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It's finally cool to be a Smart Girl, but that doesn't mean it's always easy! In this compilation video, we're taking a look back at our Takes on some of our favorite Smart Girl characters!...
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00:00Smart girls are all the rage these days.
00:02It's never been cooler to flaunt your knowledge and ambition.
00:05So how has the smart girl trope evolved to mirror changing views
00:08of what it means to be smart,
00:10and the kind of brains we value in young women?
00:13If we look at the brainy girl character type in movies and TV,
00:16we see some common patterns.
00:18She's an academic whiz whose reputation for getting good grades precedes her.
00:22You were in my English class last year, right?
00:24You're that chick who got an A.
00:26She's ambitious, often an overachiever,
00:28and a career woman in the making.
00:30So, what did everyone do today?
00:33Appointed a Supreme Court justice?
00:35Because of her strong sense of self and pride in her high IQ,
00:38she can come off as uptight, haughty, or intolerant of people who aren't as smart.
00:43Honestly, don't you two read?
00:46Her scrutinizing nature sometimes makes her feel apart from others.
00:49I actively work to make people dislike me so I won't feel bad when they do.
00:53And for a while, she might try to flee her smart girl persona
00:57in an attempt to fit in.
00:58You're our best mathlete.
00:59Oh god, please don't say that word.
01:02Sometimes she can be spotted wearing the ultimate brainy girl accessory, glasses.
01:07Hey, my glasses!
01:09I can't see without them!
01:10And there's a symbolic significance to this stereotypical costume.
01:14The smart girl can see things that others can't.
01:17This is both a special gift and a burden.
01:20At her worst, she's crippled by overanalyzing everything,
01:23and bogged down in insecurity.
01:25You outsmart yourself.
01:26Sometimes I wish I wasn't so smart.
01:29But at her best, the smart girl is a confident visionary.
01:32Just because something works doesn't mean that it cannot be improved.
01:36Here is our take on the rise of the smart girl,
01:38what makes her tick, and why she's far more complicated than you might think.
01:42So yes, they let women do some things at NASA, Mr. Johnson.
01:46And it's not because we wear skirts.
01:49It's because we wear glasses.
01:51If the mean girl is driven by rage,
02:02and the cool girl is reflective of a male fantasy,
02:05the smart girl is distinguished by deep self-awareness.
02:08Actually, I'm highly logical,
02:10which allows me to look past extraneous detail
02:12and perceive clearly that which others overlook.
02:14This character's curse is that she's an overthinker.
02:17I don't know if I believe in it.
02:19Real, lasting happiness.
02:21The mind that's always dissecting everything
02:23can plague the smart girl with insecurities.
02:26This is what you wanted, isn't it?
02:28To humiliate me, make me quit.
02:31God forbid you had to work with the ugly girl your dad forced you to hire me.
02:34And a lot of the behavior that strikes others as arrogant or superior
02:38stems from overcompensating for her fear that she can't be normal
02:42and well-adjusted like the less intellectual people around her.
02:45I was so scared of you.
02:49I felt like I had to prove that I was better than you.
02:51As we also see in her adult version, the smart woman,
02:55being smart doesn't actually help this character in her personal life,
02:58especially not in romance.
03:00On the entire SAT, I got two questions wrong,
03:02and in subsequent years those questions were stricken for being misleading.
03:05But I know nothing about life.
03:10Her overthinking tendencies can lead this highly intelligent person to make
03:14not-very-smart choices.
03:16I make awful decisions.
03:20Like really, no, like really awful decisions.
03:23Her over-analytical nature is likewise a problem when it comes to socializing and friendships.
03:28Sensitive and constantly readjusting in response to her surroundings,
03:32the smart girl is hyper-aware when she doesn't fit in.
03:35I just know I'll never fit in anywhere.
03:37and feels a pressure to conform.
03:39Straight A's, perfect attendance, bathroom timer?
03:42I should be the most popular girl in school.
03:45Even characters with firm convictions, like Mean Girls' Katie Herron,
03:48can be easily swayed by the intoxicating promise of popularity.
03:52You know I couldn't invite you, I had to pretend to be plastic.
03:56Buddy, you're not pretending anymore, you're plastic.
03:58Katie demonstrates the smart girl's tendency
04:01to apply her trademark academic rigor to making friends.
04:04Katie scientifically observes her peers like she's studying the animal kingdom.
04:09So part of why the smart girl tests out other personas or cliques
04:13that aren't true to herself is due to her intellectual curiosity.
04:17We see this anthropologist streak in Freaks and Geeks' Lindsay Weir,
04:21a mathlete like Katie who goes through a crisis of identity
04:24when she distances herself from her egghead friends
04:27and finds herself drawn to the freaks in her high school.
04:30We're cutting.
04:31Daniel is paying his brother 20 bucks and he's gonna buy us a K.
04:35Lindsay finds the freak's slackerdom appealing and intriguing.
04:39Her immersive study of what it's like to be one of them
04:42is a welcome escape from the brainy identity she finds limiting and suffocating.
04:47Man, I hate high school.
04:50Still, even this deeply ambivalent brainiac
04:54can't fully quit her scholarly competitive side.
04:56Look, at least put me back on the team.
04:58I am the best person at math in this school.
05:01Because the brainy girl can never shed her intellectual nature.
05:04Pride in her smarts and the determination to excel are integral to who she is.
05:11I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading.
05:14For all her overthinking induced insecurities,
05:16deep down the smart girl has a foundation of confidence
05:19that comes from knowing she's brilliant.
05:22There's nothing more empowering than having faith in your own mind and point of view.
05:26And this is why, when it comes down to it, this clever girl is tough, with a thick skin.
05:31Harry Potter's resident smart girl Hermione,
05:33who embodies the smart girl's trademark mix of confidence and insecurity,
05:38is, according to star Emma Watson,
05:40never afraid to take control of a situation or be the brains behind anything.
05:44She says what she thinks and doesn't hold back.
05:46You're saying it wrong, it's leviosa, not leviosa.
05:52So while she may temporarily pretend she can fit another mold,
05:55try on another identity for size,
05:57or worry she has to dumb herself down to get the guy,
06:00ultimately, the brainy girl can't stand letting her brain power go to waste.
