Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
Beth never imagined her life would look like this.
She’s clawing her way to 40, works for a mediocre wine distributor in Manhattan and has been dating the company’s narcissistic superstar, Matt, for six years with no proposal in sight.
No one in her hometown would’ve imagined Beth would wind up like this, either. They wouldn’t even recognize her. They all assumed that the charming, determined Bethany Jones would be doing something crazy like playing professional volleyball or working as a defense attorney.
Unfortunately, Beth hasn’t done any of these things. What little affirmation she gets has either come from her younger sister, Annie, or her self-absorbed mother, Jane. Yet, she pretends everything is just fine.
And she may have been able to keep up her facade of contentment had her mother not tragically passed away.
The cracks quickly begin to show as Beth heads home to Long Island for her mom’s funeral. Here, she’s confronted with the memories of her traumatic past, her dependency on alcohol, her dysfunctional parents and a whole handful of recollections that she’s spent the last half of her life trying really hard to forget.
If you’ve watched anything that includes actress/comedian Amy Schumer, you probably already know that her style leans toward sexually crude material. So, when I turned on Hulu’s Life & Beth, I assumed that Schumer would be spewing out obscenities that revolve around the female body. But I was somewhat wrong.
This TV-MA series is set in the present and features flashbacks of Beth’s middle and high school years and how she allowed them to form who she is today. It shows how her family went from living in a mansion on Long Island to a tiny two-bedroom home where her parents’ dysfunction was put on full display.
But all of that is mixed into Beth’s current life as she breaks up with her long-term boyfriend, figures out what she wants to do for a living and even meets a man who doesn’t fit her typical, toxic mold.
Schumer told romper.com that the series is about 50% autobiographical. During the writing process she wanted to “examine that time in my life, the teenage years when these big moments happen for you that can traumatize you or change you, and how that affects you as long as you let it.”
And that is, really, a great way to get at the heart of this series. It’s all about a woman choosing to confront her past after years of ignoring it, and to move forward into a healthier place.
But while her journey is positive, that doesn’t mean it’s clean.
Like I said, the series is rated TV-MA, and it includes a decent amount of profanity (the f-word being a favorite). It also talks about sex, gender, menstruation, alcoholism, underage drinking and teenage hormones.
Yet the thing that struck me most was the sense of hopelessness that hangs heavy over the first couple of episodes. Yes, it does lighten up as the series continues, but the trauma that Beth confronts and the memories she dares to work through really take this out of the comedic genre and plant it safely as a drama with a dry, depressing sense of humor.
Beth finally realizes she’s unsatisfied with her job, boyfriend and overall life after her mother suddenly passes away.
Beth’s boyfriend, Matt, treats her terribly, constantly gaslighting her and making comments about how she is boring, unfunny and less-than-desirable. This behavior is mimicked by Matt’s friends and even Beth’s own mother (who is clearly a narcissist).
Beth tells her sister, Annie, that she believes their mom is dating “another married man,” but Beth can’t seem to tell her mom that she disapproves of this lifestyle. Beth asks Matt if he wants to have sex (as she sits in the bed in a bra), but he declines. Beth steps into the shower and we see blood wash down the drain from her menstrual cycle. Beth’s boss is clearly a woman dressed as a man. Beth makes a joking reference about stabbing herself in the neck.
The f-word is used three times. Other profane and crude words include “bulls—t,” a crude term for masturbation as well as a crude term for female genitalia.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
An elf mage contemplates on connection and regret as she watches her human friends grow old and pass away.
