YMMV / Community S1 E03: Introduction to Film

• Accidental Aesop: The true measure of art's worth is its capacity to emotionally impact people by resonating with their feelings and experiences, not how "good" it is. Abed's short film is incredibly cheap and shoddily made, and it leaves Jeff and Britta scratching their heads—but it still reduces Abed's father to tears, because he has a personal connection to the subject matter and understands what it's really about.
  Jeff: Well... It's not exactly Citizen Kane.
  (Jeff and Britta look over and realize that Abed's father is silently weeping)
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Jeff and Britta misunderstand Abed's film as a weird role-play rather than a genuine expression of his difficult family life, or did they understand and just not care due to their own problems?
  • When Jeff coldly told Abed "And I think the wrong person just left", was he saying that it should have been Abed who should have left instead of Britta, or Jeff himself?
  • Were Jeff and Britta's nonplussed reactions to Abed's film due to them still not understanding what the film was about, feeling insulted at their portrayals, not caring or just finding the horrible quality too distracting?
• Heartwarming Moments: Abed’s father agreeing to pay for his film classes, after realizing that film may be his only effective means of self-expression.
• Narm Charm: Abed and his father speak literary Arabic with a poor accent during the Tear Jerker below. Not that it would prevent you from crying your eyes out, even if you do speak the language.
• Tear Jerker: The finished movie reveals Abed's mother lost her patience for her son not being "normal" and abandoned the family. His father emotionally shut down from the loss, but Abed always assumed his father was cold to him because he blamed Abed for her leaving. The latter drives Mr. Nadir to tears.

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