New Girl – Page 2 – English 1102: Television and Feminism

Tag: New Girl (Page 2 of 3)

The episode “Christmas Eve Eve” on New Girl is the sixth season’s Christmas episode. It begins with a scene of Jess, Cece, Nick, Winston, and Schmidt worn out and tired after a long Halloween. The cinematography follows the same halloween vibe: it is dimly lit and the characters are in costume. This somber and spooky scene sets the stage for Winston to announce the news that Jess dreads most: no one wants to celebrate Christmas at the loft. A dreary background for dreary news.

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Jess is ready for Christmas Eve Eve!

The scene then shifts to a flashback of a past Christmas, which is happy, colorful, bright, and merry, but then Jess plugs another Christmas tree in, which cuts out the power, and all the Christmas Joy ends. Flashbacks are utilized many times in this episode, often accompanied by elevator-type music, so that the audience can tell it was a flashback rather than current times.

The remainder of the episode takes place two months later than the first scene when it is two days before Christmas, or as Jess says, “Christmas Eve Eve.” Everything from now on is jolly and bright. There are Christmas decorations around the loft, all the characters are wearing Christmas colors, and Jess is pumped for Christmas.

There is an interesting cinematography move that provides comedic effect when Nick puts on his new sunglasses and makes a joke. The show cuts directly to Jess unwrapping the gift she got for Nick- the same exact pair of sunglasses. It is unfortunate for Jess, but a great call on the film side.

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Nick bought himself a lil Christmas gift

Another interesting scene is when Nick is in the bar, and it is bright and filled with joyful Christmas elves, but he is just stressed about going through all the receipts. It is a clever juxtaposition. Another well placed sequence of events is when Nick and Schmidt enter the mail truck and it is filled to the brim with boxes, but when they go to the actual store it is empty. This has the effect of showing the change of the times from when people used to actually shop in stores to the shift towards online shopping.

The episode ends with Jess sad in her room because she accidentally left her name out of the secret Santa drawing. However, the scene brightens up when Nick comes in to talk to her, and then brightens even more when Ferguson comes in with a Christmas hat on. This foreshadows that something bright and happy is about to happen. Nick brings Jess out to a snowy and jolly winter wonderland with singers and elves and happiness. This ending scene and Christmas theme throughout really sets this episode apart from the others because of the many allusions to Christmas and the cheers brought because of it!

A happy ending featuring Darlene Love

Makin’ Babies: A New Girl Story

By Matthias Heyrman

On October 16, 2018

In Review Topic 4, Uncategorized

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a little Schmidt in a baby carriage. Have I scared you New Girl watchers off yet? No? Good, New Girl‘s S1E21 “Kids” addresses the reality of the relationships of the characters on the show, following the Theme of the complications in love, pregnancy, and the general relationships in the show.

Cece being asked if she used birth control after missing her period S1E21

This episode runs through some relationship issues of the characters of the show. Jess has to babysit her older boyfriend’s preteen daughter, Sarah, who happens to be her student in school as well. Meanwhile, Nick is figuring out his insecurity with having a long-lasting relationship with a mature adult, and Cece must deal with the troubling thought of whether or not she is pregnant with Schmidt’s child. Of course, there is plenty of cringy drama through the episode to ruin every character’s plans, as it also serves to further the topic of the episode.

While at the beginning of the episode everything seems to be working straightforward, as Nick’s current fling girlfriend seems smarter than he is, Jess’ boyfriend’s daughter is the average curious and rude preteen, Cece is the normal rambling mess when it regards her relationship with Schmidt, and Schmidt is his average douchy self. However, this quickly changes as the complicated nature of relationships is revealed. Nick’s girlfriend is 19 and just graduated highschool, as Jess was once even her teacher. The girl that Jess is babysitting has a confusing crush on Nick. And Cece has a total emotional breakdown about possibly being pregnant with a mini-Schmidt.

