That’s a question I’ve wrestled with since “The New Girl” debuted on Fox last fall. Until “The New Girl” came along, there was no question: She’s great in (500) Days of Summer, I loved her in Elf, she had a nice turn in “Weeds,” and she was great in the little seen All the Real Girls. But I like quirk and whimsy in the right doses, and I love manic-pixie dream girls (SUE ME).
But there’s a huge difference between two hours of quirk and whimsy and an entire series built around it. I don’t think Jess is a character; I think Jess is Zooey Deschanel, and the relentless optimism, the overbearing quirk, and the ALWAYS ON whimsy is starting to wear on my gag reflex. At first, it was kind of cute. Now it’s kind of … dumb. Not in the, “Oh, that’s so stupid” kind of way, but in the “I think Zooey Deschanel” may actually be dumb” kind of way.
Deschanel is hosting “SNL” this weekend (promo below), and I’m seriously curious about whether we’ll see another side of Deschanel, if in fact there’s another side to see. Could she in fact be functionally whimsical? Is there anything going on inside of that head of hers besides blue birds?
What do you think? Serious question: Is Zooey Adorable or awful? I WILL NOT JUDGE YOU FOR YOUR HONESTY.
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ME LIKEY
I choose… both?
emily
I think it’s her quirk that brings people to the show but the stay for Schmidt and Grumpy Guy, not so much gereric Black Guy. She’s not awful but she needs to step out of her comfort zone a bit more, she’s done it a bit in a few episodes (strangling Justin Long for example) but she has to dial back the quirk. Zooey over Emily anyday.
Awful. She tries wayyy too hard to be quirky. Having said that: I would hate fuck her.
That’s the thing, though. I don’t think she’s trying at all. I think she’s just very, very quirky.
Its way over the top is the thing. The singing little tunes and the sideways head looks?! No one can be like that…
She’s about 2 years away from playing a dark serious role in a dramatic Oscar-bait movie; think Mila Kunis in Black Swan. (Yes, it will feature aggressive lesbian sex with…let’s say, Amanda Seyfried.) This post will drive Zooey to make this career move.
She reminds me of an ex girlfriend I had where she was super, super cute and adorable and spoke with a tiny lisp and I was like “oh you are just awesome” then when I saw her naked I was like “meh..could be better.”. I THOUGHT it would be better, but she was a hipster so some parts were dough-y and she needed to tan.
So I guess what I’m saying is that I’m a judgmental prick. What were we talking about again?
I’m not 100% sure but I think its 60/40 Adorable / Awful. I do know that I’d be paying significant more attention to the presentation I’m supposed to be following right now if it was being done in her voice.
Her character is way too quirky in The New Girl, but it’s balanced out by Nick and Lizzy Caplan’s character. Especially in the past two episodes where they directly played her foil. But generally I forget she’s even in it some of the time because Schmidt is so awesome.
I used to not care much either way. Now, after watching a few episodes of that show, I hate her.
Schmidt > Jess. There I said it.
I like her. I can see where she’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but I’m surprised when people flat out HATE her, like she-ran-over-my-dog hate. That’s a little much.
Also, I appreciated New Girl’s defense of polka dot-wearing, cupcake-baking girliness in last week’s episode. Jess is definitely an extreme version of that, but it’s still nice.
Its like too much sugar in your coffee. A little bit of sweetness is great but when you pour too much in it becomes so horrible you cant stomach it.
It’s just “New Girl” not “The New Girl”
I’m going to give the edge to adorable because in 99% of the pictures I see of her she is always wearing a skirt and showing some leg. However, that being said: Emily > Zooey.
What? Can’t we just all agree she’s adorably aweful?
I’d say awfully adorable!
*flies off on rainbow made of dreams and whimsy*
I’m firmly on the “Adorable” side, but I’ve only watched about 4 epsiodes of that show- not because I dislike it, I’m just very lazy. I can see where sitting down and watching several in a row could be rough.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything she’s done, but the simple fact that someone coined the term “adorakable” to describe her makes her fucking awful.
Yes, who ever coined that phrase should be drug out into the street and shot.
Well, The Happening made me want to kill myself, but I don’t know if that was because of her or if it was the trees.
Ya know, I used to think I didn’t like her but I realized it was after I had seen the first two episodes of New Girl that I felt as such. They overdid the “look at her! She’s clumsy and nerdy, but she sure is hot so its okay! Yay!” and that made me throw up on everything. But I caught the recent “douche bag jar” episode and it wasn’t that bad. So, whew! I do love the movies she’s been in that are mentioned in the article and I LOVE She and Him (yay for M.Ward!) so I’ll side with adorable for now. Or shall I say adorkable? /*slaps forehead*
70/30 Adorable. Bonus points for Elf and Hitchhikers Guide.
She’s awfully adorable but will never be able to pull off the smoldering sexuality of Mila, regardless of what SOS portends for her 2 year plan!
I would. You would. Let’s get that out of the way.
