Netflix's Newest Feminist Hit

Move over Orange is the New Black. There's a new girl in town. If you haven't yet binge watched Netflix's newest original series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, stop reading this blog post immediately and go watch the first season in its entirety. (It will take you a little under 6 hours to finish the entire 1st season in one sitting. Don't worry. I'll wait.)

*SIX HOURS LATER*

Now that you've successfully gotten the most catchy theme song in existence securely stuck in your head, let us proceed with caution to many spoilers.

First of all, Tina Fey is one of the show's executive producers. Having a celebrity feminist extraordinare at the forefront of this show's creative team, is a major factor to the show's success.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt does a phenomenal job at achieveing the ever so difficult balance of high comedic value paired with feminist tones.

Aside from the show being hilarious, the show uses stereotypes in its cast to criticize common tropes we often see in media today. Many plot details feature influences from pop culture. There are many references to celebrities, worldly events and even common brands that tend to dominate our society. (i.e. Apple)

Through exploring the tropes in the series' main cast, the feminist tones become very obvious. The show finds a way to poke fun at our society and mainstream media by downright mimicking the very things the show is criticizing. Let me introduce you to a few of the main characters.

Kimberly "Kimmy" Schmidt

As far as media representation goes, women are severely underrepresented in the media that Americans consume. (Women of color are even more so underrepresented, but I'll save this topic for a different blog post.) The fact that a show featuring a strong female lead is receiving positive criticism is astounding. Don't get me wrong. There are several successful shows in recent years that have featured strong female leads. (Scandal, anyone?) But Unbreakable is different. Ellie Kemper (Schmidt) is funny. Really funny. She's clearly tearing down the "women aren't funny" stereotype one joke at a time.

Kimmy has an unusual perky and positive outlook on life, especially considering the fact that she was locked in an underground bunker for 15 years. She's strong. She's a leader. She's resilient.

Kimmy is often portrayed as naive and a little ditzy throughout the season. I worry that the show's writers will not be able to rely on these character traits for too many more seasons. (Netflix ordered a second season for spring 2016, FYI.) I'm curious to see how the writers of the show plan to develop Kimmy as a character without losing too much of her naiveté. After all, she would become more adapted to the world in 2015 after living in NYC for some time, right? Regardless, we like Kimmy. We relate to her. She's honest. She struggles. She triumphs. And we're glad that she's not going anywhere.

Titus Andromedon

The flamboyant, gay roommate of Kimmy may be the most obvious of the tropes portayed in the series. Playing the trope of not only a "typical gay man" he also plays the part of the "struggling, starving actor." Titus is an aspiring Broadway star who claims to have auditoned for The Lion King over 20 times. All to no avail, of course. Discouraged he produces his own version. Tabby cat included.

(This led to him being allegedly sued by Disney.)

Titus is always the voice of reason in Kimmy's new life in New York. When he learns that she is, in fact, an "Indiana mole woman" he tells her to leave New York City. He often comes off as harsh and sometimes even protective of Kimmy, especially in the latter half of the season as their friendship develops.

He provides many moments of humor in the show, and even criticizes our society's treatment of black men. (See the episode where he gets a job as a server dressed as a werewolf in a themed restaurant and bar.)

Enjoy his newest music video for Peeno Noir.

Jacqueline Voorhees

Mrs. Voorhees, as Kimmy calls her, is a sterotypical Manhattan socialite, botox and spin class included. Small dogs are her accessory. She is not a native New Yorker. (Surprise, surprise! This is a recurring theme with the main cast.) It's revealed that she's actually of Native American decent and left her parents in the early 90s to pursue her dreams in New York City.

Jacqueline laters becomes a flight attendant where she meets her current husband. She is currently unemployed and living off her husband's exorbitant paychecks while he is away at work in London for months on end.

Jacqueline plays the trope of the "typical ditzy, golddigger woman in her midlife crisis." While her antics do provide humor, it's important for viewers to know that her exaggerated personality and traits (and other characters in the show) are merely a criticism of this trope we so commonly see in other forms of media.

In the first season alone, you see Jacqueline's character progress. She is hopelessly dependent on her husband's money, her son's tutor, her maid and now Kimmy as her nanny. As the season progresses you see a change in Jacqueline. She gains a new found sense of indepedence, fueled by Kimmy of course. And if that isn't a feminist tone, in the show I don't know what is.

Back to Kimmy

Time and time again Kimmy prevails and overcomes each obstacle in the show, whether it be from landing her first job in NYC or in a flashback to the bunker with Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne.

She often lends out advice to those struggling in the show to just "take things ten seconds at a time." She believes that anyone can withstand any situation, no matter how awful, for at least ten seconds at at a time. And when that ten seconds is over, you just start a new ten seconds. This is the advice she followed to survive the bunker for 15 years, and this is the same advice she gives Jacqueline who is on the verge of divorce with her extravagantly rich husband.

Kimmy survived the bunker. Kimmy will survive New York. Because as the show's title explains, she is unbreakable.

Overall, the show's overall theme can be attributed to one simple, and appropriately feminist quote from the show, "White dudes hold the record for creepy crimes. But females are strong as hell."