Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ is a surprisingly complex feminist musical that deserves your attention

If you aren’t watching The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, that's probably because it’s on The CW and it’s called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. But those who dismiss this series based on the title are seriously missing out on one of the most joyous, surprisingly complex comedies on air right now: a laugh out loud feminist musical spectacular unlike anything you've ever seen.

Just from the name, you might expect Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to be a show where the majority of laughs occur at the expense of the titular character, a Michael Scott-esque fool whom the audience mocks for being an out-of-it loser obsessed with some guy. Women can be crazy, am I right? In reality, however, the series treats Rebecca with a level of respect and understanding that few comedies offer their female protagonists, painting her as a three-dimensional character with genuine flaws, whom we root for in spite of it all. In fact, the theme song goes out of its way each week to criticize the series' name just as critics do. Rebecca complains that “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is a sexist term and notes “the situation’s a lot more nuanced than that.” She's right, of course. And that sentence serves as the thesis statement for the entire series, speaking to issues of sexuality and mental health while constantly subverting gender norms.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend follows Rebecca Bunch, a lawyer working in New York City, who makes an impulse decision to move to California in pursuit of her ex-boyfriend, Josh. Right away, creator Rachel Bloom defies expectations, as it's clear her actions are representative of a larger problem: Rebecca's severe anxiety and depression. Though she does indeed have a massive crush, her move to West Covina is really just a desperate pursuit of an easy solution to her mental health issues, as her relationship with Josh was the last time she felt true happiness. 

The show neither exalts nor fully condemns Rebecca's behavior. Her decision to abandon a high-paying job may have us cringing and her attempts at wooing Josh are often ill-informed, but Rebecca is at no point the one-dimensional “crazy bitch” archetype the title has us anticipating. Indeed, "crazy ex-girlfriend" is a sexist term used by misogynistic guys to dismiss women they don't like as being nuts, but Rebecca is much more complex. Just think of all the male characters on TV who are allowed to, at times, be rather unlikable, and yet we still root for them: Don Draper from Mad Men, Walter White in the early seasons of Breaking Bad and in terms of comedy, Michael Scott from The Office. Female protagonists are generally painted with broader strokes, but not on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, where it's possible to, over the course of any given hour, think that Rebecca is acting selfishly while still hoping she pulls through. 

In one fantastic episode, for example, Rebecca presents Josh with an old love letter she wrote him at camp when they were kids. Josh is currently in a committed relationship and does not seem to have any sort of romantic feelings for Rebecca, so we as the audience view this as a risky move from the get-go. But it is not the buildup to a moment where we laugh in her face as she fails completely, as in a typical episode of The Office. Instead, it leads to a deeply upsetting sequence in which Rebecca opens herself up emotionally and is soundly rejected. No joke is made of it. Instead, this lands a crushing blow both for Rebecca and for the audience. Refreshingly, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend calls on us to cheer on its lead female character, while simultaneously writing her as a highly-flawed person.

In fact, Rebecca has many serious psychological issues that should not be the subject of ridicule, hence Rebecca's criticism of her own show's title. The name "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" dismisses her as an unstable dolt, but her situation is much more complicated. And the show deals with depression in an incredibly respectful way. In one particularly memorable song, an imaginary boy band consisting of mental health professionals sings to Rebecca about finally addressing her anxiety and depression. Here's a TV series where going to a therapist is rightly seen as a commendable means of treating a serious disease and not as a laughable sign that a character has gone "crazy." In another episode, the program tackles the popular misconception that receiving therapy is just a way to obtain medication or an instant fix. But when Rebecca struggles with abuse of anti-depressants, this ostensibly fluffy musical-comedy depicts a real problem without a hint of sarcasm. 

“My anxiety is so out of control that all I can think about is thinking about thinking about everything I’ve ever done wrong and all the ways I’ve already messed up my life beyond repair,” Rebecca says in a song that parodies romanticizing depression, which for many hits remarkably close to home. The joke isn't how silly it is to be mentally ill. It's how out-of-place it is in pop culture to sincerely express a battle with mental illness.

