The Brilliance of Arrested Development and Why we watch the characters we love to hate

Hi everyone! I'm brand new to steemit. I'm an aspiring writer and art-lover, and a recent transplant to NYC. I'm excited to be on this new platform, and plan on sharing a few short thoughts on the visual arts and my favorite bits of pop culture. Hope you enjoy!

My partner and I come from different cultural backgrounds and have different ways of looking at the world. (He's a mathematician, I'm a trained musician.) So it wasn't a surprise that when we started dating, our senses of humor didn't completely align. A bit mystified by my wacky friends and "weird" taste in art and music, he was reluctant to watch my favorite TV show, Arrested Development. Within a few episodes however, he was hooked. Recently we had a friend over and after trying and failing to find a movie that seemed interesting to watch, we settled on a few episodes of Arrested Development, none of which our friend had seen. Our friend did not enjoy the comedy and casually announced her intent not to watch the show again. Befuddled, my partner and I spent the rest of the evening after she left reciting our favorite one-liners and enthusiastically discussing the show's brilliance. He asked me to write a little something about the show, so here it is:

For those of you who haven't seen it, Arrested Development is the story of the Bluths, a dysfunctional family, who after their father is carted off to prison for white collar crime, must manage to keep themselves together and the family business afloat. The story centers around Michael Bluth, a widower who takes over the family real estate business, all while attempting to navigate his son through his teenage years, find romance once again, and deal with the selfish actions, foolishness, and eccentricities of his parents, brothers, and twin sister's family. Hailed as perhaps one of the best comedies of all time, Arrested Development is inventive and clever. In my opinion, it's brilliance can be found in the near perfect character development found in the first three seasons. When watching the show, it is impossible not to compare the characters with one's own family. We cringe at Lindsay's laziness, Tobias' obliviousness, Lucille's utter disregard for social, economic, or cultural difference, George Sr.'s chauvinism, and Gob's stupidity. The viewer immediately and easily identifies him or herself with Michael Bluth. Michael functions as the show's archetypal comedic anchor, who considers himself dedicated to his son and career, a martyr for the cause of family loyalty. Michael's downfall however, which makes the show's comedy so excellent and so uncomfortable, is his self-righteousness. The show forces the viewer to see in Michael what we fail to see in ourselves. The show emphasizes Michael's unwavering belief in the purity of his intentions but delightfully revels in his all too human failure to overcome his own selfishness and do the right thing. Each episode's plot is layered with wit and originality that makes each line of dialogue and every camera shot significant, and lends itself to repeated viewings.

Arrested Development is a satire in which a family's peculiarities and absurdity provide a breathlessly funny and universal interpretation of modern life. It is riddled with double entendre and deadpan humor. Despite masterful dialogue, significant critical acclaim to the tune of 6 Emmy awards, and a cult following, the show was cancelled after three seasons. Since then, it has been picked up by Netflix and a new set of writers which released Season 4 in 2013 (more thoughts on that later) Season 5 will debut in 2018. For anyone who hasn't seen it: It is worth the watch. It will make you laugh and squirm, all while gently nudging you to look insider yourself and confront your own inner demons.

-Elizabeth