Blog Project: Grown-ish

Grownish is a sitcom that airs on the TV network Freeform Tuesdays at 8pm EST. The sitcom is a spinoff from ABC's show Blackish in which we follow the daughter (Zoey) of the main character as she goes off to college and starts experiencing growing in to adulthood through her college experience. There seems to be no typecast in the show however the producers made a point in having a diverse group of characters to develop through out the season. Grownish stars Yara Shahidi (Zoey Johnson), Trevor Jackson (Aaron Jackson), Francia Raisa (Ana Torres) Emily Arlook (Naomi Segal), Jordan Buhat (Vivek Shah), Luka Sabbat (Luca Hall), Chloe Bailey (Jazz Forster) and Halle Bailey (Sky Forster). Thanks to the shows popularity and the episode I will be analyzing for this project, Yara Shaidi actually got to star in Drakes most recent music video "Nice for What". Trevor Jackson starred in this summers recently released film Superfly by Director X and has a music career of his own as well as Chloe & Halle Forster. It's interesting to see that the majority of the cast has roots in music, Francia Raisa is a name I had not only recognized from shows she's starred in before like The Secret Life of the American Teenager but also from her father who is a famous radio host in southern California (QueBuena 94.3FM) that I grew up listening to.

It was very hard for me to pick one episode to review and I chose this one because Drake is one of my favorite artists and I loved how the episode and the show over all uses music from this generation to wove and deliver a message in every episode. This episode is appropriately named "Crew Love" after a song in Drakes Take Care album. In this episode the main characters Zoey, Aaron and Luca are involved in a love triangle and Zoey has to make a decision as to who she wants to be with. As the episode unfolds Zoey narrates and dives in to the subject and issues in modern day relationships. The viewer is drawn to analyze the lack of communication and emotional connection in our generation due to the increase in the use of mobile devices and social media platforms. Zoey expresses how we've lost the ability to build interpersonal relationships face to face through out the years. Another main character Jazz, reveals she officially has a boyfriend while Ana discovers she is the most conservative member of the group of friends while playing a game of "Never Have I Ever". While I agree with some critics that the show starts off slow in character development one of of my favorite things about the show as a top critic in rotten tomatoes put it "it's a socially aware show with a fresh perspective on the college experience" and as a college student myself I can say that there isn't many of these out there, specially good ones! 

What makes this a good one you ask? 

Well I already reflected on the fact that the show uses music to relate to it's audience and deliver it's message but the over all feel of the show takes you on the college journey with Zoey and her crew. The show makes you feel like you're there with them by having Zoey address you (the viewer) as if you were there. She talks to you and goes through her sometimes complicated, indecisive internal dialogue. In the episode of "Crew Love" she starts by addressing the viewer by saying "no one in my generation talks about their feelings, we do, but we tell a million online strangers how we feel about a billion different things but when it comes to actual face to face interactions we're lost". Zoey thinks out loud and shares those thoughts with us as she's looking at both Luca and Aaron dance with difference girls at a club. Shortly after you can hear Drake croon the lyrics "We live in a generation of not being in love, and not being in together, but we sure make it feel like were together" thus setting the tone and narrative for the entire episode. Zoey also uses Drake as an example of why this generation clings to artist like him, since he sings and raps about emotions her generation doesn't know how to express. The show is filmed both on set and location depending on the plot of the each episode. Most scenes are filmed on a set that looks like the characters college dorms rooms, campus cafeteria or class rooms and a real California University is is also used for outside shots when needed. The style of the show is mostly modern as the show is presented to be in the present however some characters demonstrate more style than others in reference to wardrobe. Zoey and Luca are studying fashion and so their characters place a lot of focus on their wardrobe ensembles than the other characters. The twins, Jazz & Sky are both track stars and are mostly seen in their athletic gear through episodes and Aaron wears a lot more fashion trend clothing like acid wash T-shirts and baseball caps. The characters also use a lot of present day slag among millennials and this is actually briefly touched on as sort of a joke between Luca and Zoey in this episode when Luca changes the trendy word "Lit" to "a flame" as he tried to describes his taste in fashion to Zoey. Interestingly enough, Zoey actually wore a "Lit Major" T-Shirt to promote and advertise the show in the marketing materials for the show(picture displayed above). The show is similar to others in the sense that it attempts to show us the life of a group of friends in college like that of Community on NBC or Dear White People on Netflix, the difference is that this show is not all comedy and not all issues like either of these shows. Grownish has created a good balance in providing viewers with thought provoking social topics college students go through while also incorporating some comedy. It's neither black nor white, which creates an overall appeal to the demographic it is trying to target.

The show definitely addresses stereotypes head on and allows characters to not only discuss them but also evolve from them. A good example of this is in this episode is when Aaron and Zoey are hanging out in the living room of Aaron's dorm when Aaron's friend walks in, thus forcing Aaron to introduces Zoey to him which he does so as his "homie". This scene expressed how in current society men are put in a box and expected not to be emotional or expressive because it can be viewed as weak. In turn Yara's character (Zoey) reacts to Aaron's insensitive comment about them being just friends by leaving Aaron's dorm and heading to her own. At one point in the episodes the girls discuss how men from their generation don't know what they want and send mix signals. The group then touches on what is the best approach to voice the problem with men and the majority suggest some sort of mobile communication whether it be text or difference social media platforms, but when Zoey mentions addressing the issue face to face the group looks at her with disapproval (scene clip). Later in the episode Aaron shows up to the schools winter formal to explain to Zoey why he reacted the way he did in front of his friend.

The show is intended to appeal to the youth and young adults that may be curious or relate to college life. If I was a visitor from another country this show would paint the U.S as a country that has a lot of societal issues it needs to talk about and work through, which I think is a proper reflection of our country in the present. I had not heard of the show until it was recommended to me by Hulu which is where I stream the show from. After watching a few episodes I liked the format in which each episode was delivered; a current societal issue, whether a generational one or not, it was presented, discussed and made relatable. As each episode developed there are also moments of comic relief which usually come in the form of Dean Parker played by Chris Parnell and or Charlie Telphy a professor at the school played by Deon Cole. I think the shows strengths lie in the perfected formula of issues that young college students undertake, the actors relatable performances, mix of style and music in each set and episode and the inclusiveness of the viewer in the episodes make it a thought provoking enjoyable experience. I liked the show so much I started talking to my friends about it and we started having nights where we made time to watch this specific show together and talk about the presented issue on each episode. This allowed us to learn about each others perspectives and form a bond through civil discourse. As I was watching this specific episode I noticed commercials appealing to the same demographic the show was targeting because the commercials were for Starbucks, Little Caesar's, Verizon and eBay which at one point is specifically mentioned in the episode. I follow the show on Instagram and am able to tell that the platform is not only used to promote the show but also to acknowledge and support the shows actors in their personal projects which I thought was different than what other networks or shows do.

What surprised me about the show was how much content and thought provoking issues it brings in each short episode (21 minutes). I found myself having to pause the show after certain scenes just to discuss with my friends their perspectives about the issue/s being presented and or the character development. We even argued about who Zoey should end up with! It was definitely interesting to examine one of my favorite shows in the context of researching, evaluating, engaging and interpreting who the show targets, why and how the creators, producers, network and actors go about delivering an end goal which is providing an entertaining show that appeals to it's intended demographic while trying to achieve longevity. Thankfully it seems like Grownish's perfected formula has not only helped in it being renewed for a new season but also challenged the college student narrative. I for one can't wait for season 2 to start but for those of you haven't seen the show yet, below is a review of season one for you to enjoy.