Cece got her period! Yay!

The episode as a whole serves to explain the fact that relationships are beautiful but confusing by nature. Love is not simple, and it is an emotion that needs processing. Sarah thinks that she is immediately in love with Nick, while despite having a several month long relationship, Schmidt and Cece still will not acknowledge their feelings for each other, while Nick, in general, does not understand his own feelings about what he is seeking in his life in a relationship. The show is arguing throughout this entire chapter of episodes, but specifically, in S1E21 that relationships are difficult, and knowing what someone wants in life regarding love is confusing.

However, at the end of the episode, every character understands themselves and what they want better, as Sarah stops heavily crushing on Nick, Nick realises that he cannot date a 19-year-old out of highschool, and Cece is content with not being pregnant. Though even in the conclusion, Cece and Schmidt’s relationship is not secured, demonstrating again that relationships are never logical or straight, as they depend on the emotions of two people who need to work through what they want themselves. This episode is arguing that no one ever truly knows what they want, but by making mistakes, they can work through and figure out at least what they may want.

Jess goes to the Party held by Prince

By Inhee Baek

On October 16, 2018

In Review Topic 4

For the third Blog Entry, I am focusing on the theme of the “Prince”, the fourteenth episode of season 3 of New Girl. In this episode, Jess and her best friend Cece were invited to a party held at Prince’s house. When Jess’s boyfriend Nick tells her he loves her, she replies him with a finger gun hand gesture. Nick and his roommates crashed Prince’s party, so Nick can talk to Jess. At the party, Prince gives Jess a makeover and helps her to tell Nick she loves him back.

Jess replying Nick with a finger gun hand gesture

I discovered a couple of arguments that this episode is trying to make. It is arguing that being honest with your feeling is important in a relationship with others and yourself. Also, telling the other person how you feel is the best way to obtain a good relationship. Lastly, it argues that we can gain something very precious by overcome our fears.

The show makes this argument by first setting the scene where Nick accidentally tells Jess he loves her for the first time and Jess gives an awkward reaction and leaves for a party. At the party, Jess told Prince that she is scared to admit her feeling and is worried that it will be painful if something goes wrong. After talking to Prince about her fears, she overcomes it and tells Nick that she loves her too. After being honest with their feelings, telling the other about it, and overcoming their fear brought out the best result for their relationship.

I believe the theme in this episode relates to the show overall because this episode and the overall show argues that being honest with yourself and the other is essential. I also think that this episode relates to a greater cultural conversation how being honest is important in our culture. Also, how we need to overcome our fears to gain something fruitful.

Thanksgiving with Jess: Themes in New Girl

By Navya Katragadda

On September 29, 2018

In Review Topic 4

This episode of ‘New Girl’ is centered on one of everyone’s favorite holiday: Thanksgiving. The theme of the episode is Jess and all her friends plus a new guy that she’s crushing on: Paul. By inviting Paul to their house, the day just turns into chaos. The episode goes over all the issues they have during the day such as Nick being irritated, all of the food preparation going wary (the turkey gets WAY too burned) and ends up with them finding a dead body in their neighbor’s house. Regardless of all of these scary and chaotic events, the group of friends still manage to have a meaningful and fun Thanksgiving day together.

Jess going all out for Paul and her roommates.

The show makes this argument by starting the episode with all of Jess’ roommates hating on Paul, but in the end, they all warm up to him and welcome him into their small family. This relates to the overall theme that despite issues and differences, people can still come together and enjoy a holiday together. This theme relates to the show as a whole because every episode, the characters have conflict but still manage to come together and realize their love and care for each other at the end of the day.

I think this episode, in particular, relates to a greater cultural meaning as it shows the importance of holiday’s, especially Thanksgiving, where in America it’s a holiday where you’re supposed to be thankful for the people regardless of the circumstances. Besides this, a lot of what happened in the episode was extreme, and would normally not occur in normal life, but it was done for humor purposes. Also, I have a feeling that Nick likes Jess, which I also think was the purpose of this episode – to overlay this fact. That is why I think Nick dealt with Paul, to make her happy. The things you do for someone you love are endless.