06:05I pretended to be bad at math so that you'd help me.
06:08But the thing is, I'm not really bad at math.
06:11I'm actually really good at math.
06:13You're kind of bad at math.
06:14She speaks her mind and stands up for what she believes in,
06:17like it's an inborn instinct.
06:19Why should I be deprived of a good education
06:21just because I am geographically undesirable?
06:23Thus, the smart girl is distinguished by her strong sense of self above all.
06:28This character's struggle is to get out of her own way,
06:32to transcend her hypersensitivity and overthinking.
06:34Whoa, you're being a little-
06:36Obstrupulous, recalcitrant, truculent!
06:38I was gonna say cray-cray.
06:40So she can make her vision for a better world become a reality.
06:43You have your fans, I have mine.
06:46Someday, your fans are going to work for my fans.
06:54The smart girl is a reflection of her era.
06:57She reveals what her culture considers to be smart
06:59and its attitude toward intelligence.
07:02Especially in women.
07:03We can see early precursors to this character type
07:05in eras when women displayed fierce wit and brainpower on screen.
07:09In the 1930s, screwball comedies,
07:11witty, self-possessed heroines held their own against their leading men.
07:15Stand still, David, don't be nervous.
07:16Uh-oh, make him stand still!
07:18Don't be silly, David, you can't make a leopard stand still.
07:21But in a sense, these characters had to act like men
07:24and mirror male characteristics to be seen as equals.
07:27You're a newspaper man.
07:28That's why I'm quitting.
07:29I want to go someplace where I can be a woman.
07:31You mean be a traitor?
07:32The femme fatales and film noirs of the 1940s and 50s
07:35used their feminine wiles and extreme intelligence
07:38to tempt men down a dark path,
07:40implying there was something dangerous about a woman being too smart.
07:44I'm rotten to the heart.
07:45I used you just as you said.
07:46Today's brainy girl trope finds positive ancestors
07:49in young literary heroes such as clever and whip-smart
07:52girl detective Nancy Drew, starting in the 30s.
07:55Over the decades, Nancy was joined by more razor-sharp
07:58girl detectives and other protagonists
08:00whose intelligence was intrinsic to their personalities,
08:03like Harriet the Spy.
08:05I want to remember everything.
08:06I want to know everything.
08:08Or Beverly Cleary's Beezus Quimby.
08:10Despite this variety of precursors,
08:12If you need me, I'll be in the library.
08:15The modern smart girl trope really rose to mainstream popularity
08:18in the late 80s and early 90s.
08:20Unabashedly bright young women like Growing Pains' Carol Siever,
08:23It says here that as the universe expands,
08:25all matter is slowly degenerating into a state of total disorganization.
08:31Thank God, I thought it was just me.
08:32Saved by the Bell's Jesse Spano,
08:35We are not only going to get an A on this project,
08:37but we are also going to win that science medal.
08:39Beverly Hills 90210's Andrea Zuckerman,
08:42This is the top-ranked high school paper in the country,
08:44and I intend to keep it that way.
08:45Wow, you are intense.
08:46and Lisa Simpson owned their mental gifts,
08:49and asserted their academic superiority.
08:51I pick up books like you pick up beers.
08:54Then you have a serious reading problem.
08:57The empowered brainy girl of this era
08:59can be seen as a response to 80s teen movies,
09:02which had glorified the male nerd stereotype.
09:05I'm a nerd, and I'm pretty proud of it.
09:09Girls in those same films could be depicted as smart and put together.
09:13You're doing extremely well in your courses,
09:15and I think your chances of getting a scholarship are excellent.
09:20But weren't explicitly valued for their academic prowess.
09:23After all, when The Breakfast Club dissected the high school class system,
09:26the girls were relegated to two categories,
09:29a princess or a basket case.
09:31The brain character was a boy.
09:34It wasn't until 1989's Say Anything
09:36that a teen movie featured a brainy girl,
09:39valedictorian Diane Court,
09:40who doubled as a beautiful conventional romantic lead.
09:44Diane Court doesn't go out.
09:45She's a brain.
09:46Trapped in the body of a game show hostess.
09:49The ascension of the smart girl can also be explained by major societal shifts.
09:53In the 80s, women became a much more dominant force in the U.S. workplace.
09:57So these new brainy girls had their hardworking moms as role models,
10:01and knew that they too one day could be powerful working women.
10:05How come you had to go back to work?
10:07I didn't have to, Ben.
10:09I wanted to.
10:10Thus career ambition is a key part of the smart girl from the 80s on.
10:14This makes her inspirational, but it can also be exhausting.
10:18No stories, no time, SATs.
10:21She frequently puts herself under so much pressure that she cracks.
10:25I'm so scared.
10:28This overachiever is plagued by an obsessive pursuit of perfection,
10:32and a competitive streak, as she's driven to prove she's the best.
10:36I have 699 As. I need one more. Give me the A, Feeny.
10:41Starting in 2000, Gilmore Girls gave us two contrasting examples
10:45of this ambitious smart girl.
10:47What did you get?
10:48That's personal.
10:49Why won't you tell me?
10:50Because it's none of your business.
10:51Sweet Rory's identity is wrapped up in going to Harvard.
10:55I can't believe it. I'm actually standing outside of Harvard.
10:58But Paris is a much more extreme, type-A straight-A student,
11:02who will stop at nothing and step on anyone on her way to the top.
11:06She's got a C average, which means she's either lazy or stupid.
11:09I can work with either.
11:10Alexis Bledel, who played Rory, said,
11:13As the years went by on Gilmore Girls,
11:14I noticed that Rory was kind of like an idealized product of the show's imagination,
11:19because she was really perfect in a lot of ways,
11:21which started to annoy me a bit.
11:23So these comments back up the idea that ruthless, combative Paris
11:27is perhaps more true to the smart girl character type.
11:30I'm just dealing with the usual incompetence around here, that's all.
11:33To be fair, there's a good reason why smart girls have long stressed
11:36about being flawless.
11:37They had to outperform males to be taken seriously.
11:40The company needs a man in this position.
11:43Clients would rather deal with men when it comes to figures.
11:45I lose a promotion because of some idiot prejudice.
11:48Spare me the women's lib crap, okay?
