Elaine Bradley of Neon Trees

   With our post about David Archuleta being so popular we learned something.  You guys like hearing about Famous Mormons doing the right thing!  I do too.  Nothing bums me out more than having an LDS banner-man allow their faith to fall by the wayside.  


   Next up is Elaine Bradley.  She is the Drummer from the Neon Trees.  My friend Thane turned me onto them a few years back and was excited to hear they all happen to be Mormon!  Their first Album Habits has a permanent place in my wife's CD changer in the car.  Greyson is always asking to hear Animal.

  
So I was estatic when I found this article from MormonWomen.com!   

MARCHING TO HER OWN DRUM

Elaine Bradley

   Elaine Bradley is the drummer for the rock band Neon Trees, which released their first full length album, Habits, in 2010. Their first single “Animal” has climbed to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Alternative Rock Chart. Elaine discusses her journey towards spiritual honesty as a rebellious child and then as a missionary in Germany and now as a musician fulfilling her life’s artistic passions.

How did you get started in music?

   I’m the youngest of seven kids so I always had older siblings playing music. At a very early age I was exposed to cool music like Led Zeppelin and Depeche Mode. We enjoyed singing as a family, especially all of the siblings, and we used to sing Depeche Mode harmonies while doing the dishes. One of my earliest musical memories was from kindergarten. I remember sitting on the bus staring out of the window and singing to myself “You’re The Inspiration” by Chicago. I had an older brother who I really looked up to. I thought he was the coolest thing on earth. When I was seven years old he gave me a tape of Led Zeppelin 1. I listened to that tape and loved it in part because he gave it to me but also because it was actually great.

Around this time I got into the idea of drumming, I think maybe because it was aggressive. I was so drawn to it. I would drum wooden spoons and beat on pots and pans, using the pots as the drums and the lids as the cymbals. I always flipped through the Sears catalog to look at the drum sets. I tirelessly begged my parents for drums. When I started band in the sixth grade, my parents got me the Sears drum set. It was a big commitment for my parents, but as far as sets go it was very chintzy. The whole next year I beat that thing to crap. It was destroyed by the end of the year.

   That’s when they figured out I was serious enough about playing the drums that they could afford to actually invest a little money in it. On my thirteenth birthday they surprised me with a Tama drum set. When my birthday rolled around my mom told me that she and my dad were going to give me a $100.00 clothes spree at the mall. I was a little disappointed because I really wanted a new drum set but I tried to make the best of it. As we were driving to the mall, we got off of the freeway, and my mom turned left instead of right to go to the mall. I said, “Mom, you just turned the wrong way. The mall is the other way.” She said, “ Oh, I didn’t realize. I don’t know what I was thinking.” When I suggested she turn around, she said, “Oh, I missed the turn!” She was making all of these excuses that were really believable for her personality. I did not catch on. When she pulled into a parking lot, I thought, “Finally, we’re turning around!” It still didn’t dawn on me. She pulled in, parked and said, “Ok, we’re here.” There we were at the music store where she surprised me with a real drum set. I was shocked. She should have gotten an Oscar for that performance. Needless to say, I get my humor and performance gene from my mom.

Have you always enjoyed performing?

   Yes, I’ve always liked performing. You know some people are just naturally shy? I am not. I’ve been afraid of things in my life but that never stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. I’ve felt fear, I’ve felt self doubt and I’ve thought, “Oh, I hate how I look doing this,” or “I’m nervous to do that because people will judge me,” but I don’t take those thoughts too seriously. This courage I have is a gift. I think an important part of facing my fears is knowing my boundaries. It’s about knowing what I’m good at and what I’m not good at and being okay with that.

Elaine with her husband

   As far as performing musically, I’ve been in bands, whether real or imaginary, since the fourth grade. I used to draw pictures of my imaginary bands with names like The Rockets. In sixth grade I was into New Kids on the Block, Another Bad Creation, and all of that music. I started a band with two of my friends; it was a rap/pop group. We used to sing and dance our original songs on the playground. So, performing is perpetual for me. It just always was. In high school, I moved to a suburb of Chicago called Crystal Lake and made some new friends. One of my new friends and I decided that it would be awesome to form a rock band. I was going to sing, and he was going to play the guitar, and he knew somebody who played the bass. We had our line up. I ended up singing, playing the drums and guitar at various points while I was in that band. Eventually, I became the guitarist front woman, and we toured around for about five years.

