In the past year or so, Amy Schumer has really exploded onto the comedy scene. Between the increasing popularity of Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer and the good buzz surrounding her upcoming film Trainwreck, Schumer is a seemingly unstoppable force. She seems like someone who wandered into Hollywood while no one was looking, and is taking it over and changing it from the inside. Part of Schumer’s appeal is her crass, everywoman persona that makes her relatable to the average, non-famous person. Sure, she’s hot, famous, and successful, but you also feel like she would be down for a girls night with homemade facials and a box of wine. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the reasons why she would be the ultimate best friend.
She’s cool, but rejects the “cool girl” narrative.
Schumer clearly knows how to have a fun night out, and specializes in crass humor that is usually dominated by men. However, she usually uses “bro humor” as a way to point out the absurdity of it and to highlight the ridiculous aspects of female life. For example, with her “Chicks Who Can Hang” sketch, she points out that the “perfect woman” that many men are looking for — you know, hot, loves sports, eats what she wants while still being a size 2, rags on your friends with the perfect jokes — simply doesn’t exist. By turning casual female objectification on it’s head with “Lunch at O’Nutters” or how women have been programmed not to accept their success in “Compliments,” Schumer is crass, but always has something valid to add to the conversation. This is a person to keep around.
She stands up for other women, and for herself.
On May 1, Amy Schumer gave a remarkable speech at the Gloria Awards and Gala, hosted by the Ms. Foundation for Women, and had a lot to say about what women should strive for even when faced with opposition.
“But then I think, ‘F*ck that.’ I am not laying in that freshman year bed anymore ever again. I am a woman with thoughts and questions and sh*t to say. I say if I’m beautiful. I say if I’m strong. You will not determine my story — I will. I will speak and share and f*ck and love and I will never apologize to the frightened millions who resent that they never had it in them to do it. I stand here and I am amazing, for you. Not because of you. I am not who I sleep with. I am not my weight. I am not my mother. I am myself. And I am all of you, and I thank you.”
With this speech, Schumer highlights many of the insecurities and outside influences that often plague women, and reminds listeners that they can overcome by realizing their own potential and strengths. While many public figures parrot similar sentiments, Schumer has made it imminently clear that she lives these principles that she preaches. Honesty and emotional clarity are two essential elements of a great best friend, and Schumer has those both in spades.
She doesn’t care if she offends anyone, but she will also accept valid criticism.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Schumer eschews the idea that many women are told from birth: Be quiet and keep your opinions to yourself.
“My whole life, I felt like people wanted the girls to be a little quieter,” she said, an attitude she rejected early.
With skits like “Last F*ckable Day” or “Football Town Nights,” Schumer clearly has no qualms with rejecting political correctness. However, some of her stand-up has been called out for how it dealt with race, and Schumer was unafraid to engage with her critics in public via Twitter:
Put down your torches before reading this so you don’t catch on fire. pic.twitter.com/JyRQGvFuX8
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) June 28, 2015
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) July 6, 2015
Success is important, but not at the expense of humility and being able to kickstart important conversations that lead to a better understanding of how things work.
She worked her way to the top using her own strengths and encourages others to do the same, especially other women.
Schumer writes her own stand-up, her own show, and now her own film. Comedy is a bit of a boys’ club, but Schumer is still finding ways to excel on her own merit. Schumer has been working the comedy circuit for eleven years, so it isn’t like this success has happened overnight. She worked hard, and now she is reaping the rewards. In an interview with Newsweek, Schumer makes it clear that she wants other women to feel empowered through her success:
“Women, especially, I want to feel nurtured,” she says. “I feel like I have the capability to help some women feel empowered and a little more liberated.”
Schumer doesn’t think that her comedy is for women only and makes a point to ensure that men don’t feel “alienated.” Funny is funny, and everyone is invited to enjoy Schumer’s work. However, she does hope to reach women especially.
“Do I want women to watch and am I sending a message? My instinct is a little bit to whisper ‘yes,’” she says. “That doesn’t seem like something you’d have to whisper, but it really is.”
Having someone who champions those who don’t always have a voice is a valuable element to best friendship, and is one of the reasons why people everywhere are buying into Amy Schumer hook, line, and sinker.
She’s just really f*cking funny.
Season three of Inside Amy Schumer really brought things to the next level creatively, and the 12 Angry Men parody, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” is a highlight of both the show and this year in television overall. It’s truly a brilliant and timely bit of writing, with a room full of men debating whether or not Amy is hot enough to be on television. Sure, it’s well written and biting, but you also get to hear Jeff Goldblum mutter “I have a donkey dick.” Amy Schumer has tons to say, but most of all, she’s just trying to be funny, and she’s definitely succeeding. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
(Via Vulture, the New York Times, and Newsweek)