11:50Still, as she grows up, the smart girl benefits from learning to accept
11:53the occasional failure or slightly less than ideal result,
11:57in order to become a more self-assured, mature individual.
12:00In the 90s, third-wave feminism begat Riot Girl,
12:04a movement that encouraged teens and women to advocate for their bodies and their rights,
12:08and recognized the systems of oppression that didn't work in their favor.
12:12Haven't you ever heard of the women's movement?
12:14Well, sure.
12:14Put on something cute and move it into the kitchen.
12:17And as the 90s progressed, brainy girls were earnest and socially conscious,
12:22not afraid to question authority, rattle the status quo,
12:25isn't that just pointless busywork?
12:27Bullseye.
12:27Get cracking.
12:28Or challenge the patriarchy.
12:30May I remind you both that we are girls,
12:32we are not foxes, not chicks, nor any other cute little animal you boys like.
12:37You understand?
12:38Sure, kitten.
12:39Even though this character is most identified with her bookishness,
12:43if you think about it, that old-school smart girl who's merely academically driven
12:47is based on a narrow, traditionally male idea of intelligence.
12:52Over time, the smart girl character type has added more dimensions to her braininess.
12:56She might be creative instead of purely interested in logic and facts,
13:00I'll be unappreciated in my own country,
13:01but my gutsy blue stylings will electrify the French,
13:04or may have found humane, empathetic outlets for her talents.
13:08The contemporary smart girl is empowered by her intelligence to leave the classroom
13:13and use her brains to impact the world.
13:15But then I think about Sebastian St. Clair,
13:17and going to work with him, helping people, and making a difference.
13:22And I feel like I have a reason to get out of bed.
13:25Perhaps what makes her so uniquely effective is that she's used to being right
13:29when others are wrong.
13:30At times this can make her an irritating know-it-all,
13:33as she'll most definitely tell you when you make a mistake.
13:37I'm naturally inquisitive.
13:38Yes, which is also sometimes confused
13:41with being naturally obnoxious here.
13:44But it also means she's used to trusting her instincts and her own far-seeing brain.
13:48She can envision the world's future problems and solutions,
13:52and believe in her insights, even when others take a while to catch up.
13:56You are teaching me. What do you know?
13:59More than you.
14:00So it's no surprise that many of today's renowned real-life smart girls
14:05are entrepreneurs or activists,
14:07who enact the change they want to see in the world.
14:10You must fight others, but through peace and through dialogue and through education.
14:20Even if the smart girl was embraced from the 80s on,
14:23often her stories still put her in the shadow of a cool girl,
14:27who was, most importantly, pretty.
14:29I mean, I look at you at school and I think that you have the most perfect life.
14:33Narratives have long sent the message that, for women,
14:36having beauty or brains is an either-or.
14:39I mean, it's like a scientific fact that you can be cute or you can be deep,
14:42but only one in a million can be cute and deep.
14:45The false beauty versus brains dichotomy intentionally limits women
14:49to being just one thing, and ignores that smart girls,
14:53like people in general, have complicated, many-sided natures.
14:57They say you can't be pretty and smart.
14:59Increasingly in recent decades, this character has begun to escape her narrow,
15:04one-size-fits-all personality, and that's made for more interesting
15:08and relatable movies and TV.
15:10Gone are the days when prominent smart girls were overwhelmingly white.
15:14BuzzFeed identified that, in recent years,
15:16we've seen a rise of the black girl nerd on screen.
15:20Right now I'm a little sister.
15:22Gone are the days when she wasn't considered a viable romantic lead.
15:25I thought I've never seen anyone read so intensely before in my entire life.
15:30I have to meet that girl.
15:31Also gone are the days when the smart girl was automatically a social outcast.
15:35In 2019's Booksmart, quintessential smart girl Molly,
15:39who's superior about her college choice, faltering in the romance department,
15:43and alienated from her peers, is confronted with the revelation
15:46that some of the popular kids she knows are also smart and headed to great colleges.
15:51I'm going to Yale, too.
15:53So Booksmart leaves us with the takeaway that our assumptions about smart kids
15:57and popular kids, many of which stem from pretty old movies,
16:01are outdated and wrong.
16:02No one smart girl is like another, and that's how it should be.
16:07Community's Annie Edison seems like the archetypal smart girl.
16:10She's super intelligent, laser-focused on her goals,
16:13and can get a little intense.
16:15You're really mean.
16:16Put it in a letter, Jane Austen!
16:18But Annie is particularly interesting because she shows us a side of the smart girl
16:22that we don't see as often on screen — her life after she hits rock bottom.
16:26Most smart girl stories focus on the increasingly immense pressure she's under,
16:30and how it eventually leads to her breaking down.
16:32But we meet Annie well after she's hit that point in her life,
16:36and is already working on turning things around.
16:38Morning, boys.
16:39I'm Annie Edison.
16:41But people call me psycho because I had a nervous breakdown in high school.
16:44So she actually provides a great showcase of how the smart girl can break free
16:48from the more negative aspects of life that come along with the trope,
16:51and learn to use their skills and intensity for good, both for themselves and others.
16:57So let's unpack Annie's life as a smart girl,
16:59how she managed to come out the other side of her breakdown even stronger,
17:03and how her entire journey helped her grow as a person.
17:07When we first meet Annie, she certainly seems like a fierce overachiever,
17:10but we come to learn that she was even more extreme back in high school.
17:14After her parents divorced when she was young,
17:16she and her brother lived with her incredibly overbearing mother,
17:18who was set on making sure Annie did everything perfectly from a very early age.
17:23I got this weird pain right above my eyebrow.
17:26It's called a stress headache.
17:28I got my first one when I was four.
17:29Annie was under constant pressure to not just do well in school,
17:33but to be the best in everything.
17:35This led her to developing a thought pattern where anything less than
17:38perfection meant abject failure.
17:40It also gave her very particular ideas of what success in life looked like,
17:45a very narrow path of perfect grades, perfect choices,
17:48and no deviation from the societal idea of what a smart girl should be.
17:53A passing grade? Like a C? Why don't I just get pregnant at a bus station?
17:58This need for excellence above all else didn't subside as she continued to do well in school,
18:02but instead began snowballing into a more and more intense drive to do even better.