How did Mormonism fit in with your musical pursuits growing up?

   Growing up, I never liked being Mormon. I remember sitting in Primary and thinking, “I wish I didn’t know this. Why was I born into this family? My friends are so much luckier than I am because they don’t have all of these weird rules.” I was a rebellious kid. I remember singing “I Hope They Call Me On a Mission” and thinking it was really preposterous because I didn’t want to be called on a mission. That said, I think I felt that way because I knew that the gospel was true. There was this nagging feeling that it was true mixed with my desire for worldly fame and fortune. Growing up, I felt within me this collision of two distinct worlds. I didn’t really make peace with that tension until I was 21 and maybe even to a certain extent until recently.

I remember having a conversation with my mom in high school. We were driving in the car, and she said to me, “I know you want to be a rock star but what if Heavenly Father were to say that’s not what He wants for you?” I told her point blank that I wouldn’t listen. I wasn’t willing. I had the erroneous thought that Heavenly Father did not want me to be happy. Whatever I wanted, He would tell me to do something else just to spite me. Somehow I got the impression that Heavenly Father was laughing at me from heaven. So in response to that fear, I just ignored Him. I always knew that God was there. The gospel made sense to me and spoke to me on a certain level but at the same time it made me angry. I wanted to be ignorant. During high school one of my biggest complaints was that people in the church were not cool. It was very disappointing for me that most of my friends were outside of the church, and most of the people in the church were people I didn’t want to hang out with. Of course, this complaint was just a cover for my fears about God judging me. In general, it was a really difficult time.

I had the erroneous thought that Heavenly Father did not want me to be happy.... Somehow I got the impression that Heavenly Father was laughing at me from heaven.

Add to this the fact that I wanted to do drugs. For some reason I romanticized it. It might be because I had older siblings who were kind of getting into it, and these were people I idolized. I went down the wrong path and stopped thinking about God and the church because I knew that if I did it would mean something, and I would have to change something. When I was 21 years old I started dating a guy who didn’t drink and do drugs. He didn’t even swear. We were taking a walk one night, and I said, “Are you religious? I notice that you don’t do these things.” He didn’t know that I was Mormon or had a Mormon background. He told me he was Christian and then said something pivotal. “I think it’s important to have a personal relationship with God.” And boom! It seriously felt like an effectual door was opened in my mind and clarity and honesty came rushing through. I realized at that moment that I was not being honest with myself. His comment was a lightening bolt straight to my heart. It was one of those moments when everything changed. I thought, “I don’t know what God wants for me. I have no idea what the truth is right now, and I’ve got to be honest about that. I’ll get some information from my parents about Mormonism, and I’ll start there. And if it’s not there, I’ll go somewhere else. Mormonism is what I have from my youth, I’m going to examine it, and I’m going to be honest with God. If this is what He wants me to do, then I’ll do it.” This was really the chance for me to decide for myself. I definitely think that Heavenly Father knows me and understands what I need. To be told what to do and to respond to that doesn’t really work with the kind of personality I have. I need to know for myself. I need to make my own path. I think I could have made it a better path if I had chosen to do so, but I’m grateful for the things I learned because of it. God prepared a way for me in spite of my rebelliousness.

