Here’s the thing: if you aren’t watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, you should be. The show is easily the most original new series this year, a musical comedy-drama about love, real estate law, and mental illness. It’s created by two fabulously talented women, famed screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) and star (and Golden Globe winner) Rachel Bloom.
The series follows Type-A neurotic lawyer Rebecca Bunch, who quits her high-powered firm in New York to move to West Covina (Californiaaaaa…sorry, if you watch the show you’ll get it) to stalk her summer camp sweetheart Josh Chan. Rebecca now has to navigate a new city, new friends, and her increasingly loose grip on reality in a struggle to figure out what makes her happy. The show is at turns both hilarious, poignant, and irresistible, with a strong feminist viewpoint. Seriously, the show has already done several different musical numbers on gender stereotypes and body shaming, it’s incredible.
I was already a fan of the show, but was delighted to see an honest to goodness bisexual storyline unfold! Over the past few weeks, Rebecca’s awkward boss Darryl Whitefeather has struck up a romance with the hunky White Josh, a gym bro who is proudly out. We’ve seen Darryl come to terms with his “bothsexuality” that culminated last night in his Robert Palmer-esque anthem “Getting Bi.”
This is exciting for so many reasons: we so rarely get complex portrayals of bisexuality in pop culture, let alone bisexual men. Having a middle-aged, dorky divorced dad like Darryl explore his bisexuality is refreshing and inspiring. And the lyrics of the song dispel several clichés about bisexuality that we’re all sick of hearing. Now this is all well and good, but I’m sure you’re wondering where the ladies fit into all this: Darryl’s coming out song is so inspiring, it causes new administrative assistant Maya (played by Esther Povitsky) to come out as bisexual herself.
Hopefully we’ll see more of Maya in coming episodes, but in the meantime, I’ll be enjoying “Getting Bi” as my new ringtone.
Are you a fan of Crazy Ex Girlfriend? Do you, like me, have a huge crush on Rachel Bloom? Tweet me all your musical feels @ChelseaProcrast
