A concept that has recently piqued my interest is that of a favorite fictional character. People always talk about their favorite movies, books and so on, but what they often fail to discuss is the particular fictional people who make up the stories that we all love. For me, my favorite fictional character is one who captures my heart entirely, someone who never fails to be endearing and who inspires me to be a better person. Her name is Britta Perry.
The cult-classic sit-com “Community” is a show that I formally discovered in a time when the entire planet was trying its best not to implode– the summer of 2020. Amid all the chaos, confusion and genuine terror of the world around me, I was often left wondering what my place was in everything. I was just a 16-year-old kid from OH who didn’t even have a learner’s permit yet. What chance did I have against the insanity of the real world? Little did I know that I was about to find somebody who was experiencing similar struggles over a decade ago.
The pilot episode of “Community” introduces the audience to the seven community college students who they will be getting to know over the next six seasons (and upcoming movie): Jeff Winger, Annie Edison, Shirley Bennet, Pierce Hawthorne, Troy Barnes, Abed Nadir and (the one and only) Britta Perry.
Though Britta appears at first to be a somewhat-stereotypical activist hipster determined on calling out everyone’s balderdash, her high-and-mighty exterior is quickly shed. She reveals that her activism is a facade she creates in order to convince herself that she is a better person than she believes herself to be. As she says in episode 23 of season one, “I try to act compassionate because I’m afraid I’m not.”
Despite this confession, I find Britta’s care for the world around her to be incredibly inspiring. She is constantly thinking about justice and trying to fight for it in any way she can. Her philosophy on life deeply moves me and makes me want to be a better person.
I want to be like Britta. I want to care so deeply about the world that justice and equality are always in the forefront of my mind. What inspires me most, though, is not Britta’s strengths, but her weaknesses.
No character is interesting without their flaws and Britta is far from flawless. She’s often referred to as a buzzkill; she concocts plenty of schemes that fail horribly and her name even becomes synonymous with “to make a mistake” among her friends. In other words, Britta is kind of an idiot.
However, this fact never stops her from her lifelong mission for justice. An exchange that summarizes this dynamic well is one that occurs between Britta and Annie during the show’s third season. When confronted by her refusal to dissect a worm, Britta proudly proclaims “If loving worms is stupid, I don’t want to be smart,” to which Annie refutes “It is and you can’t be!”
This exchange perfectly encapsulates what I love most about Britta as a character. She cares so much about making things right that she doesn’t care how foolish she looks or how many people look down on her. She knows that what she’s doing is right, so nothing else matters. Even when she doesn’t believe in herself, she’s trying to make a difference.
This article has proven to be the most daunting task yet of my journalistic career. While I believe that every story I write is important (otherwise, I wouldn’t write it), this one has a special place in my heart and I really want to get it right. Britta Perry inspires me in a way that very few people do, fictional or otherwise. That’s the power of fiction. People of fantasy can change our lives in ways that people of reality simply can’t. And I think that’s really beautiful.