   I really started learning about the gospel after that conversation with my boyfriend. That was also at the height of my band’s tour schedule, which involved a lot of partying. When I had this spiritual realization I quit drinking, and I quit doing drugs. I just quit it all. Because of some unrelated tensions, the band just kind of fell apart, and we called it quits. I realized that if there ever were a time that I could go on a mission it would be now. But here’s the thing: Since I was a kid, I did not want to serve a mission. It did not sound good to me. At all. Ever. When I would think about going on a mission, I would automatically think, “No. I don’t want to.” But there is this overarching theme of honesty in my life. So I thought, “Okay, honestly, is a mission something I should do?” I needed to get myself out of the way so that I could make a proper, informed decision. So for months I prayed, “Heavenly Father, help me to want to know if I should go on a mission.” I did not want to go on a mission, and I did not want to know if I should go on a mission. Knowing is condemnation, and I didn’t want to deal with that. Yet, I continued to pray every night, “Help me to know what is right and to be okay with whatever answer you give me. Help me to want to go.” After a couple of months, I found that my prayers changed to, “I can see myself being okay with a mission. Help me to know if that’s something I should do.” I finally got to the point where I thought, “You know, I could just get mission papers and fill them out and then pray about it and then turn them in if the answer is ‘yes.’” I was open enough to that option to do that. So I went to the church and started asking the bishop for some mission papers. I didn’t even finish my sentence, and he said, “Oh, you’re going to go on a mission?” And immediately I said, “Yeah!” From then on I was committed to going. I never wavered after that moment.

I always knew that God was there. The gospel made sense to me and spoke to me on a certain level but at the same time it made me angry. I wanted to be ignorant.

I went on my mission to Frankfurt, Germany, which is where I met one of my best friends, Bryce Taylor. Bryce and I never served together, though. We met once at a missionary activity, and his first memory from that day was of me doing a kick flip on a skateboard in a skirt. Some of the office elders had some of the music I made before and during my mission. I had a guitar in my apartment for ten months and the mission president let me record some acoustic stuff for him. One day, the office elders had Bryce listen to my music, and he loved it. He said, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got to get ahold of this sister.” I was scheduled to return home around this time, so Bryce got permission from the office to call me the week before I left. He said, “Hey, you don’t really know me but this is Elder Taylor. Yeah, I just wanted to say that we should play together. I play in a band at home, and I think you should come to Utah.” At the time I was toying with the idea of going to BYU, but I didn’t really think he was serious. So many people say, “Oh, you play music? Let’s get together.” I really didn’t know how seriously to take him. Six weeks after that phone call Bryce came home from the mission and proceeded to call me every Sunday to ask me when I was coming out to Utah. His hounding was seriously half the reason I decided to even apply to BYU.

After you returned from your mission, how did you get involved with Neon Trees?

   I applied to BYU, got accepted, and moved out to Provo. Bryce and I started playing some music together. He would come over and jam with me in my basement—he played the guitar, and I played the drums. It sounded really cool, and we realized we couldn’t just keep it in the basement; we had to form a band. So we called a friend of his and got him to play bass. We became this three piece in Provo called Another Statistic. We started playing with another local band called Neon Trees. I remember looking at them and thinking, “Wow, they are really talented. I want to play in their band.” After three years, Another Statistic came to an end because we all had different levels of commitment. I knew I wanted to play music professionally. I didn’t want to sit around Provo and play once a month. Around the same time, Neon Trees was going through the same struggle. Two of the members–Chris and Tyler–wanted to get serious and the other guys weren’t willing to put forth the effort to do it, so they parted ways. It was so harmonious and so fateful that right when Another Statistic was fading, Neon Trees split. So Tyler and Chris invited me and another musician, Branden, to join them and this harmony was born.

How do you navigate being an active LDS woman within the music scene?

   Honestly, there’s not much tension in navigating the music scene as a Mormon. You see so many bad after school specials or seminary videos where the kids say, “Come on, everyone is doing it!” But it’s not like that at all. The idea that drugs are synonymous with rock n’ roll is an assumption and an unnecessary connection. Not to say that rock n’ roll musicians don’t do drugs. Many do. I’m just saying that it’s not necessary to do drugs in order to produce good music and to be successful in this business. Actually, I think the drinking scene is far more prevalent than the drug scene because it’s more socially acceptable. It’s everywhere. Liquor companies sponsor parties and shows all of the time. I think it helps that everybody in our band is Mormon. Granted, everybody in the band is on a different rung of the spiritual ladder. We don’t make any pretensions about how righteous we are or how many mistakes we may or may not make. Within the band we try to withhold judgment from each other because life is not easy. With that said, we’re all return missionaries, we have all agreed—both as a business and as friends—that we are not going to party in the band. We don’t do that on tour, we don’t do that in the van, we don’t do that outside of the van, it happens nowhere around the band, anytime, ever. It’s a business decision, but there’s definitely a moral strength and comfort that comes from it. It’s never a temptation because we’ve already agreed.

