The trailer for season four of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt landed on the internet today, and while it proves Kimmy is still up to her usual antics, that might not be a good thing. Last season, we called out the show for its weird jokes about millennials and feminism that ended up belittling both of them, and it appears the show might have the same problem this time around with the #MeToo movement.
"Our characters are not fully aware exactly of what's going on in the world, for various reasons," co-showrunner Robert Carlock told The Hollywood Reporter in February. "But [the #MeToo movement and wave of sexual misconduct claims are] very present, especially in the first half of the season as we've talked about it. Kimmy [will be] confronting some things in a workplace."
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In the trailer, we see that in action, and at least so far, it doesn't seem to be having the desired effect. While there are some good jabs in there about the bad ways some men responded to the movement ("You couldn't possibly understand what it is like to be a male today," Bobby Moynihan says in the trailer. "Like how come when your body makes milk, it's 'beautiful'?") there's also a weird moment when Kimmy is accused of sexual harassment after her trousers fall off in front of a coworker, and she smiles and dances in front of him.
While this is just a snippet out of context, it paints accusations of sexual harassment as goofy, despite the fact that a man taking off his pants in the workplace is literally what got the #MeToo movement started. Not to mention, it's weird to suddenly pivot to slapstick sexual assault humoyr when last season the show confronted the fact that Kimmy is a sexual abuse survivor.
It's not that I think the show has any ill-will towards the movement, feminism, political correctness, or the other more serious topics they've attempted to tackle, but that there are just some issues its particular brand of humour isn't the correct vehicle for. It gets muddled and easily misinterpreted — but this is just the trailer. We'll need the full season to know how the show is really going to approach the topic. Let's hope I eat my words, and this final season goes out on a triumphant note. Thankfully, I won't have to wait long as the next season drops on 30th May on Netflix UK.
Watch the trailer below!