The Visuals of Elaine’s Big Day

By Inhee Baek

On September 25, 2018

In Review Topic 3

For the second Blog Entry, I am focusing on the Cinematography and direction of the “Elaine’s Big Day”, the last episode of season 2 of New Girl.

In this episode, there are a lot of major plot twists. For example, Jess’s best friend, Elaine cancels her wedding, and Jess and Nick decide to call their relationship off. These big changes are well represented by the cinematography and direction.

This episode is shot in lots of quick cuts. These quick cuts allow the show to jump from one scene to another in a short time. It matters because these sudden switches of scenes allow two plots to proceed at the same time. This means that the quick cuts add to the dramatic effect of the two huge events, sabotaging the wedding and the conflict between Jess and Nick, that are occurring in this episode.

The color scheme of this episode is red and gold. Since it tries to portray a traditional Indian wedding, it has bright colors involved. Especially the red color indicates passionate love or anger. It correlates with the fact that Elaine admits that her true love is Schmidt and the feeling that Jess or Nick felt when they decided to break up.

Elaine walks down the aisle. The main color is red.

I believe this episode stands out because it had many different bright colors such as red and gold. It defines the importance of the finale of this season and indicates the major changes in their relationships. Also, the lighting of this episode stood out from other episodes of this season. When the wedding was in process, the lighting was very bright. However, after the wedding, the lighting became dull in the scene where Jess and Nick ended their relationship. This dull lighting was also observed when Nick goes to the bartender for a beer. This lighting helps the viewer to interpret the feelings of characters.

Nick is depressed after the break up. Dull lighting is noticed.

Treachery and Forgiveness: the ups and Downs of Friendship

By James Fan

On September 25, 2018

In Review Topic 4

In the episode of New Girl titled “Secrets” (S1E19), the theme of the story is very clearly about the consequences of keeping secrets from close and dear friends. The main focus of the episode is on the fact that Cece and Nick, Jess’ best friend and roommate, have been romantically involved form months without telling her about their relationship. When Jess’ other roommate Winston discovers this relationship, news quickly spreads to the small group of friends and infuriates Jess over the betrayal of the supposedly open friendship she has with Cece. However, ultimately Jess comes to understand that Cece was trying to hide from her own emotions and subsequently forgives her.

Jess confronts Cece and Schmidt about the truth. #awks

While Jess’ initially responds to the situation with anger, the reason for which she forgives her best friend demonstrates the complexity behind the seemingly ill-intentioned decision to keep a secret from friends. By saving the revelation of Cece’s obliviousness to her own emotions until the last few minutes of the show, the show emphasizes to the viewers that the primary source of Cece’s secret stems from insecurity rather than some disdain for Jess. Therefore, the way in which the general arc of the plot for this episode accentuates this theme demonstrates the care taken in the narrative to substantiate and support the exploration of secret-keeping among the friends in the show.

Within the greater context of the entire show, this episode is yet another facet of the intricate interactions that friends often have with one another. In an attempt to create believable characters in a believable reality, such an exploration of this common problem among friends further develops Jess, Winston, Nick, Schmidt, and Cece into real people and not just characters in a sitcom. While not a grandiose commentary on the problems in society, the characters and their struggles in New Girl still relate to the daily lives, problems, and relationships of real people one secret at a time.

Netflix. “New Girl S1:E19 ‘Secrets’.” Online Video Clip. Netflix. Netflix, 2018. Web. 25 September 2018.

Gender, Relationships, Stereotypes: Being Single and Sufficient

By Zoe Maisel

On September 25, 2018

In Review Topic 5

New Girl does a great job of representing gender equally. In the episode, “Single and Sufficient” the concept of gender can be explored in many ways. This episode is about the “couple’s retreat” that many characters attend, regardless of their relationship status. I believe this would have been a great episode to introduce characters that were homosexual or of genders other than male or female, but the writers of New Girl still did a great job of breaking the stereotypes between the two.