Within the band we try to withhold judgment from each other because life is not easy. With that said, we're all return missionaries, we have all agreed—both as a business and as friends—that we are not going to party in the band.

Because of the music we make, people are always surprised to find out that we’re Mormon. I think that’s because we don’t approach music from a Mormon standpoint. We’re not a “Mormon” rock band; we’re a rock band that happens to be Mormon. It’s not possible as Mormons, though, to completely ignore your background. For example, sometimes the spirituality of Tyler’s lyrics shines through. On the other hand, we can write unapologetic pop songs that have nothing to do with religion and be totally okay with it because we don’t have a religious platform. We are simply four people who grew up with a certain belief system who also want to make good music. I think the two can be separated. With that said, I definitely think about how my actions represent Mormonism—I think it would be irresponsible and sloppy of me to assume that I don’t have an effect on people. Since we’ve been gaining popularity and doing really well on the radio, I’ll get Facebook messages from people who say, “Hey, I found out that you’re Mormon. That’s really awesome because I’m Mormon. You’re a really good example to me.” I love that. Those are the things I think about when making personal decisions about how I want to behave and what kind of image I want to give off.

   I really try to include God in my decisions about music and the band. I ask Him to open doors or close doors as necessary. I kind of keep an open heart about it. Before, I was too afraid to talk to God because I didn’t want to get a “no” answer. I think I’ve learned through my life’s experiences to be more honest with Heavenly Father. I used to think of praying as something that I had to be in the mood for or that I had to say just the right thing. I felt like I couldn’t tell Him that I was scared. Now, I tell Him that I’m scared but I want to do the right thing. I think that was a step that I was definitely leaving out before. I didn’t think I could pray because I didn’t know what to say. It’s hard to have that personal relationship with God if you can’t be honest with Him. I’m still figuring that out. In recent years I think I’ve truly taken that to heart. Even before I think I always kind of reserved some special part of me that I wouldn’t share with God because either I was ashamed of it or I was afraid of it. Even in just the last year I’ve learned how to be more honest. I’m sure I’ll say the same thing next year—I’ll be even more honest then than I am now. It’s a process. It’s getting to know somebody. Learning how to trust somebody with your deepest, darkest most special thoughts and feelings.

AT A GLANCE

Elaine Bradley

Location: Provo, UT

Age: Eternal

Marital status: Happily married since January.

Occupation: Musician (drums/backing vocals for Neon Trees)

Schools Attended: BYU graduate. BS Public Health, German minor

Languages Spoken at Home: English primarily, sometimes German with my husband

Favorite Hymn: “Oh Savior Thou Who Wearest A Crown”

On The Web: www.neontrees.com

Interview by Krisanne Hastings. Photos used with permission and from neontrees.com.

Ultimate Blog Party!

   Welcome to Mormon Media Reviews!  If you are visiting from 5 Minutes for Mom's Blog Party, thanks for stopping by.  I would like to tell you a little bit about the blog.  But first, for those of you who come by for your Movie Reviews let me fill you in on what is going on here.  


   My sister over at Made by Munchie's Mama turned me on to this blog party in an effort to find more people who think like me that I can learn from and be entertained by.  And hopefully I can do the same for some of you new friends who have stopped by.


   So to my new friends, welcome.  If you are like me you love Good movies and TV.  Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or simply a Mormon, I try to seek out entertainment that is both enjoyable and virtuous.  Like Paul says, "...whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,think on these things."


   Our blog's purpose is to inform you of what shows and movies are Quality and what sort of Content to expect.  We had a dear friend go to see the Musical, Jersey Boys.  She loved the soundtrack, but was so embarrassed when between the songs the dialogue was entrenched with foul obscenities.  Our goal is to help you avoid situations like this!  Feel safe to let your kids watch that show, or take you sweetheart our to that movie for date night.


So we invite readers of all faiths.  Even if you aren't Mormon, but you like movies you would mind seeing with your mother our blog is for you!


