“Annie, relax.” “I’m not a relaxed person, Britta!
I think ahead. I prepare.” We’ve all met someone who takes
everything a little too seriously. “I haven't gotten an "F" since
I failed recess in second grade. ‘Teachers need a break too, Amy.’” They’re known as “Type A” personalities, and onscreen they’re often
embodied by neurotic women who live in constant conflict
between their worries and their life plan, with a frantic energy most people
can’t begin to match. “I know! I know! I know!” “Monica, you asked the question.” This neurotic, Type A woman has
many quirks that define her, such as: her ambition and anxiety combine
to make her the ultimate go-getter. “This job is yours, you just
have to go in there and take it!” She’s also the responsible one: exceptionally clean, scheduled,
and organized. “See, I've spent the last
few months brainstorming. And I have some really great ideas
and I put them in my idea binders. I mean, they're color coded,
for God's sake.” But what separates the Type A Woman
from your classic workaholic are her more traditionally
feminine interests. “I'm always the hostess.
I mean, even when I was little, the girls brought their dollies
to my tea party.” And despite high expectations
for herself, she fails. “She had braces and acne
and a pill addiction and a nervous breakdown
ending with her running through a plate-glass door, screaming,
‘Everyone's a robot!’" We frequently see the Neurotic Type A
struggle with her career, her relationships,
and her sense of self. Her story highlights just how much she needs to be in control
to feel secure— which may be annoying to others
but is hardest of all on her. “That isn't fun for me,
do you realize that? Being the uptight girl? I hate it.” The Neurotic Type A is often
portrayed as a joke. “Cruise itineraries,
hot out of the laminator. Who's ready for some nonstop
totally scheduled fun?” She’s sometimes even the villain. “Who knew how high
she would climb in life? How many people
would suffer because of her?” But it’s her struggles—
and her relatable fears— that make her feel both
complex and familiar. Here’s our Take on what makes
the Neurotic Type A Woman tick, and what her journey says
about understanding our inner selves. "Actually, I’m highly logical,
which allows me to look past extraneous detail and perceive clearly
that which others overlook." Hi everyone! So today Susannah and I
have some really exciting news that we want to share with you. We’ve created a brand new series
called “Take Two,” and it’s airing now on
the Netflix Film Club YouTube channel. So, if anyone knows Debra and me, they know we don’t always
agree on everything. And sure, we agree about
all the important things, and a lot of things— like how much we love Film,
TV, and pop culture. But apart from that,
we’re constantly debating. I really dig a strong female character—
and I love an antiheroine. For me, a great film can still
have a classic happy ending— And I’m not so sure
the happy ending rings true, anymore. For us, the essence and the fun
of loving movies— is discussing them, debating them,
and even disagreeing about them— even though I’m usually right. So Netflix Film Club gave us
the opportunity to play out these conversations we have
all the time, as a video essay. So after you watch this video,
please go check out the pilot of Take Two,
let us know what you think, and you can really show your support
by liking, commenting, and sharing with your friends! Two Takes, two sides, one new series— check it out now on
the Netflix Film Club YouTube channel. “You're the definition of neurotic.” “No, the definition of neurotic
is a person who suffers from anxiety, obsessive thoughts,
compulsive acts...” We often use ‘Type A’
and ‘neurotic’ interchangeably, but it’s their specific combination
that makes this character so distinct. “I'm sorry, I'm a little
overly thorough. Some people would say that
I am bossy and controlling.” As one of the so-called
“Big Five” personality traits, neuroticism is characterized by
a propensity for negative emotions: neurotic people have extreme reactions
to any stress in their lives. [scream] “I’ve never gotten
a zero before.” They have a tendency toward
doubt and worry, which can sometimes spill over
into anxiety and depression. “I don't want to be overdramatic,
but today felt like a hundred years in hell
and the absolute worst day of my life.” And when those neuroses
are combined with the ambition, rigorous organization,
and controlling behavior of the classic Type A personality, it creates someone who rigidly plans
every aspect of their lives, then becomes upset when
any part of it goes awry. “I give you the headset.” “Oh.” “Well, I don't really wanna
give you the headset.” The Neurotic Type A Woman switches seamlessly
between self-doubt— "I've got this uncontrollable
need to please people." and self-assurance. "And remember,
if I'm harsh with you, it's only because
you're doing it wrong." Her need for control curbs the doom
and gloom of a neurotic personality, which enables her achievements: Her high expectations—
and fear of not measuring up— drive her to work incredibly hard. “I checked this out weeks ago
for a bit of light reading.” “This is light?” The Neurotic Type A uses
her fears as fuel. Stress is just the price
she accepts for her success. “It's called a stress headache.