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Both genders react similarly to being single in this epsiode

Equality in Agency: This episode of New Girl gives equal amounts of power to both genders. Robbie, a male, is the leader of his own social group. Jess supports his leadership and is more of a “supporting woman” in terms of the group dynamics. She sends Robbie to do the hard work in separating members who are flirting. However, this male dominant relationship is contrasted by Cece and Schmidt’s decisions throughout the show. Schmidt is often dramatic and angry and Cece is the one thinking logically, making decisions, and calming him down. This is the opposite of the “dramatic female” stereotype. Though the gender spread of this episode is 6 males and 4 females, 3 of the females are strong and important in this episode, as well as 3 males. So the true spread is about even.

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Classic Schmidt, sassy as ever

Breaking Gender Stereotypes: New Girl’s characterization often defies normal gender stereotypes, especially in the character Schmidt. He is very dramatic and feminine. In this episode, Schmidt obsesses over Nick’s romance novel, talks about the advantages of glamping and how he will never use a sleeping bag, and goes to the spa. These are all stereotypical female activities, and it is good of New Girl to show that straight males can enjoy these activities as well. In this episode, Winston also breaks a gender norm by telling he wants to “be the mermaid” in their activities, even though mermaids are often women.

Race and Gender: There is many interracial couples within the show and not the slightest bit of stigma associated with it. Their race also does not determine their level or femininity.

Gender and Love: There is a lot of talk about relationships in this episode because of the involvement of the group “single and sufficient.” Jess is a part of this group, but the she clearly does not enjoy being single as she struggles to do many couples activities, such as playing badminton, alone. However, there is not a strong correlation between gender and desperation within the group, as all members seem desperate. The stereotype is that women are always looking for love, but Jess tries to defy this stereotype by being “single and sufficient.” In the end, however, the group begins to find love interests, with equal representation in gender, and including Jess and Robbie.

New Girl: Are Men Too Competitive?

By Matthias Heyrman

On September 25, 2018

In Review Topic 5

New Girl is a show based on the experience of an awkward girl moving into an apartment with 3 guys. As a result, we the audience get to see exaggerations of the amazing (-ly awkward and hilarious) differences between the boys and the girls. This is especially emphasised in Season 1 Episode 7 of New Girl “Bells” when the writers show off the more petty and competitive sides of Nick, Schmidt, and Winston, contrasting this to the more gentle and accepting femininity of Jess.

The episode starts off normal and progresses until the main conflicts happen in two different plot lines between Nick and Schmidt, and Winston and Jess, allowing us to look at just how male competition plays out. This begins with Schmidt and Nick arguing over fixing a completely broken toilet, as Schmidt complains about Nick’s jerry-rigged solution involving a water bottle and needing to turn the faucet on before flushing. Schmidt just hires a plumber. Schmidt’s display of wealth over Nick’s handyman attitude bothers Nick, and the two begin a war that involves Nick refusing to use anything that Schmidt bought, while also breaking everything that he fixed for Schmidt (a basketball hoop that Schmidt tries to dunk on comes to mind). Schmidt in response does not let Nick use any of the objects that he bought such as the freezer, couch, conditioner, or carpet. This leaves them into something of a class dispute of how wealth allows people to ignore their problems with money.

Nick Unfixed the Basketball Hoop Se1Ep7

This strange competition is compared then to Jess who has to deal with Winston, to whom competition comes naturally to the point that even Schmidt and Nick ignore their disputes to tell Jess of how competitive Winston gets, specifically with his natural talent at… Everything (man I wish I had that at GT). Unlike the competition between Nick and Schmidt, which escalates until they start a physical fight and have a bro-moment with some beers and agree that they were being stupid, Jess simply confronts Winston about his competitive attitude, rather than trying to out-do him at every turn. This difference points out a clear distinction that the show makes between how men and women deal with competition.

