' ' Cinema Romantico: Blogging New Girl

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Blogging New Girl

Lately, readers, I've been in the midst of a mild identity crisis.

I've always had the hipster in me. I wear black frame glasses. I'm snobbish about my coffee. I used to drink PBR (but I can't anymore on account of my stomach, which makes me an "aged" hipster). I worship Sofia Coppola. I wear sneakers that were shipped from Europe. I wear shirts of bands you've never heard of. I endlessly blather about how freaking awesome Zola Jesus is and yet do not - in any way, shape or form - want the mainstream to find out about her.

But then again, I'm not a hipster. I don't like things ironically. Ever. I might be the least ironic person you've ever met. Down with irony, up with earnestness. I love watching college football. I love wearing Nebraska football tee shirts. I put "Salt" in my Top 5 Movies last year. I don't put gel in my hair (the only woman I've ever worn gel for is Kylie Minogue). I think Debbie Gibson makes Bethany Cosentino look like Ashlee Simpson. And when the mainstream finds out about Zola Jesus I will not love her any less.


Zooey Deschanel has kind of become the hipster pin-up girl, and when I saw a preview for her brand new TV show on Fox called "New Girl" (premiering tonight: 8:00 CST) during a pre-movie movie ad I, a person who watches exceedingly few TV shows, immediately thought to myself, "Man, that looks like my sort of show." Which immediately made me think, "Huh. Am I a hipster?" I immediately decided to conduct an experiment, and so I plan on watching every episode of "New Girl" during its inaugural season (as many of them on their actual air date as possible) and then blogging about it.

There will be approximately 2,300 media outlets writing about "New Girl" this forthcoming television season but I promise none of them will take it to the same places as Cinema Romantico. Think of it like a trip to Peru. Do you want Entertainment Weekly or TV Guide or USA Today, etc., as your chaperones and go to Lima and Machu Picchu with a huge tour group and eat pre-planned meals or do you want to travel by bus with Cinema Romantico and see the remote parts of the Andes and the untouched rain forests of the Amazon basin and eat from roadside stands where the odds of getting food poisoning are 50/50?

I promise this will be a network television adventure and by May 2012 we will potentially have an answer to the question...... is Nick a hipster?

8 comments:

Sam Turner said...

I can honestly say that I'm very much looking forward to this because I've seen the trailer to The New Girl and can honestly say that I thought it looked tremendously awful. Therefore, I am looking forward to this either being a) you convincing me I was wrong or b) you pointing out how awful the show actually is. I'm sure either will make for great reading. Good luck!

Nick Prigge said...

I probably should have offered the disclaimer that Zooey Deschanel's "whimsy" may have fooled me into thinking it looked good, or something, but either way - really bad or really good - I do think this will be fun. I hope!

Wretched Genius said...

This show looks terrible. Just terrible. And I like Zooey as much as the next near-hipster, but all the clips I've seen have her mugging in a very unnatural way.

Now, 2 Broke Girls with up-and-coming sarcastic hipster dreamgirl Kat Dennings is another story...

Nick Prigge said...

Too late. I chose "New Girl." No backing out. I'm in it for the long haul. This is happening.

Should I be watching "Mad Men" on DVD instead? Maybe. But I'd rather watch Zooey Deschanel mug than Jon Hamm philander. Sue me. I'm honest.

Castor said...

This looks intriguing, I don't think I will have time to actually follow another TV show (I missed Sunday's episode of Breaking Bad AARGH!) but I might catch an episode or two to see if it catches my fancy.

Nick Prigge said...

Breaking Bad. Another show I've never seen. I'll never catch up with TV.

Derek Armstrong said...

I'll join the group of people saying they are not excited about New Girl (even though you've now already written another post about it which I have not yet read and which may make this comment seem very dated).

About a year ago I thought Zooey Deschanel could do no wrong. Then I saw an absolutely terrible movie called (without any subsequent explanation for the title within the narrative of the film) Gigantic. That made me realize that Deschanel is a highly limited actress who will do any role that solidifies her status as the reigning "manic pixie dream girl" (to borrow a phrase some perhaps-too-clever person coined).

However, I had not entirely soured on her until I saw the first ads for New Girl, which seemed like a total shark-jumping moment.

A shame -- she was great. Perhaps I'm too fickle and perhaps we turn on these people too quickly, but it hit me all at once and now I can't shake the feeling.

And I'm not sure if watching this show should actually be considered a hipster litmus test. Wouldn't you say that Deschanel has already lost the hipsters?

But, I still love you.

Nick Prigge said...

Hmmmmm. Is Zooey possibly like Michael Cera? I feel like people are turning against him, but I still have no problem with him doing what he does. I like people that do what they do, so long as I like WHAT they do, ya know.

That's an interesting theory, though, that "New Girl" is her jumping the shark. It's certainly possible. I confess I was disappointed in my Pilot review. I couldn't figure out how I really wanted to write it, but that's mainly because I really don't like to judge based on a single episode. There was potential, I think, but I also wouldn't say it was overwhelmingly promising. A few more episodes and we'll have a better idea.