Check out our rating system and into or any of the below suggested reviews.


Oh, and say hi even further below before you go!

Dark Knight Rises Will Be PG-13 And That's Bad For Movies

Interesting commentary from CinemaBlend.com about the role violence plays in the rating system. 

With The Hunger Games (see our Review) at the top of the box office, there's a lot of talk about what level of violence is acceptable for children to witness. Yes, The Hunger Games does center on kids killing kids, but it still managed a PG-13 rating. This is partially because the violence is put in the context of a criticism and made repulsive instead of exhilarating, but mostly it's because of all the quick cuts and shaky cam, which lessens the kind of gore for which the Motion Picture Association of America typically dings features. (However, if you have kids using the f-word, well, that's another story altogether!) 

Anyhow, into all this renewed hubbub about movie violence and the relevance of MPAA ratings comes news from Collider that Christopher Nolan's sure-to-rule-the summer sequel The Dark Knight Rises has been rated "PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language." But really, this isn't much of a surprise. Despite the fact that Nolan's Batman films have been considered much darker than earlier incarnations, they've always scored a PG-13, just like all the Batman flicks that came before them. In fact, The Dark Knight was my reliable go-to when Hunger Games fans debated how violent and brutal its movie adaptation could possibly be with a PG-13 rating. 

Everyone remembers The Dark Knight as a violent, dark movie, but few recall it was PG-13. I do because I vividly remember the hordes of children—not teens and tweens mind you, but little waddling children—who shared the theater with me when I saw it. During one particularly gruesome scene where a building is memorably blown sky high with Rachel Dawes inside, a teeny, tremulous child's voice rose above the film's eerie aftermath silence with, "Is…is she going to be okay?" 

It would have been funny if it weren't so damn annoying. 

Anyhow, this probably means The Dark Knight Rises will be just as dark and violent as Nolan's predecessors, which to me means one major flaw: violence with no blood. Now, don't misunderstand me, I'm not thirsting for gore. I just loathe when the MPAA approves movie violence without blood because they somehow think it's more acceptable for children. People want to complain about desensitizing children to violence, but the MPAA—whose mantra is essentially "we speak for the parents"--decides that lessening the consequences of violence in PG-13 movies is a responsible move. I have a lot of issues with the MPAA's criteria, but this is the one that infuriates me the most because I fail to see how showing children deadly violence but hiding its consequences is a good thing. There is actually a moment in opening sequence of The Dark Knight where a man gets a shotgun blast to the back, and just falls down! No explosion of his chest cavity, no blood, he just drops to his knees and out of frame. Plenty more gunshot deaths follow, none of which have blood, all equally ridiculous. 

Remember kids, guns don't kill people; they just make them fall down. 

Of course, The Dark Knight is not a movie made for kids, but some parents choose to take them anyway. And that—no matter how vexing I personally find it—is their right. But this essentially means these parents are ignoring the MPAA's suggestions as PG-13 is defined as material appropriate for people 13 and up. So, really, why do we need the MPAA at all? All they do is apply a mysterious and unbalanced moral code to the movies we all see on behalf of parents who seem to disregard them anyway. And the effect is often movie's being censored or forced to pull punches to its detriment, like The Dark Knight. 

Dark Knight fans, before you start flipping out in the comments section, know that I'm not really blaming Nolan for this. It's not his fault alone; it's also the fault of the studios that still kowtow to the outdated and ludicrous standards of the MPAA. Typically, by making violence less graphic—and thereby less realistic—studios can get more fight scenes into movies without risking an R-rating that would grossly limit their box office abilities. 

I've been following MPAA rating controversies for years, and each time another filmmaker or distributor attempts to stand up to the secretive censorship board I hope it will be the beginning of the end for this outdated institution, which is why I was so crestfallen when The Weinstein Company crumbled to the MPAA over Bully last week. While the MPAA still has this power to cripple movie box offices by wielding prudish yet hypocritical ratings like a deadly weapon, studios and filmmakers are forced to play by their preposterous rules, and it’s the movies that suffer. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts the Weinsteins will never be able to bring the MPAA down on their own; they have to get more studios behind them. Sadly, that's unlikely to happen because as a plethora of sequels and adaptations and remakes and reboots have shown, major studios are not looking to be risky trailblazers as much as they're looking for a reliable and bankable source of income. So why rock the boat? 

