Female Friendship Friday: Abbi and Ilana

Broad City is one of my newest television obsessions. It originally started as a comedy web series on YouTube created and staring Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer. Eventually their show gained attention from Amy Poehler and who later became their executive producer of the television version of their show on Comedy Central.  

Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler are fictionalized versions of Jacobson and Galzer and the series is about their lives in New York City. Abbi is an aspiring illustrator who works in a high class gym called Soulstice, where she is often treated with no respect. Ilana "works" at a company called "Deals Deals Deals", where she spends most of her time sleeping and collecting a paycheck. Abbi is definitely the more structured of the pair, and she is the one pulled into Ilana's reckless plans. However, she has proven time and time again that she can keep up with Ilana's energy and antics. While Ilana is a slacker who is often willing to do anything to serve her own means, she cares about Abbi's well-being as well. She wants to have fun and experience life while having Abbi right by her side.

There's a lot to enjoy about Broad City, from its humor to the wild adventures that the main characters end up having. However its biggest draw comes from one of the most accurate portrayals of female friendship I've ever seen, between Abbi and Ilana. The reason for this is due to Jacobson and Galzer's real life friendship that the show is based on. Like many friends they often get together to talk about various issues in their lives. While they do talk about men and their relationships with them, they're not constantly the sole focus of their conversations. Their talks often vary from talking about what kind of dogs they would want to be, to whether or not they would want Janet Jackson or Micheal Buble to go down on them. While they often get frustrated with one another, they care about each other and aren't afraid to show it.

The level of Abbi and Ilana's friendship is apparent in the first episode, when Ilana convinces Abbi to ditch work and try to earn enough money to go to a secret Lil Wayne concert in a few hours. They go through different schemes, from Ilana stealing office supplies from work, to cleaning a creepy baby man's apartment in their underwear. When each idea proves to be fruitless, they end up spending the night drinking outside and talking about how they would go through hell together. Even though it's a first episode, it doesn't have the characters explain through exposition how long they've known each other, but they're still able to show their how deep their bond is. They often refer to past incidents, such as Ilana mentioning a time when Abbi stole a van, or when Abbi gets an idea to earn money through bucket drumming after finding a bib from their performance days. The rest of the series has many opportunities that show how comfortable they are with one another, as they casually talk about sex and their preferences. Sometimes Ilana can be a little too comfortable, as the first scene of the series shows.

Through thick and thin, Abbi and Ilana have each other’s backs when it counts. They often rely on each other for advice when one of them is stuck in a situation. They can also trust each other with any type of information. When Abbi is stuck in her bathroom when her toilet won't flush, while her crush is in the other room, all she can do is slide a note that shows who she can depend on to help her.

When Ilana enters the bathroom, she immediately sympathizes with Abbi's situation and assures her, that things can still go smoothly and promises to get rid of the evidence. I don't want to spoil too much, but Ilana succeeds and probably deserves a medal, for her skill in stealth and friendship. Ilana may half-ass it when it comes to work and anything involving responsibility, but when it comes to Abbi, she's always willing to go the extra mile. Abbi has her own way of taking care of Ilana, by giving her some perspective when needed. She's not afraid to call her out on her crap if needed, and while it can sometimes be hard to hear. ("Sometimes you're so anti-racist, that  you're actually really racist.") While Ilana's shocked by these types of hard truths, she actually listens since they come from Abbi's mouth. As the season one finale showed, Abbi's also willing to carry Ilana into her arms if it means saving her life.

While being in your 20s might make someone technically an adult, it doesn't mean that life magically stops being complicated. Stuff happens, some good, some bad, and a lot of it is out of your hands. It helps to have a special someone who can help take the edge off from life. As Abbi and Ilana have shown, there is no reason that person can't be your best friend.