2 (Not So) Broke Girls
The TV Show 2 Broke Girls ran from 2011 to 2017 on CBS. It is a still a very polarizing show. People either love it or hate it. I, for one, enjoyed it. I know it isn’t particularly well-written and it often feels more like a guilty pleasure than anything. It is a flawed show, for sure, but it is fun.
The first season of the show showed what it was like to live in poverty. Max went to the laundromat and shopped at a thrift store. Honestly, I could relate. Very few shows depict people in poverty. It is frustrating to watch Middle Class and Rich people all the time. I think it would be nice to have their easy life and face relatively minor conflicts. To those of us who struggle, the Middle Class life doesn’t feel realistic.
I loved Max with her bigger than life personality. I also loved her big boobs and her smart mouth. Max had a terrible childhood, which made her a complicated person. She came across tough as nails, but her tough exterior was just covering up her softer side. Caroline could be annoying, and often shallow, but she balanced Max out. They worked well together as a team and their friendship was inspiring. And I love how everyone at the diner became one big family. They were really there for each other.
Some people were put off by all the dirty jokes. I didn’t mind most of them. Occasionally, they took things too far—like when they made rape jokes. Sex is can be quite amusing, but rape is never funny. Luckily, they stopped using those jokes in the second season.
The other complaint about the show was that it relied on stereotypes, and it often did. Although the jokes that relied on stereotypes fell flat and got old, the writers didn’t appear to harbor any real bias or hatred. It was supposed to be all in good fun. The problem, I believe, lies trying to write an old fashioned comedy in the modern age. Comedy movies and shows have always relied on stereotypes for a large portion of their jokes, but times have changed and writers need to change along with it.
Representation is something that is important. Shows like Girls and Sex And The City have been criticized for being white-washed. 2 Broke Girls is ultimately about two white women, but the supporting cast is diverse at least. We have an Asian restaurant owner in Han. Earl the cashier is black. Sophie is Polish and Oleg is Ukrainian. They have also had various gay and lesbian supporting characters as well. And unlike the reboot of Sex and The City (And Just Like That) the representation in 2 Broke Girls doesn’t feel forced.
My biggest personal gripe is that they abandoned the whole poverty angle. The focus becomes the Cupcake Business in its various incarnations. While I wanted them to succeed, I missed the references to daily struggles of living in the lower class. Stealing napkins from Starbucks when they couldn’t afford toilet paper kept it real. I wasn’t impressed when they went all Hollywood in the last couple of Seasons. The whole premise of the two girls being broke was undermined when they became successful. The show should have stopped there, but they drug it out for another season or so.
If you are looking for something revolutionary or deep, you won’t find it in 2 Broke Girls. But if you want a pleasant distraction, it is worth checking out. And if you are a fan of Beth Behr, you can check out her new show on CBS The Neighborhood. Or if you are a Kat Dennings fan, you watch Dollface on Hulu.
carilynn27 