When I first embarked on my journey to complete the first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, one character stood out to me from the pilot episode. Kimmy’s roommate Titus has been a prominent character since the beginning of the show, but I quickly found myself questioning his worth. He frustrated me by proving that he would act as nothing but an obstacle for Kimmy to overcome. Time and time again I was wondering whether Titus was about to have a revelation and change from his greedy ways, but he continued to exploit Kimmy just because she was too nieve to realize. Examples of this include when he robbed Kimmy blind of her money, citing random home reparations or when he lied to her about the true cost of the rent. It became obvious to me that he was just stealing her money and taking advantage of her situation. This became even more apparent after he fails to feel sympathy for Kimmy after she is robbed, rather he is more concerned about his own money situation.
It was not until the midpoint of the first season that I began to understand Titus’s true relevance to the show. He acts as the difficult roommate to showcase Kimmy’s generous heart and ability to love anyone regardless of past actions. Whether this is a vulnerability or a powerful trait that Kimmy possesses is up to the viewer to decide. Not only is Titus a minority because of his male gender, but he is also a minority because of his color and sexuality. Kimmy has no problem seeing past Titus’s image as a struggling, but aspiring Broadway performer and even reaches out to Titus in acts of kindness that are unwarranted. She convinces him to sell his robot costume so that he can buy clothes to audition for more Broadway musicals and convinces him to pursue his dreams. Kimmy’s devoted interest in Titus’s happiness and success even though Titus did nothing but exploit her, shows Kimmy’s true nature to the audience and helps develop her character. Titus’s contribution to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is simply portraying Kimmy Schmidt’s character to the audience in the best light possible.
Titus Burgess helps portray Kimmy in her best light to the audience