18:08The strain of this outlook didn't just affect her schoolwork,
18:11it overtook her entire life – she actually went to school with,
18:14and had a major crush, on Troy Barnes.
18:17But because she was so single-minded in her focus on grades,
18:20and getting into the best universities,
18:22they never really got to even be friends then.
18:24And this was true more generally as well – her overbearing,
18:27combative personality meant she didn't really have any friends in school at all.
18:32That was so unpopular in high school, the crossing guard used to lure me into traffic!
18:36This led to her feeling completely isolated,
18:39which only served to make the pressure to be perfect feel even worse,
18:42since she didn't have any friends to turn to for support or shoulders to cry on.
18:46Instead, she had to turn to other forms of help, namely Adderall.
18:50As the stress in her life continued to compound,
18:52she had to take more and more in an effort to keep on top of things and keep her grades in order.
18:57She's like a younger me.
18:58You mean the younger you that took so much Adderall
18:59she tried to straighten the lines on our high school football field during a game?
19:02Even given how unhappy she might have been,
19:04everything did seem to be working out – for a while.
19:08She did get the amazing grades she wanted, and even a scholarship to her college of choice.
19:12But then, eventually, it all came to be too much, and she hit her breaking point.
19:16Annie's breakdown was intense.
19:18She ended up getting some pretty severe injuries from running through a plate glass window,
19:22and dropping out of high school altogether.
19:24She lost her college scholarship and essentially had her entire life turned upside down.
19:29This could have marked the end for Annie – she could have given up on life
19:32and decided it was all too much.
19:34But that drive inside of her pushed her to keep going,
19:37but this time not to follow someone else's orders or dreams,
19:41but to build her own life, her own way.
19:44So pick up your pom-poms, Pierce,
19:46stuck your bra, and get ready for the team bus to forget you at a Taco Bell,
19:49because life is tough.
19:51But we soldier on.
19:53She decided to finally cut her overbearing mother out of her life for good,
19:57and moved out on her own.
19:58She also importantly realized that she needed to confront her Adderall problem head-on,
20:03and so made the choice to enter rehab.
20:05And this was the beginning of Annie learning to harness her powers for good,
20:09and is what sent her down the road to becoming the Annie we meet in Season 1.
20:13While the Annie we meet at the beginning of Community is certainly on the road of positive growth,
20:17she's definitely still working through some stereotypical smart girl problems.
20:22She may not be quite as overbearing as she was in high school,
20:25but she can definitely get a little intense, or even mean,
20:29and still has a hard time thinking about how her choices will affect everyone,
20:32and not just her.
20:34This can cause her to still come across as a little self-centered.
20:37Surely I'm speaking for both you and me.
20:40Then you might want to teach your mouth how to say we are and us.
20:43And though she has relaxed a bit,
20:45she's still incredibly anxious about the prospect of failure,
20:48or not being in control.
20:50Even though she tries to be more chill,
20:51the dark side of the smart girl nature can still leak out and cause problems.
20:55But we can see so much of her growth, too.
20:58With the smart girl trope on screen, we're often introduced to these characters
21:02when they're still under the impression that they can be and do everything at once.
21:06That if they just squash their emotions and personal needs,
21:09they can be straight-A, full-ride scholarship-getting robots
21:12that are totally unaffected by the world around them.
21:15And then we watch them hit a series of hurdles
21:18that force them to realize that that is very much not reality.
21:21There is a 16-year-old science prodigy studying cancer research at Johns Hopkins!
21:2516! What am I doing? I'm eating cake!
21:28No, no, no!
21:29No!
21:29No!
21:30No!
21:31But with Annie, she's already past that point in her life by the time we meet her.
21:34She's already realized that getting trapped in the overachieving smart girl box
21:38is not a recipe for success or happiness.
21:41She's working on changing her life and herself for the better,
21:44and figuring out what success really means to her,
21:47not her mother or some faceless university admissions officer.
21:50And some of her more intense qualities actually come in handy on many occasions.
21:54She's not afraid to stand up for herself and her friends,
21:57and she isn't ashamed of the way that she is.
21:59You're pathological.
22:01It's too late for flattery.
22:02While she did have to tone down the more harsh sides of her overachieving,
22:06smart girl nature to start having a happier life,
22:08she can still pull out those skills when needed.
22:11I'm not a relaxed person, Britta.
22:13I think ahead.
22:14I prepare.
22:14I don't improvise my life like Caroline Decker,
22:17who probably has really bad credit and an unfinished mermaid tattoo.
22:21She can think of a way to turn pretty much any situation in her favor,
22:24or at least try to.
22:25If this article breaks out, I can apply for journalism scholarships.
22:29Nobody will care about my time in rehab if they think I'm a writer.
22:32She also uses her cunning to figure out ways to bend,
22:34or sometimes straight up break, the rules as means to an end.
22:38The dean is counting on me, and I want him to know that I'm someone he can trust.
22:42We have to break into his office.
22:44And if all else fails, she can always fall back on her puppy dog eyes,
22:47Disney face, to get people to do what she wants.
22:50Another thing that separates Annie from many other smart girls on screen
22:53is that while they often hate their peers and only join in on activities
22:57to add another line to their college applications,
23:00Annie actually always did enjoy the idea of classic school activities,
23:04even if she didn't always know how to show it at the time.
23:06It's like prom queen.
23:07You wear a sash, and there's a vote, and if you win,
23:09they put a crown on your head, and I'm so jealous,
23:11Britta, I want to murder you.
23:12Aren't you excited?
23:13In college, she really leans into this side of herself
23:16and gets involved with countless activities and clubs,
23:18and even becomes the first student in Greendale history
23:21to use the college's extra credit program
23:23by organizing a Dia de los Muertos party.
23:26Midterm dance will need a visual theme,
23:30like, let's blow off steam and it's trains.
23:33She's also open to friendship.
23:35Instead of pushing everyone away so that she can focus solely on her grades,
23:38Annie begins fostering close bonds with her classmates.
23:41She learns more about life and grows out of her naivety
23:44through both her friendships with people her age,
23:46like Troy and Abed, and her older classmates,
23:48like Britta, Jeff, and Shirley.
