Yesterday, Executive Editor Mark Greene began a discussion in the Good Men Project writers group in response to this promo artwork for The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Not the show. Just the implied message of this promotional artwork.
He said, “Why is this funny? The title is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The small type reads “Never. Let. Go.” Would we ever even see a show titled “Crazy Ex-Boyfriend? Never. Let. Go.?” No we would not. So why is the possibility of an abusive or stalking girlfriend even hinted at as comedy?”
Good Men Project writers chimed in. What do you think?
- David Daniel Guba No, because as Donald Glover said, “if you have a crazy ex-boyfriend, you’re going to die.” Male “crazy exes”, at least in the media, don’t key cars-they stalk and murder. This isn’t funny. Crazy ex anything, while relatable to a wide swath of the population, isn’t funny. It attempts to make misogyny, misandry,mental illness, stalking, harassment, and domestic violence funny, when it isn’t. There may be humor deep in there somewhere, to be ferreted out and polished, but with this concept, I don’t see it going past cheap laughs.
And seriously, how will they develop this over half a season?
- Arianna Jeret Agreed. Not funny at all.
- Sami Holden Besides the name, I checked out the trailer to see if it was just an ill-named show. It seems like they are trying to mish-mash Felicity with Pushing Daisies…it seems like it’s going to be awful and probably quickly cancelled.
- David Daniel Guba But Felicity was SO GOOD. In my best Joey impression: “I hear you and I concur.”
- Sami Holden I liked Felicity, un-ironically, but at least there was depth there and more of a self-discovery story (being away from her parents – PreMed versus art). This is being played up like a quirky comedy. Characters should have a motive other than being wacky. I just want Dawson’s Creek back.
- Jenny Kanevsky Not only is it not funny, it’s offensive and sexist.
- Michael Carley Here’s something I posted to Facebook back in January: Interesting parallel. A few years ago, there was a movie called The Girl Next Door. The plot was that a teenage boy’s dreams come true when a former porn star moves in next door and falls for him. This week, we have a new movie called The Boy Next Door. The plot is a boy moves in next door to a hot teacher (Jennifer Lopez), she falls for him and then he stalks her. I guess the lesson here is that Hollywood plays to women’s fears and men’s fantasies? Or, what they think each may be?The other lesson is I won’t be seeing either film.
- John Stephens I am an admitted CW fan (Reign, iZombie, Vampire Diaries, etc…etc…) I have found everything I’ve seen about this one to be offensive.
- Joanna Schroeder It’s not funny either way.
- Tonya R Anderson Agreed, not funny.. and abusive. I hate when women abuse men, because most of the time no one believes them.
- Sami Holden My Netflix recommended “The Jodi Arias Story” under romantic movies…
- Misty Browne It perpetuates the stigma of mental illness. While “crazy” in the title and the show itself may be used loosely, that’s the problem. Too many people are quick to use that label when discussing legit mental illness’. Honestly makes me angry. I have bipolar and while I’m OK with my diagnosis, some people are not. It simply does not help.
- Jenny Kanevsky Totally agree, Misty Browne. The whole crazy girlfriend thing is offensive on so many levels it would take us months to unravel.
- Sami Holden It’s a double-edged issue. Women with emotions = crazy. Women who could actually be harmful in their actions = why can’t the men handle the situation. No one wins with this.
- Mark Greene This comedy show’s title implies that woman can never represent a psychological or physical threat to a man. That women can’t be stalkers or abusers. Tell that to the CDC which reported in its 2010 study on Intimate Partner Sexual Violence, “More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.”
- John Stephens I have to add to what I said before. Part of what I love about the CW is its representation of strong female characters; Liv in iZombie, Elena and Caroline in Vampire Diaries, Queens Mary and Catherine. Clarke in The 100…Even the shows that more male-centric with their characters, (Flash and Arrow) feature strong women.This one, and all I’ve seen are previews, takes the network, television, and female stereotypes, in the wrong direction.
So that’s where we left it. What do you think?