Jess is showed to be rational (despite her goofy character) and simply addresses the problem. She determines that it would be better to just confront Winston about his competitive attitude and ask him to relax, solving the issue. On the other hand, Nick and Schmidt seem to do everything in their power to keep the competition going until one gives up (which would never happen), pointing out the irrational and ridiculous nature of arguments and competition that men seem to have for no other reason than because. In the end, this episode criticises a stereotype of male competitiveness taken to the extreme, and uses Jess, the outlier of the group in the apartment, to remind the audience that sometimes the rational approach is also the best one.

Cookie Pouches and Feeling Sticks

By Wendy Yao

On September 25, 2018

In Review Topic 5

As I mentioned last week, New Girl often flips the script on traditional gender roles. Episode 4 of New Girl centers around Nick’s issues with his body image, an idea traditionally associated with girls and their eating disorders. Hardly ever do we see men in media feeling insecure about how they look or their weight. In this episode, Nick is “delicate like a flower” and incredibly self-conscious about his body weight and image after Jess points out his cookie “pouch” where he keeps his extra cookies.

Jess being oblivious, Nick being sensitive

Throughout the episode, Jess is the person in an aggressive/assertive role, trying to get Nick to talk about his feelings, while Nick is generally on the defensive and avoids the conversation topic. Nick is also passive in that he doesn’t act until he is forced to when someone else acts. This situation flips the power dynamic in which men are the ones who are aggressively pursuing something while the women are either passive or defensive, just like how Nick only talks to Jess when confronted and finally shows aggression by breaking the feeling stick when Jess gives it to him. However, there is little to no initiation from Nick to act until Jess corners him to talk about feelings, and he then just tries to escape the situation as fast as possible.

A similar power dynamic is seen with Amanda, his coworker at the bar who Nick has been trying to hook up with. At one point after another frustrating attempt by Jess to talk about his feelings, Nick shuts her down by saying that what he wants is “meaningless sex”. When Jess disagrees, Nick insists that he does because he is male (that is, because he has a “bing-bong and chickadees”). Yet when Nick tries to do so with Amanda, the one who wants to take it slow is the guy with Amanda asking Nick almost derisively about wanting to cuddle. In traditional portrayals of women in media, they’ve been the people who want to slow down the relationship because it’s going too fast with the guy pressuring them into something they’re not ready for, while the guys have been the ones unsatisfied with mere cuddling that has romantic rather than carnal connotations. In Nick’s case, he’s the one who is insecure and shy, such as when he’s awkward about taking his shirt off before sex, while Amanda is confident in her body and is going after what she wants.

While presented with the classic New Girl humorous flair, this episode brings up important issues about how body image issues shouldn’t be gendered, and New Girl helps to dispel this stigma and the more general problem of confining gender roles.

Jess teaching valuable lessons

By Alex Mealey

On September 25, 2018

In Review Topic 4

I’ll be honest, the first two episodes of New Girl didn’t quite “hook” me, but episode three both hooked me and taught some valuable lessons in the process. Any show that can spread a positive message while making me laugh earns my respect as a T.V. viewer. This episode focuses on two main themes: dealing with past relationships and being true to ones self. I want to discuss the latter and less obvious theme so let’s go!

Having the confidence to be your self is a theme that naturally come’s along with Jess’s quirky personality, however, this episodes shows her, and Schmidt, struggle to do so. When the whole gang get’s ready to go to a wedding, Nick requests the help of Jess to be his fake girlfriend to make his ex, Caroline, jealous. After a couple of drinks Nick begins to fall for Caroline again, Jess begins to make a fool of herself and Winston begins a fight with a child (let’s not dwell on that). Jess, trying to be a good friend, pushes Caroline away leading to an outburst from Nick where he calls her a “ruiner”. Jess is now stuck in a place where the guys don’t want her to be herself, but they got mad at her even when she tried to be different… alright now let’s look at the struggles of Schmidt.