23:50They accept Annie for who she is while also pushing her
23:53to expand her mind and understanding of the world.
23:56I'm the supervillain.
23:57Why didn't I see it before?
23:58I'm emotionless, logical, smarter than everybody else.
24:00Hey!
24:01And in turn, she helps them in many ways, too.
24:03She is, of course, really great at studying and schoolwork,
24:06and so is able to help her friends pass their classes
24:08and work efficiently.
24:09And she serves as a foil to characters like Joel,
24:12with more laid-back vibes who seem content to just shuffle through life,
24:16even though it clearly isn't making them happy to do so.
24:19You are just as selfish as I am.
24:21You're just not as good at it yet.
24:23You're right.
24:25I could never be as good as you.
24:27Probably because I actually care.
24:29She's not afraid to give them a little, or big,
24:32push towards their goals, or to be honest with them
24:34about how their own attitudes might be hindering their lives.
24:37You know who else it made sense to?
24:38Say Hitler one more time and I'm giving you a two.
24:41Annie provides a spark that helps the others grow,
24:43and also importantly makes sure that they're actually,
24:46you know, passing their classes.
24:48Annie's story shows that even after you start getting your life back on track
24:52post-breakdown, things don't always go the way you'd hope.
24:55Greendale has warped me like a Barbie in a microwave.
24:59But also how rewarding it can be to continue pushing forward
25:02toward the life you want for yourself.
25:04When we first meet her, she is still quite young,
25:07but has already gone through so much.
25:09Having to essentially restart your life can feel like an impossible task at any age,
25:14but can be especially difficult when you're still young and it feels like
25:17all of your peers are speeding past you on their way to real adulthood.
25:21But Annie shows us why it's so important to do things on your own time,
25:24and focus on building friendships and a life that really fulfills you,
25:28instead of just trying to check a bunch of boxes
25:30based on what society tells you you should be doing at any given stage of life.
25:34I'm staying in the sleep study lab.
25:36All I have to do is wake up every three hours and go,
25:40and I get two credits.
25:41Annie learns to accept that she can't control every aspect of her life,
25:44or the people in it, and becomes slightly more laid back
25:48and able to roll with the punches,
25:49while also honing the useful sides of her smart girl personality.
25:53She doesn't have to totally change who she is to be happy,
25:56she just has to learn to focus those more intense parts of her personality
26:00so that they improve her life instead of totally taking it over.
26:04And in the end, she succeeds at building a life that's successful in many ways.
26:08Not only does she have friends and a strong sense of self,
26:11she even ends up getting a good job at a questionably reputable
26:14pharmaceutical company.
26:15Well, why don't you sell him a pill that will help him give up on his dreams?
26:18Relaxa Brex doesn't make you give up on your dreams,
26:20that's a side effect.
26:21And then going on to get an internship with the FBI.
26:25Going to community college was not in Annie's original life plan,
26:28but in the end, it was getting thrown off course that saved her life.
26:32If she hadn't been forced to really reappraise her choices
26:35and the track she was headed down,
26:36she might have continued down that same sad, painful road
26:39of trying to be perfect in every way at all times for her whole life.
26:43But ending up in a place that challenged her in new ways,
26:46while allowing her to explore new sides of herself,
26:49is what allowed her to find herself and set out on her own path.
26:52What ifs? We'll take it next semester.
26:56Annie shows us how important it can be
26:58to take a step back and accept that there's more to life
27:01than just grades or being perfect,
27:03and really take a look deep inside yourself
27:05to figure out who you want to be.
27:17Grief is one of the most powerful catalysts for change.
27:20With the ability to immobilize, destroy, or deepen a person,
27:24it can be transmuted for better or for worse.
27:26I have no love for the self-paced world.
27:29And in the case of Black Panther's Shuri,
27:30we aren't sure if she'll experience the former or the latter throughout Wakanda Forever.
27:34The depths of grief have been heavily explored in both Black Panther movies,
27:38but the second installment also had to bear the loss of its main character,
27:42played by Chadwick Boseman, who tragically passed away in 2020.
27:45As A.O. Scott of the New York Times notes, in Black Panther Wakanda Forever,
27:49the director Ryan Coogler feeds his own and the public's grief into the story, infusing the movie with somber
27:54notes of family loss and collective mourning.
27:57When we meet Shuri in the first Black Panther film,
27:59she's a sarcastic princess and science prodigy who lives to tease her older brother and king, T'Challa.
28:04My king.
28:04Stop it. Stop it.
28:06Even through the loss of their father.
28:08And when she's in more serious settings, Shuri remains effervescent,
28:11not only because of her youth,
28:12but also because of the security and safety she feels from her family.
28:16Wakanda Forever spoilers ahead.
28:17In Wakanda Forever, Shuri is forced to grow up fast,
28:20after losing T'Challa in the opening scene.
28:22His death has massive implications for her, her mother, and the nation she loves.
28:26And unlike in Black Panther, Shuri begins to harden after losing a loved one.
28:30When you think of your brother, does it offer you comfort or torment?
28:38As Shuri's losses compound one on top of another,
28:40she's forced to make a choice between what will feel good and what will be good.
28:44Here's our take on Shuri's character arc,
28:46and what we can learn about the power of grief from her evolution.
28:49Are you going to be noble like your brother?
28:51Or take care of business?
28:54Like me.
28:58Shuri has always been more than just the baby sister,
29:01and the character we met in Black Panther
29:02makes her transformation in Wakanda Forever seamless.
29:05You are teaching me. What do you know?
29:08More than you.
29:09Most younger siblings think they know it all,
29:11but T'Challa's little sister actually knows it all,
29:13with her Marvel character description
29:15noting that she's one of the most brilliant minds in the world.
29:18In Black Panther, one of her defining characteristics is her leadership,
29:21for which she takes a notably multifaceted approach.
29:24She's a pioneer in engineering and computer science, as well as the medical field.
29:28Bullet wounds don't just magically heal overnight.
29:30They do here, but not by magic, by technology.
29:34Whereas most characters that study science tend to gravitate toward one subsection of study,
29:38she leads Wakanda's scientific innovations in multiple disciplines with boundless creativity,
29:43designing technology that exceeds the imagination of the highest-ranking government officials of the world.