What this means for The Dark Knight Rises is that it too will suffer from the same inherent lunacy of having lots of nail-biting action that is ultimately undercut by a lack of blood and follow through. Think back to Dark Knight. There's a scene at the 31-minute mark where the Joker confronts Gambol (I remember this scene being very impacting, even without seeing what happens) and tells him a creepy origin story for his scars while threatening to slice open the side of his face to create a similarly sinister sneer. But what we are shown instead is a bizarre cutaway reaction shot, an outlandish musical sting in lieu of a sensible sound effect, then a return to a wide shot as the Joker drops his victim out of frame. It's visually jarring and confusing. Did he slice Gambol's face open? Is the guy dead? What the hell just happened? It's a scene that is a sort of scar on the film, and it feels like Nolan's hands were tied in the edit. With the MPAA in charge, it's likely The Dark Knight Rises could be just as tripped up and marred. Sure, it will still be an action-packed ride, a hugely popular blockbuster, and fans will cling to it. But with the MPAA still holding the power of the PG-13 label, Nolan—as well as all the other master filmmakers of today—will have to play by the group's insipid rule book, making his movies a little less his own. 

So what is your opinion on violence in movies?  What makes a movie so brutal is warrants an "R" rating?

Titanic (1997): Mormon Movie Review

Guest Post from the Mormon Movie Guy.  He writes a great blog similar to ours reviewing movies from a Latter-day Saint Perspective. The review was written by him, but the star ratings were applied based on my interpretation of his review.

Quality:  

Like Avatar, director James Cameron’s other box-office giant,Titanic was a pop-culture phenomenon that mixed technical precision with oversimplified characterizations, artistic grandeur with merely average storytelling. It’s a very good film towards which excessive backlash was directed because it was heralded as an exceptional one. Though the supporting characters are broadly written caricatures (with Billy Zane’s evil fiancé the worst offender) and the central rich/poor romance is derivative of Lady and the Tramp, Cinderella, and any number of Jane Austen stories, Kate Winslet (Finding Neverland, Sense and Sensibility) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception, Catch Me if You Can) have an undeniable chemistry. She gives a nicely conflicted performance and he is more youthful and carefree here than we’ve seen him since.

  

The attention to period detail is astounding, from the lavish recreation of the ship itself to the wardrobe. The visual effects mostly hold up all these years later. James Horner’s musical score is justified in its iconic status: it’s beautiful and sets the tone perfectly. The sound design is terrific. Of course, when it comes to the actual sinking of the ship (which occurs almost in real-time) Titanic becomes a true work of art, expertly balancing tragedy with majesty. Scenes of passengers preparing for imminent death have deep emotional resonance, and the spectacle doesn’t disappoint. The 3D here doesn’t add much to the experience, though unlike most 3D the picture thankfully here remains clear, vibrant, and sharp. For fans, this is well worth re-experiencing on the big screen.

Content:

 Titanic 3D is rated PG-13. It contains plenty of peril and disaster, with people drowing and freezing to death, falling off and down a ship, and being crushed (not graphic) by debris. It is unecessarily crass, with some language (including one f-word) and a raised middle finger. It also carries the implication of sex between its unmarried romantic leads as well as an extended scene of exposed female breasts during a sketching session. Parents should be warned.

MESSAGES TO DISCUSS: The love of riches can lead to arrogance and entitlement, while God would have us remember that we are all beggars before Him and should help one another (Mosiah 4:16-25). True love is cherishing someone for who they are or want to be, not trying to change them into who you'd like them to be (Gordon B. Hinckley- "The Women in Our Lives"). Death may arrive at any time; we must always be prepared to meet God (Romans 5:12; Alma 34:32). While those without the Gospel may believe sex with someone they've recently met can be romantic, and while Hollywood screenplays portray it as such, in real life it usually leads to disappointment and heartache (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments").



