Opinion
by Claire Sullivan
2 Broke Girls centres on bold, cynical and "street-smart" Max (Kat Dennings) and spoilt, newly bankrupt and business minded Caroline (Beth Behrs). They meet working in a crappy diner in Williamsburg, New York and throughout the series attempt to try and save $250,000 to start a cupcake bakery. Created by Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City), I had moderate hopes of laughter and enjoying this show as a guilty pleasure. Unfortunately it delivered neither.
2 Broke Girls (2BG) is not funny at all. Every moment of what I assumed was meant to be "comedy" missed the mark completely. Horrible jokes about female masturbation and hipsters don't just occasionally splatter the series; it is the foundation, the support beams and the final coat of paint.
One of the (many) problems throughout this so-called "comedy" is that all the pop culture references are dated. The show was created and released in the year 2011. Cupcakes left the realm of cool, cute and hip in early 2010. Also, the hipsters in 2BG dress as though MySpace and Facebook are still competing for popularity.
Another problem I had with 2BG was the ridiculous amount of racist jokes thinly disguised as wit and irony. The character of Hung Lee, the diner's manager, reminded me of the character of Mr Miyazaki from Breakfast at Tiffany's. The only reason why the internet didn't explode with "racism in 2 Broke Girls" is because Hung Lee is played by an actual Asian actor and not a Caucasian guy wearing yellowface, glasses and large, fake teeth.
The singular moment when I released one audible laugh was after the two girls have bonded over breaking and entering into Caroline's former household digs and dancing to a cliché pop song. They enter a filthy subway train, both resembling the Michelin man, but made from expensive furs and clothes instead of car tyres.
Do not watch, buy or download 2 Broke Girls unless you are crazily obsessed with Kat Dennings.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of BigPond News.