29:46And rather than centering her identity on her brilliance,
29:53she sees it as just one way she contributes to her community,
29:56which is another rarity for an on-screen genius.
29:59As easy as it could have been to write Shuri as bored by or cruel towards normal people,
30:03it's clear that she loves the people in her life, even if she gives them a hard time.
30:07Shuri actually serves as an antithesis to brainy types in many ways.
30:13She's goofy, courageous, fashion-forward, and she enjoys fieldwork,
30:16whether it's hand-to-hand combat or fighting virtually.
30:19Shuri's subversive nature also manifests itself in her bucking of long-held traditions.
30:23As much as her family loves her for who she is,
30:25it's clear her tendency to break boundaries has irked some of the traditionalists in the Wakanda nation.
30:30We have watched with disgust,
30:31as your technological advancements have been overseen by a child who scoffs at tradition.
30:40Regardless of disapproving eyes, Shuri remains self-assured,
30:43and that's likely been informed by her strong family unit that was once composed of T'Chaka,
30:47Ramanda, and T'Challa.
30:48That type of support system afforded her the resources and space to flourish as a quirky trailblazer.
30:53Shuri could have been swallowed by grief in the first Black Panther film,
30:57after burying her father at such a young age. She is clearly hurting,
31:00but she's resilient, an indication of what's to come in Wakanda Forever.
31:07We saw the stark difference of how two individuals handle loss in the first film.
31:11While Killmonger channeled his grief into vengeance, T'Challa walked a more righteous path,
31:15and from the first somber moments of Wakanda Forever,
31:18we see that Shuri will be faced with that same choice.
31:20We open on Shuri walking to her favorite place, the lab, but her pragmatic, cool approach is gone.
31:26She's panicky and dismissive,
31:27uncharacteristically snapping at her colleagues to leave her so she can work alone.
31:31As she prints a synthetic version of the Purple Heart herb,
31:33she's told by her AI system that it has less than a 25% chance of offering the results she desires.
31:39On her way to deliver the half-baked herb to T'Challa,
31:41her mother, Ramanda, cuts in front of her with a painful message.
31:44Your brother is with the ancestors.
31:49She fails to rescue her loved one, mirroring how T'Challa felt about his father's death
31:53with a crucial difference.
31:54Shuri was not by her brother's side in his final moments.
31:57She buries T'Challa, but is unable to watch his casket be taken away for burial.
32:01Skipping forward a year later, indicative of the way grief is often left unprocessed
32:06as we're forced to forge ahead without fully healing,
32:08Shuri is frantically working in the lab again,
32:10seemingly throwing herself into work for some semblance of control.
32:13Everyone seems to be working diligently.
32:16There could be any number of unknown threats on the horizon,
32:19they're creating solutions.
32:21She's stepped away from recreating the Purple Heart herb,
32:23switching her focus to designing exoskeletons that enhance Wakandan soldiers in combat.
32:27When Ramanda advises Shuri to take time off from the lab to grieve T'Challa on the one-year
32:31anniversary of his death, she acquiesces.
32:34But we see an angry, darker side to her that we haven't seen previously when Ramanda asks
32:38her to take part in a traditional Wakandan ceremony.
32:41It won't be these clothes I'll burn. It will be the world and everyone in it.
32:49Almost immediately following her remarks, we're introduced to Namur.
32:53Shuri's soon-to-be nemesis interrupts the moment to warn her and her mother of the looming danger
32:57on their horizon, hinting that avoiding her grief will be the biggest enemy for Shuri to face.
33:02I have more soldiers than this lamb has flakes of grass,
33:06and they have incomparable strength.
33:08But Shuri is drawn to their similarities. They've both faced an unimaginable loss and
33:12have similar motivations. Unlike her brother and father, Shuri doesn't shut down her enemy.
33:17Like any good scientist, she gathers the facts and chooses to speak with Namur,
33:21meeting him on his turf, the Kingdom of Tolokan.
33:23She takes an objective look at Namur and explains her perspective to him only after understanding his.
33:28How?
33:28How?
33:29How is never as important as why?
33:33It seems there could be a peaceful resolution,
33:36until Shuri is forcibly extracted from Tolokan,
33:39resulting in the death of one of Namur's generals.
33:41In retaliation, Namur attacks Wakanda, killing Ramanda.
33:44Bury your dad.
33:45Mama!
33:47Mord your losses. You are queen now.
33:50And again with Namur, as we see with Killmonger,
33:52Wakanda finds itself pitted against a villain driven to vengeance by their grief.
33:56Shuri is now orphaned by both of her parents and her brother, and propelled into action.
34:01She finishes what she had been working so hard on at the start of the film,
34:04the genetic recreation of the purple heart herb that gives the Black Panthers their power.
34:08Her decision to make and take the purple herb is a nod to how she will lead Wakanda
34:12by being respectful of tradition, but not be beholden to it.
34:15On the ancestral plane, she expects to see her mother or brother, but instead finds Killmonger.
34:20Little cousin.
34:21How?
34:22How?
34:23It's never as important as why, right?
34:25He and Shuri are not so different after all.
34:27Killmonger isn't caught on tradition, and he has a clear vision of the future that has been informed
34:31by the deeply traumatic loss of his family, and by being seen as an outsider in Wakanda.
34:36So will she take the noble path, or like Killmonger in Namur, let her rage consume her?
34:40When Shuri finally dons the suit, it seems like her anger might take over her normal,
34:45pragmatic decision-making abilities.
34:47But she ultimately overcomes her desire to exact revenge,
34:49and focuses instead on protecting her nation and her humanity.
34:53She finds empathy for her enemy, something only a true leader could do.
34:57As the film concludes, Shuri grieves her brother's death
34:59by burning the clothes she previously could not,
35:01signifying her finally being able to process that grief.
35:04She also meets T'Challa's son, an optimistic closing on a somber, violent journey.
35:09This is my son.
35:11This is your auntie, Shuri.
35:17The journalist Robert Caro once said,
35:19Power doesn't always corrupt, power always reveals.
35:22Unlike many female leads in recent memory,
35:24from Game of Thrones' Daenerys to Promising Young Woman's Cassie,
35:27Shuri refused to allow her anger and desire for vengeance to consume her.
