During my summer I have spent countless hours relaxing in front of my couch indulging in chips and Netflix. When taking a break from watching Parks and Recreations and The Office I have stumbled across a couple of shows that have captivated my heart and I had to share with you all when you start back up your Netflix binge watching. It is ok to take a break from "Grey’s Anatomy"… it will still be on there. Embark a new journey in television. It will be worth it! One show that has captivated my heart and my musical guilty pleasure is My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The show that showcases the struggle of having a mental illness while being in love… with someone who doesn’t know it.
The show is all about Rebecca Bunch who is a wonderful lawyer, but is tired of living the dull New York life. All she does is go to work and she is unhappy… until she meets Josh, who is her old camp lover. She is so excited to see him, but he tells her that he is heading back home to West Covina, California. After numerous signs, she decides to throw away her New York life and head to West Covina to start over, and maybe fall in love with Josh, but for sure to start over in life. This leads to this wonderful opening number that all musical theatre lovers will just fall in love with.
Throughout Season one (Season two is coming in October) you embark on a journey of Rebecca trying to be happy with her life and also have Josh fall in love with her. The cast is remarkable with each character being a unique puzzle piece to this wonderful television picture. You can relate to each one of them and it is great getting to know them as they go through their own stories like Rebecca having a house party (one of the numerous ways for Josh to like her.)
The thing I love about this show is that it showcases the point of view of someone with signs of a mental illness of depression and anxiety. Love is hard to find and being someone that has this is very challenging. Having to be social to be with potential lovers can be a challenge (thank you online dating apps) and even though Rebecca is crazy doing all of these things, she is doing it for love and you might have done them before. Trying to impress someone you like by going to the extreme (but probably not crazy like Rebecca.) Besides being "crazy" she also helps out all of the amazing people in her life. Rebecca is a wonderful person with a strong heart. She wants to be happy and having a great support even in her crazy actions makes her happy and if you have someone who wants to be with a person and might do things to impress them... don't make them feel weird about. Be there for them... maybe make sure they don't go to jail for it, but find a way to help them out. This show really makes you care a lot for Rebecca. I was rooting for her even when she had to sneak in Josh's home to erase a no-no text. I understood how she felt, the pain of being alone in a world like this. Even though I know Josh isn't the best guy for her in this show, I was still rooting for her because I wanted her to be happy and her happiness is in Josh (which you will see in this show.)
Another thing I like about is showing the measures people (especially women) do to be with someone. This song for example is something you might have done once in your life just for a date.
Finally it helps us understand those weird things in life like our consciousness.
Overall this show helps express so much from mental illness, women struggles, dating and much more and make these complicated and sad things enjoyable in the catchy musical numbers this show has. If you have a free weekend or just want something new to watch this is a wonderful show that was beautifully written by Rachel Bloom and her team of writers (who is also someone I adored growing up with her youtube videos especially Touch My Boobies.) It gives me hope that if you keep on doing the things you love in life, it will one day make it big to inspire people. Powerful Entertainment only comes from wise people to bring out big issues in our society in a way people can learn and still enjoy it. This is why I love "Parks and Rec," "Office," and "30 Rock." So I say welcome "Crazy-Ex" to the TV family of beautiful TV shows both inside and out.
