faultypiecesandrustedparts:alyseofwonderland:cameralinz:I will never understand why more people don’
faultypiecesandrustedparts:alyseofwonderland:cameralinz:I will never understand why more people don’t watch this show.Troy Barnes as a character makes me happy in general. Because he started off as this stereotypical jock that didn’t get into a good college. And then he became something so much more as the show went on. the middle one in the bottom row thoThe great thing about Troy is that he didn’t just start out as a stereotypical jock who didn’t get into a good college and became more – he still IS a jock who didn’t get into a good college. And he got development. He didn’t become any less of a not-very-bright jock; they weren’t character flaws that needed to be dropped so that he could become a character worthy of development. They didn’t need to be retconned or downplayed to make him more tolerable to the audience. He’s always been a sweet guy, and he’s dropped sports in college, but that hasn’t changed who he is.That’s what I love about Community. Troy is an unintelligent jock who is also a sweet, sympathetic, well-rounded guy, neither the “show bully” nor resigned to having his entire character built around dumb jock jokes. Abed is a nerd with a developmental disorder who is a respected and important member of the group instead of being… well… Sheldon Cooper. Shirley is an overly religious interfering busybody who is giving and accepted and has her own hopes and dreams instead of being “religious nagging Team Mum who spoils everything”. Jeff is a self-centred lawyer used to being able to walk all over others using his intelligence, and he’s absorbed into the group without dominating the show as a “cool arsehole” wish-fulfilment character. Annie is an over-organised high-achiever still recovering from a mental breakdown who isn’t just played for “haha women are neurotic” laughs. Britta is a self-absorbed white girl struggling to find identity in a cause or a way to help humanity whose failings are treated narratively with understanding turning her into a shallow bitchy love interest side character. Pierce is a grumpy, old, rich, somewhat racist white man whose flagrant exercising of his various types of privilege and casual intolerance are not condoned by the others or the narrative, but are also not the entirety of his character.The main cast of Community are stereotypes. They will always be stereotypes. But they are human as well. And I think that’s what Community does right that every other sitcom seems to get wrong – stereotypical characters can be hilarious, and thought-provoking, and sympathetic, but not if you treat them *only* as stereotypes. Not if you don’t respect them as real characters and play them solely for cheap, stereotype-based laughs. Even the above gifs, which largely do amount to a “dumb jock overly obsessed with looking macho” joke, are largely uninteresting if you’re not invested in the overall character of Troy Barnes. -- source link