S2E16: Just ladies celebratin' ladies
It's Galentine's Day o'clock!
ICONIC EPISODE ON OUR HANDS TODAY. On February 13th of the year of our lord 2010, Galentine’s Day was born.
Even P&R newbies are likely familiar with Galentine’s Day. But just in case you live under a rock, Galentine’s Day is a fictional holiday, invented by our very own Leslie Knope, that has permeated pop culture and taken on a full life of its own. Celebrated on February 13th every year, Leslie invented Galentine’s Day as a way to spotlight the women she loves in her life, without their SOs present. More specifically:
“My lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home and we just come and kick it breakfast style. Just ladies celebratin’ ladies.”
Leslie gives out thoughtful (if slightly psychotic) gifts to her friends, which include “a bouquet of hand-crocheted flower pens, a mosaic portrait of each of you made from the crushed bottles of your favorite diet soda, and a personalized 5000 word essay of why you’re all so awesome.” It’s a holiday and tradition that crops up a few times in the P&R universe, but has also now been codified as a global holiday, all to celebrate female friendship. Michelle Obama has fully posted about celebrating Galentine’s Day before.
The prevalence of Galentine’s Day got me thinking about other things invented by TV and movies that have become deeply embedded in modern lexicon. I break this down into a few broad categories in my brain: phrases and sayings that have become widely adopted; iconic fictional holidays; and events, activities, or traditions that people actively participate in.
Phrases and sayings
“Debbie Downer” — I’ve written about this before, but it’s INSANE to me that the phrase “Debbie Downer” was invented by Rachel Dratch’s iconic SNL sketch. It’s like the Kleenex to tissue relationship. It’s fully synonymous with the worst wet blanket in the world. It is, without a doubt, the number one thing I put on anytime I need a little old chuckle.
“Fold it in, David” – I struggle to know how widely adopted this is outside of my own personal friend group, but I would be remiss to not mention this exchange between Moira and David in Schitt’s Creek. I can’t cook without thinking about it (not that I’m baking up a storm, but).
“The olive theory” - one of HIMYM’s most famous inventions and introduced by Marshall in the pilot, the Olive Theory is that idea that for a relationship to be perfect, one person must like olives and the other can’t. It’s later debunked once Marshall reveals he’s been lying to Lily for years so that she can have his olives, BUT it pioneered a whole new idea of how to identify your soul mate. If anyone’s wondering, I do not like olives at all (although I have successful accomplished my new year’s resolution to make myself like dirty martinis). Olive lovers, hmu.
“We were on a break” — while I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my hotel room in New York watching a Friends marathon. Apparently, it’s the show’s 30th anniversary. I happen to be staying catty-corner to something called “The Friends Experience” (which I think is a museum?). I have a lot of Friends on my brain right now. While I hope the circumstances don’t require your average Joe to say this on the regular, I challenge you to find anyone who wouldn’t instantly recognize the phrase.
Fictional Holidays
Chrismukkah from The OC — famously invented by Seth Cohen in this absolute Y2K staple as a mix of Christmas and Hanukkah, Chrismukkah is the first thing most of my friends said when I asked them for examples for this post. I first watched the OC when I was a senior in high school hoping I’d get into Berkeley, and it is the sole reason I thought all of California was beaches where you could host bonfire parties. In the Bay? Not entirely. My mom had to ship me more jackets when she got home from dropping me off at college.
Festivus from Seinfeld — I have a dirty little secret. I’ve never watched Seinfeld …. so I don’t have much to say about this holiday, even though I know it’s a big one. What a weight to admit this finally! Jerry Seinfeld? Not that interested in. Kramer? Heard of him but don’t know his deal. George? Yes, iconic, king. Young Julia Louis-Dreyfus? Might need to watch just for Elaine.
Galentine’s Day — obviously!!!!!
literally who are these women I’ve never seen them before and we’ll never see them again
Activities, traditions, and events
Slap bets — another one from HIMYM and another one that I’m not sure really if people ever do, but I thought worth putting on here. A slap bet, invented by some combination of Barney / Ted / Marshall, is basically a high stakes bet one makes. The loser agrees to be slapped a certain amount of times, but the slaps have no time limit. In several episodes of the show, Marshall withholds his slaps for years. Barney withers away in anxiety waiting for them. Personally, I’m not really all that compelled to slap anyone, but I guess male rage has no bounds?
