Community, Society, and the Meta

              Community has never been a television show that has reached mass-appeal. When it was on NBC, it always seemed on the verge of being canceled. It has been said that the only thing that kept it on that network was a relatively small but vocal fan-base, who petitioned during every off season to bring Community back. How can a show with such vocal fans still stay out of the mainstream? This could partially be because the show would like to do “genre episodes.” Changing the cinematic style each week as an homage to a different film genre (zombie horror, western, documentary, to name a few). A new viewer tuning in for the first time might be confused and turned off by one of these “strange” episodes. Creating episodes to be in the style of different film genres is evidence that the show is self-aware on some level. It is using television to make a comment on film or the filmmaking process, aka metacinematic. But, even beyond the show’s high-concept, genre episodes, the more grounded episodes, centered around Greendale Community College, still use the ideas of metacinema to be humorous. Despite the low ratings, Community still had five seasons on a major broadcast network. This leads me to believe that there was a societal void for metatelevison because people were ready for shows that referenced an aspect of filmmaking or television.

                Before I get ahead of myself, it is worth noting the shows Community shared a programming block in its heyday: The Office and Parks and Recreation (both shows shot in a psudo-documentary style) and 30 Rock (a show about making a fictional television show). It appears that all the shows in this two-hour block reference film or television in some way, so Community was in good company. But why program this sudden influx of self-referential shows? For the answer we have to look at society. Vito Acconci writes in the 1990s “The TV consumer practices the roll of the TV producer. The means is the field of home-made video.” Back then home-made video was record on a VHS tape with a camcorder, but by 2009, when Community began its run, the home video creation and sharing had exploded in popularity. With the creation of YouTube and more affordable video equipment and editing software, average people started to create and share content. They had truly shifted from consumers of programming to the producers. Now that more people were familiar with how filmmaking works, they were ready for content that mirrors (or parodies) their experiences. Community functions on this theory.

                How exactly does Community function as metatelevision? To answer this, we will explore two episodes: “Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples” from season two and “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” from season six. Both of these episodes heavily use meta to drive the plot of the episode or discuss the fate of the show.

                “Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples” is about Abed, a film student, creating film about the life of Jesus. Because the story has been told to death, he claims that his film is the Jesus movie for the post-postmodern world. The idea is the filmmaker is Jesus and the cameras are God. 

 Abed is both the filmmaker and the star simultaneously. Abed calls it “Filmmaking beyond film.  A Meta film. My Masterpiece.” During shooting there seems to be specific scenes set up but if they become interrupted Abed goes with it. This process blurs the line between reality and the film which captivates the entire school.

Two students gossip: “I heard the film is the same backwards and forwards.” “I heard the scenes are the deleted scenes and the deleted scenes are the scenes.” These two quotes allude to the extra levels of thought that is involved with metacinema. The concepts of films played backwards or deleted scenes originated as film terms, and therefore, they connect the film back to the world of film at a fundamental level. Abed acts as though his film is omnipresent because the camera represents God. He is completely into his film until he sees a rough cut of it. In that moment he realizes that his film is a “self-indulgent, adolescent mess.” The phrase “self-indulgent” is often used to describe metacinema. Filmmakers making films about filmmakers making films seems to be the ultimate act of self-indulgency. Abed admits his film is film is crap but there was so much hype behind it that he had no choice but to finish it.

Shirley, who overheard Abed praying, took in on herself to destroy the hard drives with the footage to save Abed’s film career. His film then becomes one of the “great” lost films. Its legend is more powerful than the film ever would be.

“Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” is the final episode of season six, which is possibly the final episode of Community. During this episode the characters “pitch” their ideas for “season seven” (playing into Abed’s habit of calling their years at Greendale seasons). 

 Abed begins with explaining their formula, which is acted out by the characters in a cutaway. The dialogue explains generically what the characters would say in one of their normal conversations and is quite accurate.  

After this, the other characters begin to pitch what they think would be the perfect season seven. Abed listens to each pitch but still thinks the seventh season is unlikely. He questions what show peaks after season six and is disappointed that his “show” has been hemorrhaging “characters” every year. (This is true because three of the original principal cast had left the show by this point.) 

Every line of dialogue that Abed says can be taken as direct commentary about the show Community. Abed works as a medium who the show’s creator, Dan Harmon, speaks directly to the audience though. The show is speaking for itself while not quite acknowledging that it is doing so. This episode works as metatelivision because it comments on how comments on how TV networks stifle creative control and use up a show to then toss it out. This was exactly the fate of Community. “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” brings the meta of the show so close to the surface that is nearly inverts itself and directly addresses the audience, but it stays true to its “formula” and stays meta.

Community’s small and loyal fan-base are exactly who this show is for. They are the section of society that can relate enough to its meta humor to not dismiss it. While the mainstream television audience might not be able to grasp all the concepts that the show puts forth, it will be noted as one of the great “cult” TV shows.