Broad City, Season 3 (Comedy Central)
From The Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton to flicks by the Farrelly Brothers and Judd Apatow, slapstick and physical comedy has traditionally been dubbed a man’s game. Even though we are familiar with the success of hits like I Love Lucy and the Laverne and Shirley show, both TV networks and film studios have never truly taken a step outside their comfort zones and fully committed to endorsing a “left of center” female driven physical comedy series. Sociologically, women are not expected to joke around about sex or potty humor—as this behavior is contradictory to the gender norms of what defines a “lady”. We definitely saw this antiquated way of thinking defied by the widespread popularity of Bridesmaids and it’s memorable food poisoning scene at the bridal shop. However, more recently Broad City, the American sitcom, created by and starring Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, has begun to penetrate the mainstream as their TV show is not only broadcasting on network television, but is also becoming popular culture’s “go to” references as the show’s humor transcends a particular common ground amongst members of the millennial generation.
From 2009 to 2011, the sitcom initially began as an independently produced webseries but was taken over by Comedy Central in 2014. Numerous critics are recognizing Abbi and Ilana’s comedic style as “slapstick feminism”. Even though Broad City’s humor is generally predicated on millennial tropes, their visual gags are reminiscent of everything from Charlie Chaplan tricks, all the way to the gestures found in a Carol Burnette sketch. I believe this term; “slapstick feminism” marks the emergence of a genre of comedy that can play a large role contributing to the progress of women in relation to the outdated stereotypes that have dominated popular culture as well as mainstream media for decades.
Contrary to HBO’s Girls, Broad City possesses a diverse cast with characters of different races and spectrums of sexual orientation. In particular, the show utilizes visual gags, bathroom humor, and sex talk to deconstruct and redefine what we consider to be the “norm”. I believe women and men alike organically subscribe to this outlandish humor because it humanizes the modern day conception of how women should act or who they should be. At large, Broad City is reestablishing the “absurd” within the context of “normal”—thus allowing audiences to identify with yet laugh at the daily struggles and triumphs of Abbi and Ilana’s characters. Broad City has already been renewed for a fourth and fifth season on Comedy Central.
Nevertheless, I don’t believe we would have a space for Broad City in our society today if the Internet did not exist and threaten to disrupt the narrow confines of broadcast media. And for that reason, I encourage all female artists to use the “web” as a chief medium to get their voices heard as well as a device to breakdown traditional stereotypes and redefine genres of film. Audiences are clearly craving content that appeals more directly to the taste buds of today's society.