Parody and disengagement from stigma: mental illness in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Abstract The TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , in its clever depiction of the daily life and dalliances of a woman suffering from borderline personality disorder, employs humor within parodied musical numbers to heal both the characters and the viewers from the stigma and discrimination around mental illness. In this study, the value of humor strategies centered around serious or heavy topics is analyzed by inquiring on the use of humor in the series, on the structure of parodic musical intermissions, and addressing how these parodic songs are part of the narrative. Particular attention is given to disengagement from seriousness as a potentially healing stage in humor, as it allows to playfully reinterpret an affirmation. The analysis focuses on selected songs from the four seasons of the show, following the gradual betterment of the protagonist and her journey in therapy. The results show the therapeutic and positive value of ridicule as both in-character coping mechanisms and as an active social response against a detrimental stereotype, with humor achieving perlocutionary effect intradiegetically and extradiegetically.