the art of "awkward" shows

A lot of people, me included, use TV shows as an escape from reality, watching these fictional characters allow for people to forget about everything momentarily. This being said, majority of my favorite shows aren't always an escape from reality, if anything these shows bring me down to reality.

I realized this the other day, I introduced the show Fleabag to a friend of mine. They told me I had an interesting taste in TV shows, I thought that meant like the soul-crushing aspect of shows that I thoroughly enjoy. Come to find out, they actually meant they find the shows I watch to be awkward. I didn't entirely understand, and I asked what awkward meant. They said it's uncomfortable to watch at times, whether that means sex scenes, certain dialogue choices, or getting second-hand embarrassment. It really made me think the rest of the night about the shows that I like and how they fit the theme of so-called awkwardness.

sourced from fleabag (Amazon Prime, 2016-2019)

In addition to Fleabag, I thought about the other shows that I enjoy that have some qualities that could be deemed as awkward. Some of which are such Brave Girls, Pen15, Girls, Everything Sucks, High Fidelity, Normal People, and Overcompensating, to name a few. When trying to fall asleep that night and thinking about the shows and what they all have in common with one another. When I realized the reason why I like them so much and what they have in common, I noticed how that could be perceived as awkward to some people, I had just never viewed it that way.

The similarity is quite obvious, at least to me, but that's what inspired me to write this blog, the beauty of these awkward shows and my deep love for them. The truth is I don't find them awkward, all those scenes where you get second hand embarrassment and physically cringe, they're really just relatable. Like Pen15, it's awkward and full of embarrassing moments, my mom is very outwardly weirded out by it, but my sister and I love it, because we say that it really is truthfully relatable to most people's middle school experiences. Whereas, the show Girls, is just an uncomfortable truth of what life is like. Whether that means the ups and downs of platonic or romantic relationships, living in a city, being broke and in your 20s and just trying to survive, and so many other important themes that are relatable to most people, or at least I find them to be relatable to myself.

sourced from the show Girls (HBO Max, 2012-2017)

I could go on and on about how the shows I named create an uncomfortable vibe to the viewer, but my realization relates to all of the shows that I named and many more. Sure, shows are supposed to show you these fictional characters and build these unrealistic life and character story lines, and let people forget about real life. But I love the shows that do the opposite. They make you cringe and sometimes feel awkward, but the reason for that is because they're actually just realistic.

They reach the audience in different ways, including breaking the third wall (my favorite thing ever), and show what life is actually like majority of the time. Life is about those awkward moments that make you cringe when you remember them. Or about those moments you share with your friends, whether it's breaking down crying or even impulsively and terribly cutting your own hair, it's about random side quests with your friends that don't always work out. These shows remind me of all the moments in my life to think about, and even though they're awkward at times, I remember I'm not the only person experiencing them, but I should still appreciate them no matter what.

Think about the shows I named, give them a watch, and give them a chance through the awkwardness.

-AC