I got my first one when I was four.” While male characters might
demonstrate some aspects of the neurotic Type A, its traits have long been
coded as feminine. And on screen, this trope is especially
common to female characters, with its roots in the classic TV mom. “What do you mean by that? It may be a good morning for you,
but it wasn't for me! You didn't have to clean up
the mess that this one made when he decided to finger paint
all over the bathroom mirror with the toothpaste.” The housewives of the ‘50s and ‘60s,
like Leave It To Beaver’s June Cleaver, maintained strict control
over their perfect homes— the only place they were allowed
true power and agency. “I'm not trying to tell you
how to run your business; I'm just telling you
what you ought to do.” As more women entered the workplace,
Type A characters like The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s
Mary Richards refocused those same energies on their careers,
constantly anxious to prove themselves. “I get to thinking my job
is too important to me.” For M*A*S*H’s Margaret Houlihan, taking everything seriously
was her only hope of earning the respect of her male coworkers. “If you can't keep your mind
on your job, Major ma'am, then stay out of the O.R.” Friends’ Monica Geller shaped
our modern idea of the Neurotic Type A: she was just as serious
about her career as she was her obsessive cleaning habits. “I'm Monica. I wash the toilets 17 times a day,
even if people are on it!” Over time, the Type A Woman
has evolved into someone whose determination
and assertiveness are seen as admirable— like Brooklyn 99’s Amy Santiago, whose obsession with rules
and organization earn ridicule from her fellow officers,
but also their respect. "I already got
my paperwork in, Captain." "Well, then I guess
this little reminder isn't for you." Or Parks and Recreation’s Leslie Knope, one of TV’s most passionate,
competent women who— as Alexis Soloski wrote
in The New York Times— offers a “vindication for principled,
chatty ladies everywhere.” “I'm sorry if I can be
a little annoying at times. But one person's annoying is
another person's inspiring and heroic.” While today’s Type A women
have a relatively easier time establishing their authority
outside the home, their need to exert control stems
from an era when women still had very little power
over their lives. “It's the having to have the dinner
on the table as soon as the husband gets home and having to look perfect
to do housework and the whole concept that her one point in life
is to serve somebody else.” their determination reflects a continued
striving to assert themselves, in a world that’s long
kept them in check. “Sometimes being really good
all the time feels really bad. But I'm on a journey.
It's my journey and I'm okay.” The Neurotic Type A
is undeniably high maintenance, which puts her at a social disadvantage: she’s not cool. “Well, I can be cool, too.
I'm cooler than cool. I'm frigid.” The cool girl doesn’t care
if you leave your dishes in the sink, doesn’t obsess over her career
or nag her partners about commitment, and she doesn’t even really
have to try to be beautiful. When the Neurotic Type A
is compared to the Cool Girl, it’s never exactly flattering. Our culture has long equated
caring too much with being uptight and annoying, while portraying not caring
as attractive and fun. “I can throw wet paper towels here. No, but at Monica's,
you can eat cookies over the sink.” We often see the Neurotic Type A
paired up with the Cool Girl for comedic effect. On Don’t Trust The B----
in Apartment 23, the driven June is contrasted with her roommate Chloe,
a slinky socialite and con artist who’s besties with James Van Der Beek
and is so fun she inspires a comic book. “Your character drives around
on a motorcycle that has a sidecar!” The spontaneous,
sexually adventurous Chloe is the exact opposite of worrying,
responsible June, and their differences only
make June feel more insecure. “Inside, I'm still the girl
who's afraid to go skinny-dipping.” “Oh, skinny-dipping?