35:30She has every reason to kill Namur,
35:33and her choice to let him live is the biggest detraction from her family's history.
35:37Her father covered up the murder of his brother.
35:39Even her noble brother kills Killmonger.
35:42Despite every temptation and indication that Shuri would lose herself,
35:46the power she receives as the new Black Panther pushes her away from becoming morally bankrupt.
35:50As one of the only living members of her family,
35:53she realizes her actions no longer represent just herself, but the loved ones who are gone.
35:57Show him who you are.
36:00Shuri's choice to leave Wakanda open to an enemy who may outmatch them is a bold one.
36:05But she trusts herself and her counsel enough to deal with the threat of Talakon in a better way,
36:09in a way that matches who she is in her core.
36:11A clever strategist, cutting-edge scientist,
36:13and caring person who constantly looks out for the ones she loves.
36:16You sure it's a good idea to take your ex on a mission?
36:20And it's not impossible to picture peaceful resolution between Shuri and Namor.
36:23Both leaders are thoughtful and intelligent, and have common ground.
36:27Shuri's already laid down foundational trust and mutual respect between herself and her enemy,
36:31and that's more than any previous Black Panthers could say.
36:34Grief forces us to confront the ugliest, most sinister parts of ourselves.
36:38Wakanda Forever, and specifically Shuri's character,
36:41delves into what happens when we allow those parts to override everything else within us,
36:45and what it takes to overcome that pain.
36:47It is often the hardest part of our lives, moments that leave us gasping and breathless
36:52that also bring out our most radical empathy.
36:54And for that reason, we can't wait to see what else Shuri is capable of.
36:58Gilmore Girls' Paris Geller is many things.
37:00Hyper-intelligent, laser-focused, extremely intense.
37:04I want to win, and I'm going to win.
37:06She could be combative and, well, straight-up mean.
37:09Is it raining?
37:10No, it's National Baptism Day. Tie your tubes, idiot.
37:12But she became a beloved character because as the show went on, we got to peel back the layers
37:18and see Paris as less of a looming threat, and more as a real person.
37:23As she evolved over the seasons, she never gave up what made her Paris,
37:26she just expanded her world and let down her walls… a little bit.
37:30While things always seemed to turn out great for Rory no matter what, at least for a little while,
37:35Paris was hit with some big setbacks that caused her to have to rethink her single-minded goals for her future.
37:40So who is Paris Geller really? And how did she go from a glorified extra to an iconic character?
37:47I'm the most likely target, so I've already made up a list of enemies which I've narrowed down from 26 to 5.
37:52Just at Yale? Just in this building.
37:54While Paris was originally intended to be a short-term character for Rory to feud with upon arriving at Chilton,
38:00Actress Liza Weil brought such an interesting energy to the part that the writers knew they needed
38:05to keep her around, to see where this character could go.
38:08So while Paris is initially in full-on villain mode…
38:11I'm going to be editor next year.
38:13Good for you.
38:14I'm also the top of the class and I intend to be valedictorian when I graduate.
38:18Okay.
38:18Once it was decided that she would be sticking around,
38:21the show began taking more time to analyze why Paris behaved the way she does.
38:26Sure, she really, really wants to get into Harvard, but there's clearly more going on there.
38:30Paris is the quintessential difficult girl.
38:33She's assertive, neurotic, ambitious, high-strung, and totally unafraid to speak her mind.
38:38Brad, your festive interjections are a real kick in the pants, but we're low on time, so can it.
38:42But she isn't just driven by ego.
38:44She works hard to be the best at everything because she feels like being the smartest.
38:49Most driven person in any room is her only source of worth.
38:53While Paris comes from wealth, her home life is chaotic,
38:56with her parents constantly fighting and pretty much ignoring Paris and her needs as their child.
39:01I just can't focus lately.
39:03Things are so weird at my house.
39:05My dad finally figured out exactly how much it was going to cost him to divorce my mom,
39:08so now he's back.
39:09Her closest familial relationship is actually with her nanny,
39:12to the point that she was the only one who showed up for Paris on her graduation day,
39:16not her parents.
39:18School is the one place Paris has ever been able to feel like she's truly in control,
39:22and so she focuses her entire being on getting perfect grades and being the perfect student.
39:26What the hell did Romain mean when he was going on
39:28about weeding out the hyper-intense in the interview process?
39:30He stopped just short of calling me by name.
39:32I'm losing it.
39:32She set up acceptance to Harvard as the end-all be-all in her mind,
39:36as if once she's accepted her entire life will finally fall into place.
39:40Her singular drive causes her to ignore everything else about life, friends, dating, fun,
39:45to the point where she doesn't even really know how to be a regular teen.
39:49I can't do this.
39:50What?
39:51Date.
39:51I can't date.
39:52I'm not genetically set up for it.
39:54Her high expectations for herself also lead her to pushing everyone around her towards the same goals,
39:59even if they don't really want that for themselves.
40:02Her anxiety around slipping up even a bit, or being brought down by someone else's failure,
40:07leads her to attempt to micromanage every aspect of the world around her.
40:10It says that every other single school in the United States of America is feeling
40:14nothing but shame and defeat and pain because of the people who won the Oppenheimer plaque.
40:19I want to be those people.
40:20I want to cause that pain.
40:22While the relationship starts out rather antagonistic, Paris and Rory soon become
40:26friends because they fill important gaps in the other's life.
40:29Rory is the only person that isn't afraid of Paris, and so is actually able to reach her
40:34on a human level.
40:35And Paris is the only person who doesn't think Rory is a perfect angel, and so actually pushes
40:40her to fight towards her goals and stand up for herself.
40:43But this aura of perfection around Rory is also a big sticking point between the pair.
40:49While Paris works so hard to get good grades, be in every club, try to get people to like her,
40:54things just always seem to fall into place for Rory without her really trying.
40:58So, that's how you look when you've just woken up?
41:02Um, yeah.
41:05Nothing in my life is fair.
41:06When they meet, Rory has never even really thought about the fact that she might need to
41:11plan and work to get into the university she wants, while Paris has been molding her entire
41:16life towards that goal since she was in the fourth grade.
41:19I've been a camp counselor, I organized a senior literacy program, I worked a suicide hotline,
41:23I manned a runaway center, I've adopted dolphins, taught sign language, trained seeing eye dogs.
