Tuca and Bertie Review - A Woman's Perspective

Literally while uploading this Netflix announced they cancelled the show FUCK you Netflix.

I think it's safe to say this is an important show to me right now, please give it a watch if you have the time.

Song at the end is From Tuca and Bertie (the official soundtrack isn't out yet)

[MelonTeee]

Good news everyone! Tuca and Bertie has been renewed by adult swim for a new season in 2021!!!

[bluebutterfly]

I love the fact that they just show boobs and naked women so nonchalantly. Boobs are just part of a women's body and are not inherently sexual! As women i think we get weird mixed messages from society: "be proud of your body but hide it, especially if you're not attractive"
Our bodies are natural and beautiful, period.

[assholic]

I'm a csa survivor and watching the scene where birtie tells tuca about her assault made bawl my eyes out. I did NOT expect them talking about something like this and it completely blindsided me. I just thought how it was this wacky american show with the usual talk about attachment issues, alcoholism, anxiety or sexism but I did not think they would talk about assault.

It made me feel so raw and brought back so many unpleasant memories but I'm still so glad I've watched it. For the first time I didn't feel alone, it made me feel understood in my shame and pain. I've only seen stories where CSA survivors were used as plot devices, never actual main characters with fleshed out stories. To see Bertie having normal relationships while still living with trauma can't be described with words. Her trauma is not the main focus of her life. I don't know why, but it helped me.

[merru]

Finally a show that is relatable in terms of being a woman, it really puts things into perspective on what we deal with daily. I had a friend who got harassed so this really struck hard for me, because like Bertie I couldn’t protect her even though that’s what my intentions were.

[snuffaluffy]

Tuca and Bertie made me extremely uncomfortable, and the reasons why became clearer in the second-to-last episode. There was a lot about Bertie that resonated with me very deeply, but in a way that made me deeply uneasy. In the second-to-last episode, I realized it's because she has many of the same trauma behaviors that I do, especially surrounding Pastry Pete.

Bertie's attraction and reactions to him were uncomfortably plausible. She displayed behaviors that are common in assault survivors, and unfortunately often increase the chances of revictimization. Freezing is the most obvious one, but the subtler and sadder one is called 'undoing.'

'Undoing' is a mental state that can happen when a situation goes very wrong. It's when your brain subconsciously says "It shouldn't have happened that way. We need to try again to make the outcome better." In situations of assault, it's can happen because on some level, people believe it wouldn't have happened if they had fought harder, called for help, etc. Unfortunately, trying to undo a situation rarely works, and usually leads to more trauma, since to try to undo the dangerous situation, you have to put yourself back in a dangerous situation. I suspect this is largely why Bertie had such an interest in Pastry Pete. Since Bertie hadn't worked through the trauma of having someone experienced in her childhood hobby assaulting her, she probably saw Pastry Pete (someone experienced in her current hobby, complete with red flags for assault) and subconsciously decided she wanted to try to undo her trauma. Couple that with brains preferring the familiar over the good, and we get a solid idea of why she felt a draw to him over her healthy relationship with Speckle, and why she initially found his abusive behavior arousing.

[TheBlackLobo]

I’m a man, and I adore this show. It’s important to understand that the“dude bro” knee-jerk reaction to Bertie’s line about protecting young women from men is extremely misguided. Like, guy, why are *you* taking it personally? People often speak in absolutes despite not meaning it literally, especially when emotionally distressed. Getting mad when an abuse victim paints men with broad strokes doesn’t do anything but make you seem insecure, as if you yourself are guilty of abusive behavior.

[ciaranavan]

It’s refreshing to see how the show portrays both male and female body types in a realistic way :)

[HashGray]

You say it's important for women but I know it's as important for men, because we don't often see shows written from a female perspective. Daria is still one of my favorite shows for that reason. Bertie has her reasons to be wary of men but the show doesn't try to make the viewer hate men, you explained that well in your video. Anyway, too bad it got cancelled ! Not enough viewers I guess, they can't all make it. But don't worry we'll probably get to see season 2 even if the creator has to crowdfund it.

[shockingheaven]

When this show came out, I was going through one of my lowest points this year, having nightmares and panic attacks. It really helped me to see these issues in a fun, surreal way. The storytelling was phenomenal.

I'm still mad Netflix cancelled it.

