Adorkable

Whilst procrastinating instead of doing an assignment, I came across this article critising Zooey Deschanel and the awkward, quirky character that she is known for playing.

Enough with 'adorkable': The case against Zooey Deschanel

It criticises her for being too awkward. For pretending to be awkward all the time just because she thinks it's cute...

But she is an actor and actors are supposed to act, to personify a character, to make it real. This is what she is doing. I am quite sure that in real life, Zooey Deschanel is not the character she plays in New Girl. How could someone as successful as Zooey, get where she is without some sort of social skills which she seems to lack in the show. She has been in movies and TV shows and even has her own band, She & Him. If she was really that socially awkward I don't think that she would have got as far as she has. Maybe the fact that people believe she is like this in real life is a credit to her acting ability.

As for downing that character, the show is a comedy. Comedies rely on stereotypes and exaggerations to be funny and this show is no different. Her character Jess is pretty hilarious and it's not because she does what you expect her to, it's because she does the most outrageous things that no one would ever think of doing, or the things you imagine yourself doing but never do. It's the unrealistic part of her character that is so alluring. If that character wasn't a part of New Girl, it just wouldn't be that funny and therefore not worth watching. Why would you watch a comedy like this and criticise it for not being realistic? Go and watch a documentary or something on the history channel or Australian Story even if that's what you want. This show isn't supposed to be a reflection of real life but an exaggerated, stereotyped comedy for entertainment and not education.
But the article is able to accept that this is a fictional construction and that that is ok as it is TV.
What they are not able to accept is Zooey's add for the iPhone 4s. Apparently she is trying way to hard to be the awkward person that she portrays. The article says;

To pretend that you're perfectly identical to the broke, adorkable everywoman you play on Fox each week in order to sell iPhones is not only incredibly dishonest, it shows exactly the same business sense that the QUIRKY OLE SOUL Zooey pretends to be would not possess. It's cashing in on an image, and it's pretty gross.

That just doesn't make sense to me. Yes I am sure that Zooey is getting paid a lot for that commercial but I am also sure that she is just told what to do for the advertisement. I don't think she was given the creative license to write the add for a multi-million (billion or more) dollar company. I think they would have told her what to do, what to say, what to wear and would have organised the setting in which the add would be shot. So I think that it's the Apple company that is doing the cashing in on the popular character. And who doesn't cash in on things when they are popular. That's like telling George Lucas that he isn't allowed to sell Star Wars merchandise. And that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. They say that "really awkward people don't make themselves awkward for profit" (and maybe that's where they have gone wrong all their life) but I don't think that Zooey is trying to sell her real self as an awkward person, I think it is just a role that she plays and has now become so successful she keeps playing it. Her sister is Emily Deschanel, the main character and producer of the show Bones. No one criticises her for playing the same straightforward, anthropologist who lacks social skills (quite a similar concept to that of her sister's characters, maybe it runs in the family) and she has been doing it longer than her sister.

As for the add, I think it was quite successful. It showed what the new iPhone could do and it was pretty entertaining. Who doesn't like to order food when it's raining and dance in their pjamas? And to prove it, here is a comment from one of the readers, ashmeadow, "Am I awkward if I completely don't understand what was weird and awkward about the commercial?". LadyLLeafdawn replied, "Nah, I think you're just normal. I mean, who wouldn't want to order delivery and dance all day when it's raining outside?". The general consensus was that the add was good and that the readers didn't quite understand what the writer of the article was going on about (also that he used to word awkward far too many times). So it wasn't just me.

I quite like New Girl and a lot of the other things that Zooey is in. I also quite like the music of She & Him. Why be a hater on someone who is really quite talented when you can be a hater on someone who isn't talented but still successful (Scarlet Johansson, Megan Fox or any of the Kardashians).

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She & Him

 
In this video, Zooey is many characters, she is dead, she gets shot, she ahs an axe in her back and she kills a few versions of herself. I hope that's socially awkward, I mean adorkable enough.

And what is with the word 'adorkable'? I mean seriously. It's a weird orgy of adorable, awkward and you could even go so far as to say dork as well. That isn't a classy mix.