Let’s talk about Fonzie.

#critique #criticism #TV

So when I said there are some fictional characters we never see prove their reputation, the #Fonze is one of them.

When #HappyDays first started he was a badass from a biker gang. But when did we ever get to see his badassery? Most of the time he just appears in a room and guys start quaking in their boots and running for their lives. But I’ve never seen him prove his fighting skills.

He is also supposedly #cool but we never get to see anything particularly cool about him except a leather jacket, greased hair, and going Eyyyyyy. He even calls himself cool – which is kinda the opposite of cool.

The other thing is that he is supposedly attractive to women but again we never see why. His superpower here seems to be his leather jacket. But there’s something a bit unnerving about the way women jump and act submissive every time he clicks his fingers. Bit creepy that.

Perhaps the message of Happy Days is its message about cool: Coolness resides only when other people uphold the myth of cool. The Fonze is an empty shell in which we all project our worship. He is only cool as long as you say he’s cool.

Quite deep that for a 70s sitcom.

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