41:28As we discussed in our video on her, being surrounded by the idea that she was so
41:32special just by the fact of her existence actually hindered Rory.
41:36Things always just seem to fall into her lap, so anytime anything didn't go her way,
41:40she couldn't even comprehend it.
41:42Paris, on the other hand, always seems to get the short end of the stick.
41:46Even when she should come out on top,
41:47the show often throws a wrench in her plans to make sure that Rory comes out ahead in the end.
41:52One of the most egregious examples of this is, of course,
41:55Rory becoming valedictorian over Paris.
41:57As Lydia Venn wrote for the tab,
41:59she worked her ass off for four years, got perfect grades, was president of the student council,
42:03editor of the newspaper, and on every committee going.
42:06What more did she need to do?
42:08But Paris is always able to see the long game, to plan for the future.
42:13I actually googled the personal histories of Ivy League valedictorians going back 25 years,
42:17and found some enlightening statistics.
42:19They don't necessarily do too well in later life, did you know that?
42:21In the end, while Rory's perfection may grate on Paris,
42:24and Paris's overbearing nature may drive Rory a little mad,
42:28they make a good pair because they can support each other in ways that no one else can.
42:33Can you let her off the hook for God's sakes?
42:35In case you didn't know it, Rory's a great person, and she does not deserve to be treated this way.
42:38Paris.
42:39Anyone should feel lucky to call her a friend, I know I do.
42:41Focusing so singularly on school for so long allowed Paris to ignore every other aspect of her
42:47life. She'd built up a hard shell to keep anyone from getting too close, or getting in her way.
42:53But secretly, she longed for connection, but was afraid to reach out for it.
42:58Rory is able to help her start breaking down these walls she's built up,
43:01and accept that it's worth branching out a bit, even if everything doesn't go perfectly.
43:06I'm not allowed to have mac and cheese.
43:08Splurge. Come on, Paris. Stay.
43:10Do you have a 24-hour pharmacy just in case I have an allergic reaction to something?
43:14Believe it or not, we do.
43:15But unlike some other hardcore overachievers on screen,
43:18Paris doesn't become a more well-rounded, happier person by giving up those difficult
43:22characteristics that make her her. She just opens herself up to new experiences in a very Paris way.
43:29I went over there to study, and he lit a fire, and then we did it. What are your thoughts on that?
43:32My thoughts?
43:33While Paris wants to believe she can do everything on her own,
43:37she does come to accept that sometimes even she needs help. She turns to Rory for advice on boys
43:42and relationships, and even finds connection with Lorelai when Rory drops out of Yale and leaves
43:47Paris floundering emotionally. Paris' nanny had also played a big role in helping her with
43:52decision-making and staying calm. When she started at university, she realized she still
43:57needed that kind of support in her life, and so hired a life coach. She never really chilled out,
44:02but she did soften her edges a bit. The old Paris would have been bothered by
44:07your penchant to hover. It would have made her want to wring your neck till your eyeballs popped out.
44:11Oh, but now I accept it because I can't control everything.
44:15Old habits die hard, though, and the old Paris does come back with a vengeance on occasion,
44:20like when she's made the editor of the newspaper at Yale. She's so intense and overbearing that the rest of the
44:26staff literally mutiny and overthrow her, and surprise, replace her with Rory.
44:30But eventually, Paris finds a way to use her ambitious, micromanaging nature for good,
44:36by starting a tutoring company to help other students succeed. She might not be nice,
44:41but if there's one thing she knows, it's how to get good grades.
44:44I just want her to get into a good school. She has such potential.
44:47Well, so did Charles Manson.
44:49What?
44:49Look at her. Frankly, it may already be too late.
44:52When her parents flee the country and the IRS freezes all of their assets,
44:56she learns what it's like to not have that safety net, and she's not a fan.
45:00While Paris does expand her world during undergrad, she always keeps her eyes on the prize.
45:06She wants to set herself up for a future full of success.
45:09So we seem to have a block of eight days here in late March that is disturbingly
45:12for your resume building activity. While Rory begins faltering in college,
45:16her lack of work ethic and inability to deal with even the slightest criticism
45:21finally starting to catch up with her, Paris' hard work finally starts to pay off.
45:25She might have gotten rejected by her dream school, Harvard for undergrad,
45:29but things finally go her way when applying for grad school.
45:32Anyway, go ahead. Might as well open Harvard, even though it doesn't matter.
45:36Use letter opener again.
45:37We are pleased to...
45:41By learning to harness her powers instead of letting them ruin her life,
45:44Paris manages to continue to work towards her larger goals, while also considering things like
45:49happiness and personal growth.
45:51I bet we get rid of Craft Corner.
45:53No, that's my emotional homework.
45:54She takes her ambition and ability to learn pretty much anything, and, as we learn in the
45:59revival series A Year in the Life, uses it to get a whole host of degrees, apparently graduating
46:04from Harvard Medical School and passing the bar, and eventually open her own fertility clinic.
46:09While golden child Rory is lost in a sea of malaise and fumbling around trying to figure out what
46:15exactly she's doing with her life, Paris seems to have her life together.
46:19But that doesn't mean she has everything figured out. That desire to be seen as perfect no matter
46:23what's really going on still remains, even after she's accomplished so much.
46:29Check out what's in my briefcase.
46:32Nothing.
46:33I brought it because I thought people would think I was more important because I was carrying a briefcase.
46:38But even if she does remain a little insecure, and that underlying fear of failure is never
46:43fully snuffed out, she has built a life she can be proud of. And she didn't have to give up the
46:48more assertive, ambitious parts of herself to do it.
46:52It's kill or be killed. I'm not talking the art of war. Oh no. That's a tiptoe through the tulips
46:59compared with what you're going to find beyond these walls.
47:02Paris is the perfect example of how, if they're willing to open themselves up a little and accept
47:07some uncertainty in life, so-called difficult women can use their abilities to create a better
47:12world for everyone, themselves included.
47:14You know, it's weird. Most of the time I really hated you.
47:19Yeah. I really hated you too.
47:24That's the take. Click here to watch the video we think you'll love.
47:27Or here to check out a whole playlist of awesome content.
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