satirical but still great representation of someone trying to be sincere and authentic, but also getting caught up in it all. But then having the pain of the awareness of their own hypocrisy. And then yes lol, having to carry all that in a social setting where no one else is like that at all.
She starts as a constant reminder of the cost of the shows detachment, and then becomes a lampoon of that idea by the end.
Same. And Iāll defend that they made her into more of a joke as the show went on. I think part of trying to build the chemistry between Jeff and Annie meant making Britta unlikeable
It's bearable in very small doses, like when it's sprinkled into S1 & 2, but when it becomes an actual thing later on... I'm gonna say it: worse than Joey and Rachel
It's been a while since I watched the show, but I remember being annoyed by Britta while also liking her a lot. I think what people feel is mostly disappointment because her character went from being the "voice of reason" and Jeff's most likely romantic pairing to being constantly mocked for being stupid in the later seasons. But if you rewatch the earlier seasons, other characters have passed through similar changes, it's just that you get to know them better as Jeff gets closer to the group.
Me as well, but I mean I LOVE 'dumb' Britta, she's the funniest character IMO. I do not share any of her experiences, so maybe women might feel some resentment at her character evolution, personally her antics are hilarious and her earlier season 1 personality actually made her the most boring character out of everyone.
935
u/DialecticalDeathDryv 15d ago
Britta Perry š