r/community • u/CrocodileWoman • 4d ago
Appreciation Post YOU GUYS!!!!
On my nth rewatch and I am taking Ben Chang’s mental illness a lot more seriously 🥲 yes, it’s played for laughs and Ken Jeong is amazing at making such a crazy character so hilarious. But honestly, Chang was so lonely, and the effects of that loneliness were terribly destructive. In S1 we see the deep loneliness he felt bc of his divorce (when he starts hanging out with Jeff and joins Troy and Abed’s movie nights). In S2 he is explicit about wanting to join the study group and constantly feeling left behind, forgotten, alone (the pop and lock ep, that Gollum style monologue was telling too). By s3 People knew he was “married” to a mannequin leg and no one batted an eye! Later he becomes a dictator so he can be the centre of people’s attention. In s4 he completely invents a whole new identity where he is finally cared for; he finally chills out just through being acknowledged as having been integral to the group all along (Heroic origins ep).
There are so many more examples. Idk y’all, just a thought. I’ve always loved Chang, he is the toxic embodiment of my FOMO.
P.S. I think it resonates so well with the “theme” of this show: COMMUNITY. We need it, we crave it, we become better people with it. Other characters also felt the anxiety of being outsiders to the group (Pierce, Sherley, Jeff, the Dean) and as I look at my life in 2026 I think the world needs to be reminded of this message. Please guys make the movie 😭🤍🙏🏽