High ravings for "High Fidelity"

The ten episode Hulu original “High Fidelity,” released Feb. 2020, is a reimagination of the 2000 film starring John Cusack and the novel written by Nick Hornby in 1997. This new adaption follows the same storyline, but is narrated from the point of view of a queer woman of color rather than that of a white man. The protagonist Rob (Zoë Kravitz), brings the audience on her journey of self discovery, telling the stories of her past heartbreaks as she navigates single life in New York City.  The show is visually beautiful. The story unfolds in Brooklyn, where Rob owns a scrappy yet charming record store. Kravitz’s character is always dressed in perfectly effortless outfits, with her signature black leather coat giving her undeniable “cool-girl” status. In fact, a large part of Rob's character revolves around her coolness. She seems to know everything about music, regardless of genre, and knows her way around Brooklyn like the back of her hand. The story revolves around Rob obsessing over past relationships, making it a goal to find out why they didn’t work out. Rob goes through the list of her top five most memorable heartbreaks, but she’s arguably most hung up on Mac (Kingsley Ben-Adir), her former fiancee. The show opens with Mac leaving Rob, leading Rob to describe her aforementioned heartbreaks, which she does directly to the audience. Rob breaks the fourth wall countless times in each episode, usually to give context or even just complain about the situations she’s in. At first glance, Rob is a severely relatable character, but as the show progresses, it begins to feel like she’s just wallowing in self pity.  Rob is under the impression that her latest breakup is causing her slow descent into madness. At first, the audience has every right to be on her side. The way she narrates her life makes it seem like nothing has ever worked out for her. However, once the other characters are introduced, and their own points of view are shared, Rob’s whole storyline becomes whiny. It progressively gets much harder to sympathize with her. Take Simon (David H. Holmes), for example, her gay ex-boyfriend turned employee and best friend. The eighth episode of the show follows Simon’s romantic journey, specifically his on again-off again relationship with an uptown lawyer. The episode goes in depth about Simon’s experiences and struggles with sexuality and toxic relationships. This episode makes Simon feel more qualified to explain the troubles of his relationships, especially because of how resilient he seems compared to Rob.  In addition to Rob being downright dramatic about the severity of her past heartbreaks, she takes advantage of people in her life. Her friend Clyde (Jake Lacy) is always there for her and is genuinely kind and caring, but Rob only calls him when she needs a ride or needs him to be her fake boyfriend. Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), Rob’s bubbly, unapologetic employee and close friend always has Rob’s back. To Rob, she is a careless employee with a failing music career. What Rob doesn’t see, however, is that she works two jobs and has been writing songs tirelessly but just doesn’t have the money to produce them. Compared to Rob, who does practically nothing at work, only to go to the bar every night and drink countless whiskey neats, Cherise is a hardworking and determined woman. After learning everyone else’s stories, Rob feels more and more selfish. This was definitely intentional, because she gets called out for it multiple times, but it still feels like the audience is supposed to root for her.  Aside from Rob’s many flaws, “High Fidelity” was a commendable show. Every one of the actors portray their characters perfectly, fully embodying both their highs and lows. The soundtrack was another especially memorable aspect of the show, featuring everything from new wave to early 90s rap to obscure, experimental french pop. The show touches on issues such as racial discrimination, sexuality and even gentrifcation in a way that doesn’t take away from the main plotline at all, and features complex, interesting characters from all backgrounds. High Fidelity is an alluring and undoubtedly entertaining show, but fails to be as relatable as it appears to be.