#it's because carmy isn't in a good place for a relationship and because they're not right for each other

[zalrb]

Hey! so what did you think about Claire on the bear? I've seen some people call her a mary sue, a mpdg, a pick me which feels a bit much to me lol. I generally agree w people who say that she wasn't fleshed out and felt out of place bc of how carmy viewed her. My only thing is she never felt like an ER Doctor. Her career was supposed to be equally demanding so it should've affected their relationship in some small way at least but she kinda just seemed available for him at any given moment.

One of them I can see an argument for, the other two no. So before I get into the one I can see an argument for, I really need people to understand that these terms actually mean something. They're not blanket descriptors for female characters who annoy you and while we're at it, just for initiumseries, I'm going to add for the record that there aren't male versions of pick mes and manic pixie dream girls because these stock characters (or in the case of a pick me, viewpoints,) are rooted in misogyny

A Pick Me is specific

A Mary Sue is specific

Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling [...] She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end [...]

Like even Nathan Rabin who coined the term MPDG apologized for doing so because it keeps being misused:

I feel deeply weird, if not downright ashamed, at having created a cliché that has been trotted out again and again in an infinite Internet feedback loop. I understand how someone could read the A.V. Club list of Manic Pixie Dream Girls and be offended by the assertion that a character they deeply love and have an enduring affection for, whether it’s Diane Keaton’s Annie Hall or Katharine Hepburn in “Bringing Up Baby,” is nothing more than a representation of a sexist trope or some sad dude’s regressive fantasy.

It doesn't make sense that a character as nuanced and unforgettable as Annie Hall could exist solely to cheer up Alvy Singer. As Kazan has noted, Allen based a lot of Annie Hall on Diane Keaton, who, as far as I know, is a real person and not a ridiculous male fantasy.

From what I can recall, nothing about Claire is "Pick-Meish" or "Mary Sueish", she explains that when they were kids and a girl broke her arm, everyone was freaked out except for her because she wanted to understand the injury, that is not Pick Me-ish.

This is Claire

not this

The fact that she has six months left on her residency doesn't make her a Mary Sue.

Now with regards to being an MPDG, these are the characteristics of one:

That day in 2007, I remember watching "Elizabethtown" and being distracted by the preposterousness of its heroine, Claire. Dunst's psychotically bubbly stewardess seemed to belong in some magical, otherworldly realm -- hence the "pixie" -- offering up her phone number to strangers and drawing whimsical maps to help her man find his way. And as Dunst cavorted across the screen, I thought also of Natalie Portman in "Garden State," a similarly carefree nymphet who is the accessory to Zach Braff's character development. It's an archetype, I realized, that taps into a particular male fantasy: of being saved from depression and ennui by a fantasy woman who sweeps in like a glittery breeze to save you from yourself, then disappears once her work is done.

She isn't quite the "pixie" part of the trope, I don't think she's whimsical enough for that, instead I would say she's the "insufferable female lead in an indie" trope (love this!)

because she does kind of just appear or sweep in to Carmy's life and has this history with him

and instead of giving Carmy her number, she asks for his, therefore the narrative places the onus of initial pursuit on her

she's been carrying this torch for him since they were kids

and her role is to be someone in his life that makes him feel good, that takes his feelings into consideration,

that gives him peace

that urges him out of his shell

that shows him another way he can be and feel outside of the restaurant

while we basically know nothing about her outside of that role.

What makes this iteration more complex than others is not Claire, it's not that she's a fully fleshed out character and we see more than a glimpse of her life and it's not that we get to know about her personally because we don't really, what we get is this

which just goes back round to Carmy and his complicated relationship with food and cooking anyway

the subversion lies with Carmy and how he needs to heal and still has a lot of unprocessed trauma that doesn't go away because Claire entered his life, the show shits all over the typical outcome of the MPDG coming into the male protagonist's life and making it all better.

I'm not saying that they did that purposefully as in they're trying to say something about MPDG, like I don't think the show purposefully framed her as one or views her as one, I think they just wanted to show how deep-rooted generational trauma is and how it presents itself and how it affects your current relationships and it ended up being subverting an MPDG-esque trope for the male protagonist.

I don't know if any of this makes sense, I haven't slept and it's like 5 AM lmao.

#the bear #carmy berzatto #jeremy allen white #the bear season 2 #the bear claire

[blackjack-15]

syd's pushing here where she shouldn't, and it's her impatience rocking through again -- "can we jam on it later?" "later is better for me chef" -- carmy says it multiple times and she just speaks right through him. syd's pattern seems to be no confidence -> success -> praise from carmy -> pushing too fast and making mistakes -> blowup -> no confidence. it's an understandable cycle, but it needs to get broken

carmy's lack of confidence in the to-go is well founded -- they're understaffed, 2 hours to service, and it is not the time to talk about risotto

"hey, listen to me, please" he again shows his style isn't shouty and angry, when he's working he's patient and firm; she takes his listing out her strengths and weaknesses as a pejorative sort of thing, but it's not -- he's letting her know he knows how she operates and that she's going to have to give the grace she wants. this was a fantastic exchange, but you can see that it stings her a little in her pride, and so we're definitely gonna see it come up again

why?

because for sydney, any comment by carmy is personal. his praise lifts her up, his critique -- or even just him saying that they'll work on a problem together later, like here -- is a brush off and an insult. their relationship is more intimate (emotionally, not physically) than it should be at this point, mostly because they fit so well together, but they're still employer/employee, which complicates things

his answer to why he called her past places of work being "because your resume is excellent and this place is not" is so good for so many reasons. it's a bit of praise that syd doesn't even react to (because she's worried about what people said about her/why carmy was 'checking up' on her); it shows carmy does due dilligence and thinks through every decision, despite seeming reckless, and -- most importantly -- it shows that he meant his question from ep1 of "why are you here" seriously, and that when he wasn't satisfied with the answer she gave, he went looking for one that would satisfy him

if you ask me, it's another hint to the viewer as well that syd lied about her connection to the Beef, but that could just be my own bias

and when she starts saying "you're saying that's why my business failed" etc etc carmy's genuine confusion at how she got there with his immediate "that's not what i'm saying, no, no -- i'm saying give me a minute" is so so good

it's a shame that syd doesn't hear it and her obvious impatience/irritation when Carmy has to leave as he's explaining himself -- excellent work on his part! shows he's learned from their ep 3 heart to heart! -- just wipes any good feelings she had. her face is so impatient as Carmy's trying to explain where he's coming from that i know trouble is brewing, and it's going to explode. ep 6 out of 8? yeah we're about to have a massive blowup, that's where the pacing's at

#syd x carmy #the bear #liveblogging #i love these two they're def foils + soulmates but like they have got to learn to coexist outside of their Quiet Moments #when it's just them one-on-one when there's not stress pressing immediately? they're magical and they speak each other's language #when /anything/ else is in the way?? one of them will refuse to give the other /any/ room #this time it's sydney because it's her turn for conflict going by pacing of the season #but boy does this feel like it's shaping up to get real ugly real fast