Football, Feminism And You
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"Football, Feminism and You" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
''. It aired in the United States on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
on October 22, 2009. The episode centers on Troy (
Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...
) and his career playing
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
at Greendale Community College, while the B storyline concerns Britta (
Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (2016â ...
) and her difficulty befriending other women. Pierce (
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
) works with Dean Pelton (
Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...
) to create the school's mascot. The episode was watched by 5.18 million viewers upon its premiere and received polarized reviews.


Plot

Dean Pelton (
Jim Rash James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...
) is trying to boost interest in Greendale's football team, which has recently been renamed the "Greendale Human Beings." Aware that Troy (
Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...
) was a star football player in
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
but suffered an injury preventing him from going further, he attempts to convince Troy to join the team, but Annie (
Alison Brie Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), which won her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition fo ...
) objects, believing Troy has a better future. Pierce (
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
) offers to help Dean Pelton to redesign the school mascot to reflect the name change. Through many attempts, Pierce and the dean realize that the only acceptable mascot is one free of race, gender, or other identification, and end up creating a vaguely human-shaped mascot, wrapped entirely in white gauze to disguise any discernibly human characteristics. Jeff (
Joel McHale Joel Edward McHale (born November 20, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is best known for hosting ''The Soup'' (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015). He has performed i ...
) later discovers posters and flyers for Greendale with his photogenic face front and center. Worried that these flyers would damage his professional reputation, he confronts Dean Pelton. Then Dean
blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
s Jeff, promising not to send out the flyers if he can convince Troy to join the football team. Jeff succeeds in doing so behind Annie's back. Annie later observes Troy slipping back into his pre-college, jock ways such as being late for class and being lax on homework. She discovers he had rejoined the football team and realizes that Jeff convinced him to do so. Jeff counters that Annie is trying to direct Troy on the path that she wants him to be on; Annie takes the comment too hard, but later is cheered up in the bathroom by Britta (
Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (2016â ...
). At a
pep rally A pep rally or pep assembly is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school, and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the team. It ...
before his first game, Troy tells Jeff that the accident that ended his first football career and cost him his scholarship was not an accident: Troy could not take the pressure of being the star player, and injured himself on purpose. Since there is no pressure to succeed at Greendale, Troy now genuinely enjoys playing football. Jeff and Annie later make up for interfering in each other's lives. Meanwhile, Shirley (
Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of ''The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the ABC sit ...
) is upset when Britta doesn't join her in a bathroom break, and later insulted when Britta does join her but ridicules Shirley's desire to take her mother to get a
makeover A makeover is a radical change in appearance. When the word is used to describe a change in human physical appearance, it may imply a change in clothing, haircut, or cosmetics. A personal makeover might also include weight loss, plastic surgery, ...
on
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
grounds. Shirley insists that the time women share in the bathroom together is to support each other, and that from now on, Britta can "pee alone." Britta realizes that she has never had support in such bathroom meetings, and is there to support Annie in a bathroom meeting after Jeff's accusation. Shirley walks in and praises Britta for her success.


Analysis

Jeff's role is limited, as in the previous episode, giving the show more of an
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...
feel. The episode gives further background to other characters before they began Greendale. Annie realizes that she and Troy have changed since high school. Troy was previously portrayed as a jock, but can now be seen as someone scared of the pressures of transitioning into adulthood. This contributes to development in Troy's character which leads to him being portrayed as less of a jock, allowing him to bond with Abed. Meanwhile, Britta becomes more pragmatic under Shirley's influence. Sean Gandert of '' Paste'' remarked that ''Community'' often associates pragmatism with maturity and adulthood. "Football, Feminism and You" was originally scheduled as the third episode to air, between " Spanish 101" and " Introduction to Film". The "human being" mascot introduced in the episode recurs in later episodes. Troy suggests to Jeff that he take a pottery class, which he does in the later season 1 episode "
Beginner Pottery "Beginner Pottery" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series ''Community''. It aired in the United States on NBC on March 18, 2010. Plot Jeff (Joel McHale) suggests his selection for the "ultimate b ...
". Gandert found that the show has a "newfound self-awareness" beginning in this episode, with Abed making multiple meta-jokes.


Reception

Upon its first broadcast in the United States, an estimated 5.18 million viewers watched the episode.


Critical reception

John Young of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' found the episode the best so far, praising Jeff and Troy's dialogue on the football field in particular. Gandert reviewed that the episode was not as funny as previous episodes, but one of the most well-written. Gandert found the narrative "nimbly ducks and weaves" across the multiple storylines. Eric Hochberger of ''TV Fanatic'' praised the episode for using Troy as the lead and giving Jeff a more minor role, as "taking advantage of the rest of this amazing cast proves the show can be just as funny and lead to more unique plotlines". However, the episode garnered a B− rating in ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'', with Emily VanDerWerff criticizing that the episode reiterates established points from previous episodes, following the episode airing out of the original order. She highlighted Annie's crush on Troy and Britta and Jeff's sexual tension as aspects that made more sense to establish earlier. However, she praised the human being as "odd and amusing". Jonah Krakow of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
found it a poor episode, rating it 6.5 out of 10. Krakow criticized that Jeff does not contribute much to the episode, but praised Glover's acting and Troy's high school football rap. In 2018, ''
Thrillist Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis News ...
''s Tyler McCarthy ranked "Football, Feminism and You" as the 19th-best episode of ''Community''. In 2019, Aron Garst of ''
GamesRadar+ ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
'' ranked it 15th-best. In 2020, Joe Matar of ''
Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gan ...
'' found it one of the best early episodes of ''Community''.


References


External links

* {{Community (TV series) Community (season 1) episodes 2009 American television episodes