Megan Garber

ALT Here’s how young I was “the day we met”: I still wore underwear with Minnie Mouse on them. Here’s how young I was “the day we met”: Every time I went to the bathroom, I’d pray to see a spot of blood on those cartoon-patterned panties because I was certain I was the last girl in my grade to still not have started my period. Here’s how young I was “the day we met”: I was still losing my baby teeth.

ALT The creators of these shows are compassionate toward the kids because, in a direct sense, they are those kids. The magic here is human, and humane; everyone, on some level, is the child they once were. Everyone can be upended in an addled world. Everyone deserves some tenderness. These cathartic comedies came to life in a moment of deep anxiety about empathy itself—a moment of cruelties and rumors, loneliness and fear, Beccas and Brandts. The shows have instructed, and warned. To watch them is to feel once again the great hope of young adolescence: Please let this just be a phase.

ALT Hypocrisy at this extreme is hard to talk about. American political language is simply not equipped to contend with actors who are so Schrutily immune to shame. Pundits continue to describe speeches that Trump recites without ad-libbed cruelty as evidence of “presidential” behavior. During his “debate” with Joe Biden in late September, Trump lied and yelled and ceaselessly interrupted his opponent. Mike Pence, conversely, in his own event, lied calmly; his performance was categorized as an exercise in civility. Lies are not civil. But this is precisely how hypocrisy can compromise habits of language. Shamelessness changes every equation.