Community (2009- ): Mormon TV Review and Autism Awareness

  

Quality:

NBC's Community is one of the most under rated shows on NBC right now.  It is based on a group of students who form a study group at a local community college.  The study group comprises students from all walks of life and backgrounds, but they mesh very well.  It has a strong ensemble cast with each one able to carry an episode story on their own.  Ever since the first season Community has seen declining rating, but the show is still making great TV.  I has already been picked up for syndication by Comedy Central. 

   Today is World Autism Awareness Day.  So in honor of this day I'd like to focus my review on one character.  Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) seems to be a huge fan favorite.  Although it hasn't been made official, many believe Abed has Asperger's Syndrome.  Abed's character has difficulty in showing empathy with the other members of the study group and his love of cinema and television has caused people to make this assumption.   Asperger's is a part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder and can be characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.

   Regardless if these things Abed becomes a sort of moral center for the show.  Many of the characters go to him for advice and council because he is can make logical decisions without appearing emotionally invested.  For that same reason character seem to write him off as naive, (and he sometimes is) but find out in the end he was right all along.  He is honest, kind and although not always visible has very deep feelings (Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas).  

   Abed reveals that he did not have many friends in school, but upon coming to college finds a Best Friend in Troy Barnes (Donald Glover).  During the first and second season it was so enjoyable to watch this friendship evolve.  The chemistry between the two is so remarkable the duo is almost exclusively used in the cold endings of each episode.

     

   I am curious about everyone else, but I came to the realization why I was such a fan of Abed last season.  He reminds me of my son Garren!  Last year my son Garren was educationally diagnosed to be on the Autistic Spectrum, particularly with behaviours indicating Asperger's.  We have not been very public about it, Garren doesn't even know.  It was really hard for us at first to hear it, but we are very fortunate.  We have friends with children on the spectrum to varying degrees, a few with cases that are very severe.  I felt today was a good day to make it known.

   Garren is very high functioning.  To spend 5 minutes with him, you wouldn't think twice about it.  An hour and you would notice something is a bit off.  The whole day and it would be pretty evident.  He loves reading and learning.  He can tell you about every Pokemon and about all the ships in Star Wars.  He can be oblivious to other people's feelings at times, then surprise us when he is moved to tears by an episode of "Phineas and Ferb."  He desperately wants to Choose the Right and takes correction very hard.  He loves to be funny and wants to have friends, and he does! 

   Our school has a wonderful Individual Education Program for him.  He is making great strides, but we still have hard times.  As his Dad, one of my greatest hopes is for him to fit in and feel loves.  "I'll Walk with You" moves me to tears every time I hear it.  He has reached the age where the kids are starting to notice he is a little different, and has caused some kids to avoid him.  Many times, he has no idea, but other times he does.  It is heartbreaking to hear him talk about a boy at school who doesn't want to be his friend any more.

   I love the story of Troy and Abed because Troy is friends with Abed because of his personality, not in spite of it.  In my favorite episode of season 2 (Early 21st Century Romanticism) Troy and Abed are enamoured with the same woman, the Librarian.   After she eventually chooses Troy she reveals that she thinks Abed is weird.  Troy instantly dumps her and rejoins his friend. 

   I can see something like that easily happening to Garren and instantly wanted him to have a friend who would love him that much.  Then I realized he does, his brother Greyson.  They are best friends!  They do everything together.   Just about anything Garren is doing Greyson is right behind him.  I now that is Garren grows up and has hard time, Greyson will be right there with him. 

   When we found out Greyson was going to be a boy baby, my wife shed a few tears.  Not that he was another boy or anything, but that we were hoping for a girl.  Now we would not have it any other way!  I am recalling now giving him his baby blessing.  I felt promoted to speak about his important mission of being a companion to his brother, and to support him in the challenges he would face in life (at that time we had no clue of Garren's condition).  Now it all makes sense and I can see the wisdom of The Lord. He truly is the Troy to our Abed.  

Content:
Did you forget this was actually a TV show review?  Obviously me too.  Community is a great show.  The language isn't crude, but exclamatory remarks are made.  There is no overtly sexual content, but characters do have intimate encounters that I tell myself they never go past first base.  Like when my wife makes me watch Doris Day & Rock Hudson movies.