Schmidt, the wannabe lady killer, spends the whole night trying to find a way to “get with” a girl he is supposedly crazy for. But the whole night he ignores the advances of a girl named Gretchen with whom he shares an odd (mainly sexual) connection with.

The only problem is, this girl isn’t exactly his type. Schmidt ends up miserably chasing after a girl with whom he doesn’t connect because she would be better for his appearance and confidence. He ignores his true desires, his true self because he’s worried about the thoughts of others. Also, I know this might be too deep of an analysis of the womanizer that is Schmidt, but I really do believe it was the writer’s intentions to convey this message in parallel with Jess’s struggles.

So what happened?! Well once Jess decided to unleash the weirdness that is her personality, she and the guys ended up having a great time blowing bubbles (don’t ask just watch). And for Schmidt? He ended up getting with Gretchen and I assume he enjoyed it. So once our favorite characters decided to do what they really wanted to do, the results are better for everyone. Sends a pretty clear message and set’s up a theme I think New Girl will relate to in many upcoming episodes. And I promise to keep you updated.

New Girl: Re-writing what humor is:Topic 2

By Anika Islam

On September 23, 2018

In Review Topic 2

New Girl is a show that has relatively light-hearted humor that really registers with the target audience.

The writers of New Girl don’t like to take anything too seriously. This is obvious when Nick has a cancer scare and everyone acts in a humorous way, and Schmidt even uses this as an opportunity to hit on Cece. The show writers are very aware of the fact that this show is a comedy, not a sob story or a philosophy 101 class. The writers make the audience have laughs by creating characters that are ridiculous and eccentric yet oddly relatable and loveable. The characters have a lot of flaws, all of which surprisingly make them more likable not less.

Elizabeth Meriwether and Berkley Johnson are both credited for writing episodes of New Girl. Both people also wrote for other comedy works including Conan and No String Attached.

The references the writers make are also funny because of how out there they are. Like for example “‘Cece: I really felt that Gavin was different. Didn’t you feel like Gavin was different?

Jess: Yeah, I mean he seemed like a really nice…European DJ with a face tattoo.'”

But I have also noticed the writers also assign certain types of jokes to certain characters. For example, Schmidt mostly gets jokes making fun of how he’s into some really exotic or peculiar things like when he told his roommate ” Can someone please get my towel? It’s in my room next to my Irish walking cape.” Jess also says the more nerdy, awkward or naive jokes, like the line in the screenshot below.

Screen-shot of the types of jokes Jess usually makes

Another thing that I have noticed is that the writers base almost all the plots in season one about relationships. I think what happens with the couples is a great way to create more drama and keep viewers around for the next episode. Almost all new characters introduced end up becoming someone’s love interest.

The final and most important aspect of the writing in New Girl to me is the sense of camaraderie. The writers create a real sense of community between Jess and her roommates. You know that no matter what they have each other’s back- and you root for all of them to be happy- which is what makes the show so enjoyable. This was shown in the episode titled “Injured”, where everyone helps Nick pay for his treatment. The characters are written out to be both emotional support and reason for emotional insanity for each other.

The Backstory of the Hilarious Dialogues of New Girl

By Navya Katragadda

On September 23, 2018

In Review Topic 2

New Girl is a show that is known for its simple and hilarious jokes. This episode of New Girl called “Cece Crashes” is written by Rachel Axler. She has also written episodes of How I Met Your Mother, Parks and Recreation and Veep, which are all shows that are somewhat similar to New Girl. The dialogue is structured to maintain a constant dialogue between the characters. There is not a voiceover on the show unlike some others, so there isn’t a narrator to fill in the gaps. Since this show is light in terms of plot, a narrator is not necessary. Shows usually use voiceovers to inform the audience about the plot or more about the characters and what they’re thinking. But in this show, it is usually pretty evident on the motives and situations of the characters.

