Munkey Movies: Broad City

BY JAMES WYCHE

What's up Munkey Fam it's James in Baltimore hoping everyone is staying safe and high. March is Women's Month and when trying to find a stoner film that has female leads it was difficult to find. In most stoner films a woman is either the potential love interest of the main hero or is just used as eye candy for the people watching at home. Although as time has gone on one show, in particular, that portrays the life of the female stoner and the ups and downs that come along with it. The show I'm speaking about is Broad City. The show follows the lives of two friends, Ilana and Abbi, and their adventures in New York City. The characters are played by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jackson, the series at first was a web series but in 2013 the series was picked up by Comedy Central and premiered in 2014, lasting five seasons and ending in March 2019. There are several reoccurring characters throughout the series such as Lincoln played by Hannibal Burress and Chris Gethard who plays Todd. Cannabis is a big theme throughout the series because Ilana is the stereotypical female stoner and is a self-proclaimed Weed Kween. Meanwhile, Abbi partakes but isn't as big of a stoner as Ilana, primarily using after working at a gym all day to take the edge off. Abbi usually smokes only when Ilana has some, even though that changes when she finds out the interesting way Ilana transports her cannabis while walking through the city.

In the episode titled "Pu$$y Weed", Ilana comes over to Abbi's apartment, and when they're about to smoke Ilana takes her weed out of what she called "natures pocket". Funny enough I had a female friend who traveled across state lines with cannabis in her pocket. Thankfully I didn't smoke it... well, I hope I didn't. After this stomachchurning discovery, Abbi runs into the problem that 20 somethings who still smoke cannabis face, none of her college friends still partake anymore. One of the people Abbi called is nicknamed Cheese and is now a mother with stretched ears. When Abbi asks about buying weed, Cheese is shocked she still partakes. Hilariously when Abbi hangs up the phone, Cheese pops a pill and takes a sip of wine while one of her kids is running amuck in the background. Throughout the episode, she has mishaps while trying to find some weed and when she finally finds some she's not able to cope with how high she gets in public.

Ilana I think is my favorite character because of the lengths she goes to have cannabis but also her undeniable hustler mentality. In the episode titled "Rat Pack", after paying for an exterminator for her rat problem, Ilana and her roommate Jaimé have a party to recoup the money. Being the gracious host that she is Ilana constructs a weed charcuterie board comprised of different nugs she had been saving for some time, and man did she have some interesting places she hid weed. She hid nugs in the walls, a bell pepper, inside Matryoshka dolls, and even inside her nose. While Abbi starts to match with people on tinder she goes through the process of weeding out the potential suitors. While this is all going on the rat that had thought been dead earlier in the episode is running around and Ilana has to find a way to kill it without letting her guests know. Even though I only spoke a few episodes I'd recommend this show to anyone, especially to our female readers who are looking for a show that perfectly portrays the life of a 20 something-year-old in New York City. I'm surprised with the success and popularity of this show that there aren't more mainstream or independent series with this same concept. Especially since the female stoner hasn't been accurately portrayed in a film or tv show to my knowledge before this. In real life, I feel as though we all knew girls whether in school or at our work that had the personality, Ilana or Abbi, to a Tee. There for you when times are hard, but also there for you with a joint and maybe doing some high jinxes while roaming around the city. There are five seasons of this show and if you are stuck in lockdown with your significant other, roommate, or by yourself; light up a joint and enjoy the adventures of Ilana and Abbi in the Broad City.