English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Tag: Rebecca Bunch

A Crazy-Emotional Character Rollercoaster

As the semester winds down, so does my analysis of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It has been very interesting seeing the strategies that the creators and writers of the show use to convey themes and develop the characters’ personalities. Character development is a significant part of the show Crazy-Ex Girlfriend and is something that I have kept a close eye-on while watching the first season. In this last post I’d like to analyze the character development of various characters in the show throughout the first season. Rebecca Bunch and Greg Serrano are some of the most amusing characters in the show and their character development is notable.

Rebecca Bunch starts the season making irrational decisions. She quits her job at a high-profile law firm in New York City to be with her former summer camp boyfriend, Josh Chan, in West Covina, California. Bunch tries to rationalize this as normal behavior and denies the reason for her moving to California being because of Chan for most of the season. However, later in the season she begins to admit her love for him and he also admits that he has feelings for her. This shows that she becomes less in-denial throughout the season and becomes more in-tune with her feelings.

Greg Serrano starts the season being extremely sarcastic and keeps his feelings inside. He is reserved and does not like to seem like he feels emotions. He is insecure because he got into Emory University and is quite intelligent, but his friends outshine him socially. Throughout the season he struggles with his insecurities and has problems with keeping his feelings inside. Towards the end of the season he admits he has feeling for Rebecca, which shows development because at the beginning of the season he would not have admitted something that significant. Despite this development he goes to Emory University at the end of the season and does not pursue a relationship with Rebecca.

People Other Than Josh Chan Can Love Me?!

In “Josh Has No Idea Where I Am!”, Rebecca Bunch takes a flight to New York City to go back to her old life because she doesn’t believe she can find love, romantic or with friends, in West Covina. She has a conversation with her “Dream Ghost”, her therapist Dr. Akopian, after taking many sleeping pills. The show is arguing that mental health is a real issue and that adults in professional fields struggle with their mental health.

The show supports this argument by showing the adverse effects of abusing prescription drugs and the realizations that Bunch makes while using these drugs. Bunch ends up having vivid dreams involving her “Dream Ghost”, which shows how the sleeping pills make her hallucinate. She realizes in these dreams that other than her love for music and for her mother she doesn’t have any romantic love in her life. Dr. Akopian proves her wrong by showing her that there are people in her life that love her in different ways. Her therapist ‘takes her’ back to West Covina, where many of her friends are worried about her. Greg is particularly worried and had been searching for her at hospitals and morgues. This shows Bunch that her friends care about her and love her. It also makes her realize that she has been focusing on Josh Chan when she can find love in other places. Her anxiety is displayed through these instances because it demonstrates her worry about how others think about her and her assuming that she is not loved by people in her life.

The theme relates to the show as a whole because much of the show revolves around mental illness and how it affects Rebecca Bunch’s life and those around her. It also relates to conversations about mental health because mental health is something that isn’t heavily discussed in mainstream media. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a show that does discuss mental health and its effects and does so effectively through this episode.

Rebecca Bunch and her therapist, Dr. Akopian.

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