Silence is usually not very apparent in the episode. When there is silence, it is usually to set up an interaction between two or more of the characters and to create a sense of build-up in the plot line for the episode. Otherwise, this episode was very dialogue heavy. Especially since this episode created a high amount of tension between Jess and Nick, there was a lot of dialogue especially from Jess about her dilemma of having a romantic relationship with one of the guys that she lives with.

Finally, the writing of the show always seems very natural. Sometimes, in sitcoms, the writing, and dialogue is usually somewhat forced and awkward because the writers try too hard to be funny. The humor is always forced but in New Girl, merely the interactions between the characters are what makes the show humorous and it is very easy to watch. The writing is along the style which I prefer which is why I choose to review this show. I am very excited to see all the jokes New Girl has in store for the rest of the season (:

Jess/Nick and their quarrels

New Girl moving into her New apartment with New roommates!

By Inhee Baek

On September 11, 2018

In Review Topic 2

I have finished watching the first two seasons of New Girl and there were numerous episodes that I could write about for my blog entries. Among those, I am focusing on the writing of the “Pilot”, the first episode of season 1 of New Girl for my first Blog Entry.

It was written by Elizabeth Meriwether. She wrote the plays Heddatron (2006), The Mistakes Madeline Made (2006) and Oliver Parker! (2010) and the romantic comedy film No Strings Attached (2011).

Elizabeth Meriwether, the writer of New Girl

The dialogue in New Girl is structured in conversations between the characters as the story-line is revealed. The dialogue here is very informal as it is the conversation between friends. The characters make jokes and use slang. All of the conversations are direct and there is no voice-over. This matters because it indicates that the show is emphasizing more on the conversations between the characters rather than the self talk. This means that they focus more on the relationship rather than individual characters.

Silence is used to move from one scene to another. This clearly indicates transition between scenes and therefore it is easy to follow the flow of the plot.

At the start of this show, there is a literary allusion. Jess referred her boyfriend cheating on her to the typical horror movies. Since it is the first episode of the show, there are also multiple recollection scenes. These throwback scenes allow us to know what different characters went through in the past. It helps us to understand the personalities of the characters and to predict the reaction of the characters in certain situations.

Jess finding out her boyfriend is cheating on her

I believe this episode stands out because it was a good way to start this show as it showed the background of each character. This helped the viewers to predict how the plot of this show is going to be. It also builds up the relationship between Jess and her three roommates and leaves the audience to look forward to different kinds of incidents this relationship might lead to.

New Girl: Shooting The Funny, The Awkward, and The Normal

By Matthias Heyrman

On September 11, 2018

In Review Topic 3

Cinematography is one of the primary ways that an idea or feeling is expressed in a video without the use of dialogue or music. The angle of the camera, the length of the scene before a cut, the lighting, positioning of actors, colour scheme, and even additional filler footage are all used to set the stage and set the mood in a TV show. And New Girl uses all of these to their full extent, specifically with shots to contrasting the different characters and create comedic effect.

Examining the episode “Cece Crashes” (Se1Ep5), the cinematography is used to describe different characters and their personalities. For example, cutting to several short shots of Nick, the show’s Everyman, alone on the couch sarcastically commenting on how he wanted to be alone on Friday, and alternating this with shots of his friends and Cece dancing to LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know It,” demonstrating his relatable normality as he just wants to relax after a long week and his weird friends are bothering him (I’m writing this despite usually being the weird friend). This is also used with Jess in the opening of the episode when she’s at a nightclub, alternating short shots of Jess awkwardly dancing her way through club-goers and Cece in a row with her current fling, showing her awkwardness, or with Schmidt on the roof alone waiting for Cece (who forgot about him), sunburnt, and hiding from a cat in a bird’s nest, because… Schmidt.