The Cup Song from Pitch Perfect — I know this one seems rogue, and you may be thinking “I haven’t thought about the Cup Song since 2012.” But riddle me this. I dare you to watch the Cup Song scene without your hands itching just ever so slightly to pick up a cup and get to work. The CHOKEHOLD this song had on all of us in middle school!!! I spent several months of sleepovers memorizing it with my friends. It’s a throwback I don’t think I’ll ever get out of my brain and I’m giving it the space it deserves.
True American - perhaps my personal favorite on this whole list list, True American is a drinking game invented by New Girl. Described as:
Jess – It's 50% drinking game, 50% life size Candy Land
Schmidt – Well it's more like 75% drinking game, 25% Candy Land. By the way, the floor is molten lava.
Winston – It's more 90% drinking game, with a loose Candy Land structure
It gave us some of the most iconic New Girl episodes ever and is a game my friends and I have tried to play several times. What I’ll say is: it’s VERY hard. So many rules to memorize, it’s no wonder the loft’s guests are always confused what the hell is going on. One of my friends mastered it with her apartment during Covid. Jealous is an understatement.
Treat Yo’ Self - another iconic P&R tradition pioneered by Donna and Tom, “Treat Yo’ Self” is a once a year (?) event in which participants can treat themselves to whatever the hell they want. Bougie dinner? Treat yo’ self. Nice ass coat? Treat yo’ self. Tickets to the Eras tour? Treat yo’ self. And if we’re getting etymological, it’s also the root of the more modern “having a little treat” trend.
I’m eternally interested in the ripple effects of modern pop culture, how we adopt everything from random phrases to full-on party games from TV shows and movies. It gets me thinking a lot about the real power these showrunners have over their viewers. Sure, the actors are important and have sway, but even more than that: Galentine’s Day was cooked up in Mike Schur’s brain, and now it’s a fully recognized holiday. These TV writers & people behind the ideas are having a very real impact on the way we speak and the way we spend our time. It’s kinda bonkers.
I’ll save it for another post, but I also LOVE thinking about the archetypes shows like Friends and Sex and the City have created, how we’ve all tried to find out whether you’re a Chandler or a Joey, or a Samantha or Carrie. And now, it’s happening (to a lesser extent, but) with the Sex Lives of College Girls. It really trips me up that millions of viewers across generations try to fit ourselves into these neat little blueprints created by the minds of a few writers. It’s pretty damn cool.
But for now, I’ll leave us here to sit and ruminate on the everlasting presence of Galentine’s Day. See all of you fools to celebrate properly on February 13th!
Best quote: “You’re asking my permission to take a nooner?”
What’s happening to our people in this episode?
Leslie and Justin try to reunite her mom, Marlene Griggs-Knope, with a long-lost love, who turns out to be a total freak. He’s an absolute paranoia ridden fool who gets pissed when Marlene doesn’t want to run away with him, so he goes on stage to publicly “dump her” at the Valentine’s Day function. Runner up for quote of the episode: “Marlene….. you …. BLEW IT. Take one last look, Marlene, because you’ll never see THIS BODY again.”
But Leslie’s a little pissed that Justin pushes everything too far and doesn’t care for people’s feelings, so she dumps him by the end! (To make way for someone special coming soon, methinks?)
Tom tells Wendy how he feels and she breaks his little heart
April is truly the epitome of the heart eyes emoji. Andy’s band is playing the Valentine’s Day function and she literally looks like a cartoon character when they get struck on the head with a mallet. She’s SMITTEN.
Mark’s trying to be cute this episode and it’s just making him seem kinda lame as hell. He gives Ann all of these Valentine’s Day gifts and then tries to be like “so, our relationship is going well, right?” mid-dance floor. I’m probably stone cold for not loving love — I guess he’s trying. But he just so cringe city!
That’s it for this week! If I missed anything, tell me. See you all next week for anotha one.
"Fold it in" is one of the funniest sequences in TV history.
Omg HIMYM and Parks — what an elite topic