For a show that has long been steeped in absurdity, I’m surprised at how adept Community is as satire. “Basic Email Security” asks some pretty heady questions, and true to the nihilistic outlook of its creator Dan Harmon, manages to gloss over them in an ending that is gleefully cynical while still being true to the spirit of the show. It’s not a nasty episode, per se; in fact it’s one of the show’s more compassionate installments. It is, as Jeff describes himself, “pragmatic.”
It all starts when the Dean’s computer isn’t working (“computer no worky,” he coos to Elroy in a disturbing baby voice); what he think is an error message is actually a warning from a hacker to cancel the upcoming appearance of “racist comic” Gupta Gupti Gupta (Broken Lizard’s Jay Chandrasekhar, a sometime director of Community). To show he’s not kidding, the hacker leaks all of the lunchlady’s emails, and that’s where “Basic Email Security” really picks up steam. It’s impossible to watch “Basic” in the wake of, ugh, “the Fappening” and not see the show coming to the defense of stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, who had their private photos leaked. The lunchlady’s emails are far more innocuous – they include an email from Magnitude with the subject line “Pop Pop,” as well as an email from the Dean about Buzz Hickey’s memorial service – but the way everyone, even the study group, refers to her – simply as “the lunchlady” – is fittingly dehumanizing. Once someone enters cyberspace, once their private life becomes public, do they cease to be themselves? Does their life become part of public record?
“Basic” also asks some good questions about free speech. While the Dean and most of the study group are in favor of canceling the performance, it’s Britta who decides to take a stand against the hacker, despite the fact that she was planning on protesting Gupta’s performance. In short order, she convinces the study group to martyr themselves and let their own emails be leaked. This predictably goes awry, as its revealed that Chang talks about Elroy’s “Houseguest-era Sinbad wardrobe” and Jeff writes letters to astronauts (Jeff: “They’re national heroes!” Elroy: “Yes, so leave them alone!”). Things get darker when Chang calls out Frankie for writing long emails to her sister, who never responds, only to be told that Frankie’s sister is dead.
Dirty laundry is exactly that: dirty. Things go from bad to worse when the hacker releases all of Greendale’s communications, and everyone knows exactly how people talk about them (my one complaint: who communicates via email, outside of a professional capacity? If they leaked my emails they’d find about 1,000 unopened messages from Monster.com, as well as a few from Craigslist asking me to stop posting in casual encounters). The damage done is irreparable, even after the hacker has been caught. The group tries to find a lesson in everything, just to make it look like all that pain was worth something, and are only able to settle on “crime doesn’t pay.” It’s a cynical ending that perfectly reflects the national attitude of “catch the hackers” instead of “teach boys that it’s not okay to leak photos of women.” The job isn’t over when the perpetrator is behind bars. If someone steals a car, it can be returned. The same cannot be said of privacy.
A Few Thoughts
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That tag was amazing, no? Community has been killing it this season with the tags
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Sorry if this review got a little philosophical, criminal justice 101-y. This was an unusually smart episode
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RIP Buzz Hickey
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“I notice that you’re fat. Are you also black or Jewish? It’s hard being fat when you’re black or Jewish.”
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Sorry I didn’t review the last few episodes. I got my days mixed up and couldn’t remember if it aired Monday or Tuesday. Then when I finally figured it out it was already Wednesday. Long story short: I’m a moron. You don’t care
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