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The Harbinger of Hope: Enlightened’s Amy Jellicoe on Change

The Harbinger of Hope: Enlightened’s Amy Jellicoe on Change

Enlightened (2011-2013)
Network: HBO
Creators: Mike White, Laura Dern

Enlightened

Enlightened’s central character, Amy Jellicoe (Laura Dern), finds her tranquility through the image of a sea turtle floating calmly above her. It is an image that exists in a sphere that will not sustain human life. To see this fading moment we must hold our breath and look up. This soothing assurance is what made Enlightened the most optimistic show on television. It’s departure, a small drought in the media’s willingness to recognize thoughtfulness in it’s viewers. But, this isn’t a piece about the untimely end to the series. This is a piece about what it means to be alone and operating under the pretense of doing good. About what it means for a character like Amy to have such a relentless need to improved her world. This is about the mucilaginous paste of pain and doubt that oozes from one woman’s hope.

enlightenedliveAs far as I know there aren’t too many examples of truth attained without pain. I am reminded of John Carpenter’s 1988 film They Live! In particular the five and a half-minute fistfight between Nada (Roddy Piper) and Frank (Keith David). A scene that needs no explanation as it is, in a very literal sense, one man beating another man into physically seeing the corruption around him. In many ways this is also how Amy Jellicoe commands her ideals to others. The difference is that, instead of They Live!‘s headlocks and body slams, Amy’s aggression comes through a quiet yet persistent chatter. Like a baby bird who’s just leaned to chirp she cackles and coos a song that is both irritating and honest. Flapping her infant wings at anyone within earshot. Perhaps Maureen Ryan at the Huffington Post called it best in her observation that “Amy doesn’t ask you to follow her on Twitter, she demands it.” She uses her beak to push through uncertainty and reach for self-actualization. Where They Live!’s Nada needed to see the physical ugliness of the subversive corporate aliens, Amy needs only feel the subtle breeze of injustice before hopping forward on those baby-bird legs twittering away.

up_short1Like some of the news media’s portraits of contemporary whistle-blowers (Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning to name a few), Amy is a flawed messenger who is subject to slander (both in fictional Riverside and in contemporary critic land.) An agent of change who’s personality and name distract from her intention. Yet, because this is television Amy (unlike Snowden or Assange) is able to gives us the refreshing breath of doubt needed to accept her. The eloquent solitary meditations that begin and end each episode softly sway her audience towards thoughts beyond superficial character flaws. It’s through her prophecies “this kingdom will also fall” (Season 2 Ep 1); Her genuine admiration of “this beautiful, upsetting world” (Season 2 Ep. 8); and her self doubt “Am I my higher self or am I in the mud?” (Season 2 Ep. 8) that we empathize (or, at least, sympathize) with her spirit. The monologues are both deeply spiritual (without any heavy-handed religious sentiment) and insightful. They offer advice “ it’s not enough to have good intentions, you must also act” and acceptance “you can wake up to your higher self. You can be patient and you can be kind.” We’re left to consider after each one whether or not Amy is Enlightened or if this ultimately matters when she’s shouldering such hope.
Enlightened Ceiling

I’m not alone in this admiration. As Alan Sepinwall points out there are a number of writers who have put forth inspired work based on Enlightened. Mike White and Laura Dern have sculpted a character who effectively disgusts and awakens media critics and viewers alike. Amy is the ‘hummingbird‘, the Impressionable, the emotional, the committed, the myopic and the idealistic. She dawns these badges not as subtly-denigrating insults but as marks of television writers who trust in their work and their characters. While her actions are often insufferable, her savor whim patronizing and her undefined sense of purpose insulting it’s impossible to shake the sense that she could be exactly what we need to see. She is the grotesque side of optimism.

It’s easy to understand why so many committed fans of the show beg for it’s return but we should consider now that maybe this isn’t the time to chirp for a revival. That there is no need to crowd-fund a film or petition HBO for a third season. Instead this is our quiet moment to sit back and welcome the serenity of knowing that Enlightened ever existed at all. That optimism can still hold some weight. It’s fitting that in the show’s final moments Amy– alluding to the series’ first episode– looks to the elevator ceiling in an attempt to conjure confidence from the ocean. This time, instead of a paddling turtle she only finds the gray elevator tiles. Her peace no longer reliant on the image of serenity. In only two short seasons, Amy has changed.

 

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