Motivation and Emotion - Abed Nadir

  To examine Abed and his perception of control and values, it is critical to understand just how these elements formulate his emotions and motivations. Abed, as I have stated in past blog posts, is known for his unique meta-commentary and his propensity to analyze life through a lens of media (TV/Movies). The interesting nature of Abed's character lends itself to a good study of how perceptions of control and value influence one's behavior over time.  Past: Creating the self  From what we know about Abed's past, and specifically his formative years before meeting the study group, his perception of control was limited. Abed is said to have been an outsider in high school who struggled deeply with social and parental connections. Thus, he turned to TV shows and movies for comfort, parenting, and more. Using media in this way provided a sense of predictability and control that didn't exist elsewhere for him. TV has "logic, rules, and structure." (Abed Nadir, Sea...

Abed Nadir is no stranger to making cognitive attributions, and in fact, his character is constantly trying to process the events on screen and providing interpretations or explanations for what is happening around him in his unique and pop-culturally driven way. Re-watching the show while writing this blog has allowed me to watch Community through a psychological lens more easily. Understanding Abed’s attributions can better explain his behaviors throughout the show.  As discussed in previous blog posts, Abed often frames life through media tropes and pop culture references. These are external factors that help him make sense of the seemingly unpredictable world around him while at the same time distancing him emotionally from the event itself. I go back to the episode we have discussed on this blog before, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”. In this episode, it is revealed that Abed is attributing his feelings of loss and disappointment about the holidays to external factors. Th...

 “Abed, stop being meta. Stop taking everything we do and shoving it up its own ***!! ” - Jeff Winger As a character Abed is both constantly trying to be outwardly understood and fit in. This dichotomy is stressed by his neurodivergent traits, reference humor, and as Jeff Winger stressed above, often making everything a little more 'meta'. In this balance of primary and secondary control come some of Community 's best moments. In this blog post we will go over a couple of examples of times when Abed Nadir lends himself to both secondary and primary control and the fantastical events that followed.  Season 3, episode 4: Remedial Chaos Theory, widely considered one of the best episodes of Community, lends itself to conversations about primary control quite well. In primary control people attempt to change the world around them so that it fits the needs and desires they have. In this very unique episode we see our study group meeting at Troy and Abed's new apartment for th...

In this week's Blog post, we take on one of Community's most creative and impressive episodes. Season 2, Episode 11, Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, is one of the only animated episodes of the show and is done entirely in stop-motion claymation. This episode touches on themes of seasonal loneliness around the holidays and support through the use of found family. It does it all in a particularly fantastical way that the Community has done many times so well.  Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas is an episode where our character of study, Abed Nadir, attempts to find the true meaning of Christmas. Abed declares that this episode must be “the most important Christmas” because they are all stop-motion animated. The study group rejects this idea and leads him to the study room, where psychology professor Ian Duncan (John Oliver) attempts to help him with this psychological episode he appears to be having.  We are transported to Planet Abed, where the “atmosphere is 7% cinnamon,” and a...

When talking about a character's values, sometimes it may be complicated as their actions on screen only reflect their values metaphorically. One of the best parts of Abed Nadir is how his values play out physically for the audience. Abed’s values and interests are often intertwined, but some of his more significant values include loyalty, control, creativity, and authenticity. Abed being on the spectrum also creates great moments that add to his understanding of his values.  For example, in season 1, episode 5: Advanced Criminal Law, Troy teaches Abed that friends “mess with each other” after messing with Abed's gullibility. This leads Abed to spend the day convincing Troy that he is an alien. It is altogether cute, over the top, and slightly pathetic. As Troy puts it “It would be less crazy if you were actually an alien.” however, the resolution is Troy redacting his original statement and telling Abed, “From now on, Abed, friends don't mess with each other”. This moment...