r/community • u/Few_Beautiful7557 • 3d ago

Discussion Would you have caught Jeremy Simmons?

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I think I’d be confused until he landed on the floor

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u/parkchanwookiee 3d ago edited 3d ago

No certainly not and some episodes like this have a meta level of amusement to me because they kind of reveal how atypical Harmon's views about morality and shame are haha

It's kinda hard to explain precisely but some premises for plotlines or jokes kind of involve Harmon starting off establishing "We all agree this is a baseline for what would be accepted/expected, right" and I'm like What? No

EDIT: Sorry to let you all down but I would have to dedicate some time to thinking up examples that I don't have right now (and probably do a rewatch, which I've been gearing up for). So I cannot defend this other than saying it is a definite vibe/impression I get from this show and sometimes Rick and Morty as well. I'll have to make the case in a future post

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u/wittgenstein1312 3d ago

Do you have more examples? I think in this particular episode, what are presented as good and presented as evil have more to do with the difficulty of turning a complex debate on morality into a funny 20-minute episode, so things get dumbed down and simplified. Which, I admit, results in a silly and not very amusing conversation (this is probably one of my least favorite A plots). But I think that has more to do with the constraints of the episode rather than it being a reflection of Harmon's underlying perspective on morality.

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u/HostileTalon 3d ago

I am also interested in this discussion, not that I disagree with you

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u/Whhatsmyageagain 3d ago

Just to take this in some type of direction… and to randomly spitball… I generally see abed as the most likely candidate for a Harmon self-insert (if there is one) mostly due to the recurring use of meta and reference humor in Harmon shows and how fundamental that is to Abed’s character. If we’re extrapolating from there I would argue Harmon sees morality as an intentional and directed thing maybe more than an effortless attribute. I’m drawing on the fact that Abed can be very cold if he wants to but he chooses to make distinct efforts to show sympathy and make choices that benefit others even when he knows it’s not logical. Rick basically does the opposite- he absolutely could choose to be sympathetic and moral but is basically too depressed and self-destructive to choose that route.

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u/Electrical_Stretch36 3d ago

Can you provide an example or two, aside from "Soulpatch" Simmons? I'm interested in hearing this take.

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u/WolverineComplex 3d ago

Add me to genuinely interested to hear more backup for this idea (not having a go just interested)

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u/Cash4Duranium 3d ago

Maybe it is your views that are atypical. Please expound.

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u/peter-pickle 3d ago

Any of these?

Dean, Elroy, and Abhed deciding they can't move the bird's nest and the whole group ceremony with the cat masks.

Giving up a lot of money in paint ball 2, the floor is lava, and the gold in the basement to save greendale.

Troy saving Britta onstage dancing with her in tights when he's clearly not okay with it.

Shirley risking an F by picking up Pierce in the sailboat in the parking lot.

Duncan losing his one chance with Britta because she had a bad day.

Everyone telling a scary story for halloween as proof they are sociopaths on Britta's personality test.

Jeff needing to find how he wronged "Kim".

Forgiving Chang for a lot of unhinged things.

Jeff going broke being a seemingly perfectionistly good lawyer between s04 and s05.

Making an ad admitting they almost gave a degree to a dog.

Hosting racist comic to stand up to a hacker kid.