As Pride Continues, "The Feels" Feels Just Right

The particular season of The Feels I am writing about is its third and while normally Iamp8217d have gone back and experienced the show from its very beginnings its outsidethebox storytelling methods had already influenced me somehow and instead I chose to view this current season with absolute innocenceAt first The Feels feels a bit disjointedamp160 Sure seeing the previous two seasons would have provided a sense of familiarity with its format and possibly some of the characters but I felt it was important in this case to watch the series the way someone new to it would and not so much like an overly thorough professional amp160Itamp8217s just not how most people experience these thingsamp160 At any rate the first thing I noticed is the series avoids a lot of things that are normally taken for granted in a showamp160 There was often no real plot per se so much as there was a premiseamp160 It was almost always eventually clear where we were or what was happening to a certain extent but how we got there who these people were or what exactly needed to be accomplished during each episode if anything was at first glance at least never more than hinted at if indicated at allI had to wonder what was it about this disconnected format that seemed to benefit Manley pictured above and Latailladeamp160 Granted smaller chunks make everything a little easieramp160 No real overarching plot means more freedom with each foray back into the world they are buildingamp160 It also means that every moment can be paid the exact amount of attention it deservesamp160 Sure in a 22minute episode the creative team must establish the setting introduce the players get through at least one main plot and a subplot or two and reset it all before episodeamp8217s endamp160 In The Feels though one can spend an entire four minutes watching a single shot where an unnamed woman just sings or experience 45 unadulterated seconds of Manley as Charlie just like staring aroundThis sort of antistructure structure also allows for dedicating entire amp8220episodesamp8221 to single bitsamp160 It allows that same level of focus to be applied to pretty much anything reallyamp160 Suddenly one can see the appeal not to mention the versatility of working this wayamp160 Got a fourminute skit about being amp8220The Worldamp8217s Loneliest Personamp8221 amp160Doneamp160 Got a fiveminute monologue about your grandmaamp160 Doneamp160 You want to spend some alone time with a very interesting man whoamp8217s dropping reallife knowledge bombs while explaining his emotional foray into potteryamp160 Well thatamp8217s going to need ten minutes and gosh dammit it is doneAfter a while I realized this whole thing is kind of geniusInterconnectivity is probably the one thing that allows this collage of short films to even be considered as one coherent showamp160 Again characters aren39t really introduced officially inshow as far as Iamp8217ve seenamp160 So if Charlie and his boyfriend are having a kind of heavy discussion in one episode and then two episodes later Charlie says to a friend amp8220My boyfriend broke up with me so thanks for helping me moveamp8221 thatamp8217s all we getamp160 There will be no breakup scene and no breakdown of why it happenedamp160 It just amp8230 didamp160 That connection regardless of how small solidifies the idea that the things weamp8217re seeing are all kind of happening around each other even when they donamp8217t directly interactPerfect example I originally took this showamp8217s current release schedule one episode per each day of pride month plus its LGTBQfriendly subject matter as an indication that every character weamp8217d come across would be some version of notstraightamp160 I also felt it meant that every episode would also kind of be related in that way as wellamp160 Then I saw S3E07 amp8220AVOCADOS feat Almonteamp8221amp160 Now spoiler alert Almonte is gay but when we meet him in that seventh episode the focus isnamp8217t on his sexuality at allamp160 The focus is the neighborhood he lives inamp160 He sits there a Latino student conversing with an African American teacher about the pros and cons of gentrification and the current state of the police and their motives and itamp8217s one of the most insightful and truthful episodes of the bunchamp160 What does any of this have to do with the show weamp8217ve been givenamp160 Well our lead Charlie is a teacher and this is the school that he works inamp160 He literally shows up and asks them what they want for lunchamp160 Itamp8217s all connectedThis monthamp8217s collection of episodes hasnamp8217t even stopped coming out yet and while again Iamp8217d normally wait until Iamp8217d seen every single one I feel like itamp8217s important that these are coming out during pride monthamp160 Yes the fact that the YouTube comments are chockfull of bisexual men praising Manleyamp8217s representation of their community is huge but Manleyamp8217s and Latailladeamp8217s collective insight has greater reach than thatamp160 There are bi characters straight characters trans characters and so on and the one thing they all have in common is how they feelI may have focused on the outliers in this analysis but the majority of these clips episodes whatever are very intimate monologues or short conversations or performance pieces and unless directly related to the topic at hand each characteramp8217s race or sexuality or gender usually has little to do with the performances at allamp160 The connective tissue is feelings or amp8220the feelsamp8221 as theyamp8217re calledWe all have them these feelings and they are all connected to who we are and who we arenamp8217t and they all make us feel alone and confused and helpless as well as empowered and confident and communicativeamp160 Everyone youamp8217ll see in The Feels is different but I feel like the real point is that weamp8217re all the sameamp160 The forwardthinking format of this show more or less frees it from the confines of how people normally think about serialized television episode length and whatever a season is but more importantly its subject matter seems intent on dissolving the barriers that separate each of usThis series has something for everyone because it truly doesnamp8217t matter who you are or what your struggle is amp8230 we all get The Feels now and thenClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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As Pride Continues, "The Feels" Feels Just Right

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Ainsley Andrade

The Ad Council, Huntsman Mental Health Foundation and Amazon Announce “The Mind Set” to Support Mental Health - Ad Council InSites

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As Pride Continues, "The Feels" Feels Just Right

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Ainsley Andrade

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