That said, awful.
Joan Rivers said something very representative of ZD’s relentless, overbearing cuteness: “She’s so quirky, her clitoris is a Skittle”
For me she currently stands at about 60/40 of an adorable/awful percentage, with awful gaining about 3 points every year or so she keeps pushing the quirky thing. It’s funny, the think I liked her best in was Mumford, and that was more than 10 years ago. High school girls, man…
Also, adding Lizzy Caplan provides some great balance to Zoe’s character.
*thing* and *Zooey*
I’m thinking 60/40 also, but reversed (i.e., awful/adorable). Her acting/persona/what-have-you is so one-note. She’s the female Michael Cera — always playing the same character, which gets more and more stale the longer she continues to do it. Oh, and Lizzy > Emily > Zooey
Zooey Deschanel always makes me think of Parker Posey. I don’t know why. Therefore, I will see ZD and end up googling PP with absolute glee (she’s my one true love!)
I think she’s the cats pajamas. The cats daisy patterned pajamas.
Í like her but I saw that photo of her with mustache, so awful.
I was forced to watch New Girl last night (my wife pulled a knife on me). The writing on that show is bad, but Zooey made it watchable. So yes, she’s adorable and no it’s not worth a TV show.
The show has slowly won me over the past few weeks. Last nights episode was especially funny. I think her character is much more quirky/goofy than adorable/awful, and the supporting cast has really helped.
She’s not adorable, she’s F’n adorable!
The new girl works for me because the whole cast seems to work. It’s the first non-animated sitcom I’ve been able to hang with for more than a couple episodes in quite some time.
Ever since Elf I’ve always had her pegged in the “adorable” column, even after seeing a few episodes of New Girl
But after seeing her on The View yesterday (not by choice…) I’m starting to think she might be kinda crazy in real life, similar to her character in new Girl. The room mates make the show funny for me.
I should also say that this is not about her, it’s about YOU and people in general. Most of us just can’t shut up and enjoy something. They’ve got to over-analyze everything.
I feel it’s more of an over-exposure thing. I went through the same progression – she’s lovely in short bursts, but this bubbliness week after week after week just makes me want to murder otters.
Dustin Rowles: Awful, or really goddamn awful?
Really goddamn awful, but I’d still fuck him.
I’ve never heard a single good word about him, but he’s the man you want at your side when you’re facing 800 pounds of angry grizzly and all you’ve got is a pack of ham and three toothpicks.
Don’t you do that daily?
Awful.
Zooey D is cute and the only thing wrong with “New Girl” is that it is fucking awful…….
Again, this is a show with Lizzy Caplan, Eva Amurri, and Hannah Simone and I’m seriously expected to pay attention to a mildly funny hipster goddess who has made a career out of convincing people that she’s not a career minded blond?
She’s okay. She’s not “Amazing, world stoppingly, wonderful” but she’s okay.
She indicative of this whole generation. Overly-trendy, speaks in soundbites, cute for cute’s sake, rides the crest of perceived edginess . In other words: vapid.
The fact that you believe she might actually be like her character Jess just means she is doing her job well. Kudos to her.
I love her style but she’s annoying as shit. And her quirk might be real but her hair is fake.
Terrible. I’m right with you, loved her even in “Yes, Man” and then after the first two episodes of “New Girl” realized that’s all she was. There was no depth in inside. It makes me kind of hate her now.
Average in every way, I don’t get it. No witty comment to make, I just don’t get why she’s on tv and thinks she can sing. Her sister was decent in Bogeyman though. That’s about all I can say.
It doesn’t matter, because I’m still going to touch myself while scrolling Google Images.
They spelled her name Zooey. If she’d been Trixie Deschanel she’d have been a hooker.
I’m reserving judgement until I see her naked. To that point, WHY are there no hacked cell phone pics of her naked???
I used to like her stuff until she became associated with that unwatchable show of hers. It is simply not funny. At. All.
She’s adorable AND awful. Not mutually exclusive. Cute for cute’s sake being her biggest sin, because it’s grating, rings false, and inspires a lot of girls who I hate. Despite still wanting to have sex with them. ITS ANNOYING
The only comedy from that preview only came Kenan Thompson, but if I only decided to watch SNL b/c of the preview I would never watch SNL
Is aloof an answer?
But really, she isn’t human. Problem solved.
Both?
I only watch New Girl for Zooey. They almost lost me with Justin Long, but now that Lizzy Caplan’s on, I got sucked back in.
My willingness to stick my penis in her should in no way be considered a support of her quirky ways.
Adorable
She’s ridiculously adorable. In the mass negativity that is the world today, it’s nice to have someone that’s naturally positive and excited about life.
she’s adorable and drop dead gorgeous
over her cause she is annoying now
remember when she used to play characters who were kind of acerbic? like in elf or in that awful awful movie failure to launch? i used to associate her with cute quirkiness but with a slight edge of witty sarcasm. i miss that.