In response to the second half of the title, which defines Rebecca primarily as someone’s girlfriend rather than as her own person, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is also full of songs about feminism and about the contradictory messages women receive from pop songs and movies. For instance, there’s the parody of typical "girl power" anthems, “Put Yourself First,” which deconstructs songs meant to promote self-esteem in young girls while still insisting they please men. “Push those boobs up just for yourself,” the song declares. “Wear six-inch heels just for yourself.”

“If it’s just for myself, shouldn’t I be comfortable” Rebecca asks. “No! Put yourself first in a sexy way,” the dancers respond. Apparently, you should care about making yourself happy, but only so far as that happiness pleases others.

Then there’s “Sex with a Stranger,” an anti slut-shaming song that speaks to the potential benefits of a one-night stand while also reflecting the anxiety women naturally experience around basically any man they don’t know. Rebecca’s catchy number slowly devolves from her praising the joys of sex with a stranger into her desperately hoping that this dude isn’t a murderer and that he has been tested for STDs. She even feels the need to apologize to the guy because her fears about being murdered got in the way of pleasing him. God forbid! All throughout Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the musical numbers have two clear sides: the standard pop lyrics we’d normally hear on the radio and the brief interludes of bleak reality.

And, of course, there’s “The Sexy Getting Ready Song,” all about women being forced to put a ridiculous amount of effort into making themselves look nice, with guys putting in virtually no work into their own appearance while still feeling entitled to criticize girls for how they look. In fact, a rapper comes on screen to demean and objectify Rebecca, only to have his eyes opened to the insane process she goes through before stepping outside every day. “Man, this is some nasty ass, patriarchal bullshit,” he says. “You know what, I’ve got to go apologize to some bitches.”

Despite its tremendous feminist themes, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend also indulges in some of the plot beats of a typical romantic comedy. And indeed, Rebecca being a strong woman does not mean she can't also have a massive crush on a cute boy and want to make out with him a lot. Never are her romantic feelings portrayed as something that identifies her as a weak person. The options are not to be an independent feminist or to engage in broad romantic gestures and lovey-dovey acts in hopes of wooing a guy. Rebecca can easily fall into both camps because the situation's a lot more nuanced than that.

Heck, even the love triangle between Rebecca, Josh and Josh's current girlfriend, Valencia, is handled with grace, at least in recent episodes. In most romance tales, the spouse of the main character's crush is a villainous caricature for no reason other than that they dare to be dating someone our protagonist is destined to be with. Why does that make them an inherently evil person, though? Early on, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend frequently wrote Valencia as a stuck-up, entitled woman who Josh could do much better than, but the show's most recent episode totally subverts this cliche. Josh kisses Rebecca while still dating Valencia and afterwards Valencia is completely understanding, forgiving Josh. Rebecca realizes that in this scenario, she's the villain. After all, why is it okay for her to be endlessly pursing a man in a committed relationship, trying to get him to cheat? What, is it okay simply because Josh's current girlfriend can be a little self-centered sometimes? Never in life do relationships boil down to these simple roles of protagonist and antagonist, where there's the person we're meant to be with and the person who is stealing our lover away like Bowser from Super Mario Bros. Once again, the situation's a lot more nuanced than that, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend thriving on these complications.

So why are so few people watching it? Part of the reason has to be that it's on The CW; Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was originally going to air on Showtime. And if it landed there, general audiences would probably be more inclined to recognize that the title is satirical. Thankfully, the series was just renewed for a second season, so hopefully word spreads in coming months of just how interesting this show is. Week after week, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend skewers pop-culture's treatment of women, mental illness and in a recent episode, even bisexuality, suggesting that everything in life is more layered than it is in the dopey fiction we usually see on television. And, perhaps best of all, it offers a truly complex, truly compelling female protagonist. Which is something that, unfortunately, can be rather difficult to find.