Ellie Kemper plays the titular character in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is back at it again with season 2! The Netflix original series premiered on Friday, April 15 after a year long wait but, in true Kimmy style, it was totally worth it!
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt follows the 29-year-old character to New York City after she was kidnapped and kept for 15 years below ground in a bunker in Indiana, trapped in a cult. Co-created by Tina Fey, the series was originally suppose to be aired on NBC until it was sold to Netflix.
Kimmy Schmidt’s 1990’s wardrobe is a constant throughout the series. Courtesy of giphy.com/NBC/Netflix
After a 13 episode first season, the positive power of Kimmy Schmidt resonated with audiences, though critics tore the show to pieces — often, they referenced the notion that sprinkled around the bubbly and overbearing persona, Kemper’s Schmidt actually hides a rude and offensive subversiveness found within the show’s choice of humor.
Tituss Burgess plays Titus Andromedon, Kimmy’s flamboyant roommate. Courtesy of tumblr.com/NBC/Netflix
For example, Kimmy’s roommate Titus Andromedon, is a gay African-American male who is an actor who wants to be a Broadway actor and has worked jobs here and there to get by. Titus Burgess, who plays Titus Andromedon, is a gay African-American Broadway actor. Critics speculate if this role was made for him or was he forced to play a stereotype of himself.
Kimmy’s love interest, Dong Nguyen played by Ki Hong Lee has also caused a stir because of Asian stereotype jokes– Dong is an Asian immigrant who is good in math and is married to an older woman just to get his green card.
The first season also featured a character named Dr. Franff that resembled New York City dermatologist Fredric Brandt. The character, played by Martin Short, has a stretched and puffy face due to years of plastic surgery and fillers. The real Dr. Brandt had committed suicide a month after the series premiered with critics speculating that the cause was his unflattering portrayal in the show.
Jane Krawkoski’s character Jacqueline White, formerly Voorhees, née Jackie Lynn White, is revealed to be hiding her Native American heritage. Courtesy of mashable.com/NBC/Netflix
Kimmy’s employer Jacqueline Voorhees, played by Jane Krakowski, is a spoiled Manhattan socialite who is out of touch with reality and it is revealed that Jacqueline left her Native American heritage to make it in New York City.
Courtesy of popsugar.com/NBC/Netflix
These plot and character points are continuous throughout the show and although they seem too uncomfortable at times, including them in the series opens up the discussion of things we consider to be too taboo. Kimmy Schmidt breaks barriers with witty one liners of how sensitive we’ve become to talking about things classified as ‘touchy subjects.’
The new season is just as unapologetic with the new situations it thrusts Kimmy into. Featuring show tunes about Helen Keller, stereotypes of Native American culture, jokes on immigrant deportation and the usual witty banter about gentrification in New York, season two packs a punch telling the haters to back off.
Tina Fey has profoundly stated that she is sick of the “culture of demanding apologies” and with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt season two, this statement rings true. Ignoring race, cultures, sexual orientations and the stereotypes we’ve, for so long, categorized them with does nothing to better society. There have been countless comedy specials and sitcom jokes made about these topics and putting the topics and accompanying jokes and stereotypes in the perspective of someone who has been off the grid for 15 years makes it profound. This show is the wake up call we need.