Another way that these short shots are used is for comedic or dramatic effect. This is best used at the way beginning of the episode after Schmidt is “Sheepdogging” Cece to his room. After a series of very confusing shots that build up the awkwardness that New Girl thrives off of, it breaks the slight tension with a short shot of just Cece falling into Schmidt’s bed as Schmidt says “Goodnight, Cece,” to continue this awkwardness by bragging to the other guys that he now has to sleep on the uncomfortable couch. This is also seen relieving the awkward tension between Schmidt and Cece again when she has just woken up and he is blacking out because he is hanging on a pull-up bar doing crunches, and Cece pushes him out of the way and runs off and we’re left with Schmidt asking for a coffee while comedically blacking out as his attempt at getting attention has failed.

Cece fainting into Schmidt’s bed after a night of drunken… Cece, Se1Ep5

These short shots of the characters reactions and actions through the shenanigans of New Girl demonstrate their individual personalities and quirks in a way that cannot just be done through dialogue or acting. By contrasting things like the awkward dancing with Cece and the normal calmness of Nick, or seeing Cece simply fall into bed alone, New Girl is using cinematography to display the comedic aspects of the show and its characters.

Schmidt cornered by a cat on the roof. Se1Ep5

Suppress the Jess?

By Wendy Yao

On September 11, 2018

In Review Topic 4

Suppressing the Jess

Jess’s awkwardness and eccentricity is what makes her unique and more relatable as a character because of her multifaceted personality. She isn’t perfect, and her flaws and insecurities often mirror what we see in ourselves. While the other roommates’ lack of full acceptance had been hinted at in previous episodes, their expectations for Jess are more thoroughly explored in episode three.

The premise of episode three is that the roommates will be attending a wedding. However, the issue is that Nick’s ex-girlfriend Caroline will also be attending. Through various flashbacks, we understand that Nick is still deeply attached to Caroline and can’t seem to let her go. His attachment is borderline unhealthy and imitates the trope of a clingy (ex-)girlfriend who constantly wants some sort of attention and can’t seem to move on. Jess is brought along as his date, but Nick refuses to let her be herself, which Jess reluctantly agrees to, jokingly stating the phrase, “suppress the Jess”.

The theme of the episode is how Jess preserves her eccentricity and continues to be herself in face of judgment and lack of support from those close to her. Schmidt wants to hook up with Brooke, Nick wants to reconnect with Caroline, and meanwhile Winston gets into a competition with a child. Each of the guys wants something different from the wedding, but Jess doesn’t have the ability to accommodate them all and nor should she have to. She becomes just a tool for the guys to achieve their desires, yet they blame her when things fall through. This situation is especially evident when Jess tries to fix Nick’s renewed fixation with Caroline but ends up scaring off Brooke from Schmidt. One girl can’t do it all, and Jess finally realizes that in a symbolic move when she takes her fake teeth back to finally have fun at the wedding, which was all she wanted out of the event. Besides being a symbol of her eccentricity, her fake teeth also represent her autonomy and power as a person since we lose them when we are not fully able to care for ourselves.

Intertwined with the main theme of the episode and interspersed throughout other episodes are threads of traditional masculinity versus femininity. Schmidt’s characterization is often the most blatant portrayal of flipping the script on what is traditionally considered masculine versus feminine. Schmidt used to be “Fat Schmidt,” with body image issues often being portrayed in media as solely an issue for women. While coming on too strong in his conversations with Brooke, Schmidt has an entirely different relationship with Gretchen with her being assertive while he is more submissive. In fact, he is essentially being used for his body like women tend to be portrayed in media with Gretchen having little interest in pursuing an actual relationship with him.

Pobody’s nerfect, and through the events in episode three, Jess grows as a person to reach self-acceptance and fulfillment, which redefines her future relationship with her roommates.

English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Tag: New Girl (Page 2 of 3)

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Suppress the Jess?

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