[veedem]

I love this show. I was so disappointed to hear that it was canceled. My husband and I would watch it together. When we watched the last episode I thought "dang there's gotta be another season." The show was so original. I love to watch anything with odd and other worldly characters like these. Anything goes in that show. Everything is so colorful and diverse. As a woman, and a person I can relate to both characters. (SPOILERS) There is Bertie imagining how she would win her promotion only to have the opposite happen in her reality. Many of us know what it is like to imagine something going so well only to have it blow up in your face. I have acted as silly and spontaneous as Tuca. I used to run around being silly to entertain myself and my more studious friends in college. I would try to be more responsible only to fall behind as they moved forward. It was a crappy feeling. That scene when Tuca gets on the bus and cries when she sees what looks like an older version of herself alone and poor really hit home for me. Anyone can look into someone else's misfortune and be looking into their own future. This is especially true when said person already feels like his/her life is passing him/her by and he/she has know idea what to do with it.I was very much like Tuca in my early twenties. Now that i'm dang near thirty I'm more like Bertie. I even started calling my husband Speckle until he got sick of it. We love our house in the boring suburbs, and we go to our boring jobs every day. We do everything together in our boring monogamous relationship. My inner Tuca is still there though. She reminds me to be myself and do whatever the flip I please. Even if everyone around me thinks I am bat-shit crazy.


Long story short. This show is awesome and if Netflix feels the need to trash it I hope they at least allow it to go to another streaming service. It would give me one more reason to love Amazon.

[fabulousk]

Its so sad that tv shows which arent mysogynic pieces of shit gets hated as "feminist propaganda" from so many fragile men.. This show is just amazing and its cool there are coming more and more content from woman, which arent sexist all the time.. I hope people will open up for this with time! Thx for the nice review!

[ineedabetterusername]

I'm not a woman (anymore) I'm a trans male. I resonate so fucking hard with birdie, especially when she talks to her friends about what happened to her. it hurt really hard because that's exactly what happened to me.

[lunahex]

around the time this show came out i had been sexually harassed by a customer at work, i still feel like crap and have panic attacks thinking about it, this had never happened to me before and it still upsets me that this guy felt the need to comment on my chest and laugh while doing so even thought there is nothing sexy about my uniform and i ware bras that try to help how big my chest is. he din't touch me but the whole thing was still upsetting. more so cos my boyfriend din't fully understand (he has Asperger's so sometimes he dose not always understand emotion related stuff). but after we saw the second episode he understood why what happened was upsetting for me. this show made me feel a little better about it but most people still don't get why it upset me.

[andremendez_]

I really loved this show, I watched it with my sister and we couldn't help but cry when Bertie's whole background story was revealed.
The show came out when a whole harassment case was exposed on our university so watching all of it on a show left a really strong emotion in both of our hearts, it really helped us into speaking up for ourselves and others who are afraid to.

P.d. I recently started watching BNHA and mineta is such a little sh*t, can't stand him

[ninnie]

I was sexually assaulted by a close friend of mine when I was drunk. I hate him so much and want to do something to take revenge, but I am to ashamed. I already have seen season 1 of Tuca and Birdie before it happend to me. But after this incident I felt the need to watch it again and found out it now has 3 seasons. This show is such a comfort for me .

[goyabean]

So glad youre talking about this show! I was not expecting anyone to talk about it

[beavis]

this show is incredible. i wish netflix would take it back for a second season, the mood balance, the dialogue, the incredible use of abstract animation, its all amazing. as a huge lover of art and expression this is top tier entertainment and i wish big companies would allow more things like this in their space.

[sakurashy]

They so need to renew Tuca and Bertie. Now that Bojack Horseman is ending Netflix needs to give its audience more Lisa Hanawalt arty and perceptive goodness!

[joeysands]

Not a woman, but when I saw this show I could immediately see why this show was important.
It’s a really cool show, and even though it’s a bit too fast-paced for a lummox like me, the show’s dedication to constantly devoting its visuals to a random aesthetic whim is unquestionably impressive. It’s a got a sort of free-form, carefree, anarchic quality which cartoons are normally divorced from, due to how many literal layers of work go into the show. It’s stylistically refreshing while keeping its tone consistently inconsistent. The oscillating seriousness of the series makes it more fun and unpredictable along with the visuals.
Tuca and Bertie is a perfect example of female show-runners doing just as well as their male compatriots, and making their own work more unique and proud, even though Netflix couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge that fact by giving the show a much needed season 2.

[troyareyes]

My favorite part was the Pastry Pete thing because it was the thing that I debated the most to myself about. When I watched the pot scene, I took it at face value because the scene was framed as erotic and not meant to be thought of as fucked up. (not just because she masturbates right after that part). Then a few episodes later the show shames Bertie and, by extention, the viewer, for not seeing how fucked up it was. As ballsy as I think the decision was, I don't know how I feel about the show making us feel a certain way, then making us feel bad about the way it made us feel. But my internal back and forth is why its my favorite part of the show.


Great video.