Are people going?” “See? I'm not confident like you.” Even when they’re friends,
the cool girl seems almost specifically designed to exacerbate
these feelings of inadequacy in the Type A Woman. “See, this is what you do. You act like I'm uptight,
and then I follow suit. I become uptight. It is the most frustrating
dynamic on the planet.” We’ve come to recognize that
the Cool Girl is largely a male fantasy. “Cool Girl is hot.
Cool Girl is game. Cool Girl is fun. Cool Girl never
gets angry at her man.” She has none of the fussy,
overbearing, perfectionist qualities that men would find unappealing. “Low maintenance.
No maintenance. I'm gonna be one of those
cool girlfriends like in movies, she has bedhead
and wears men's shirts.” In this, the Type A Woman
can be seen as the anti-fantasy: she’s the opposite of the simple,
carefree, and easy to handle woman men are supposedly looking for. “I made us his-and-her
relationship calendars. That way, we always know
what the other is up to... So you can't say you forgot
we had plans when you miss our dates anymore.” An illustrative example of how
the Type A-Cool Girl dynamic often revolves around men can be found in Community’s
Annie and Britta. Jeff, the male lead, starts off
romantically interested in cool, leather jacket-wearing Britta, while Annie is the neurotic,
overeager Type A that Jeff might be attracted to,
but can’t genuinely see himself with. “The long looks,
the stolen glances…” “Annie, I think you're
reading into some things.” But as those feelings
become less of a joke, Britta and Annie begin to change. Britta becomes more
uptight and assertive. “Maybe these woods
are their rightful land, and from their perspective...”
[everyone groans] “You’re the AT&T of people.” Meanwhile, Annie relaxes,
offsetting her Type A tendencies by becoming more
fun and flirtatious. “I guess I have a lot to learn
about holiday tradition.” The Neurotic Type A may not
be the idealized male fantasy, but we often see how all the things that don’t make her cool do make her uniquely loving.
“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.” Much as she’s often paired
with the “cool girl” as a friend, the Type A Woman tends to
end up with a more laid-back guy who appreciates her neuroses
as lovable assets. “Claire is a perfectionist,
which sometimes is a good thing, like when it comes
to picking a husband.” And although she may never be cool, she forms strong and rewarding
relationships with the people she supports so tirelessly,
who in turn support her. “So they can say that
you're high maintenance, but it's okay because
I like maintaining you.” While the Neurotic Type A
can be both admirably ambitious and endearingly quirky, at her worst, she exhibits
an almost toxic need for control. “I know you don't like
to relinquish control.” “Oh, relinquish is just
a fancy word for lose.” Exerting strict control over herself
and her situation is the only way to deal with her
near-pathological fear of things going wrong. “There’s nothing we can’t do
if we work hard, never sleep, and shirk all other
responsibilities in our lives.” And while this anxiety
often helps her succeed, it also leaves her unable
to cope with setbacks, or to fully embrace
all parts of herself— especially the ones that scare her. “Was that before or after
you were delivered to my door in a squad car, wearing nothing
but your underwear and a police blanket?” The psychologist Carl Jung
spoke of shadow functions— the parts of ourselves that remain
mostly repressed in our natural state, but surface under pressure. Onscreen, we often see
the Type A Woman losing control by unleashing
that darker, wilder side. “Can we get another round, please?” “What happened?” Community’s Annie is well aware
of this shadow self. “I'm only here because of
a brief addiction to pills that I was told would help me focus, but they actually made me
lose my scholarship and virginity.” Annie’s fear of losing control again leads to her tight grip
on her inhibitions. “I like being repressed. I am totally comfortable being
uncomfortable with my sexuality.” Notably, when Annie becomes
the “Evil Annie” of a darker timeline, she is the manifestation
of her Jungian shadow self: a woman who’s unabashed, even aggressive about
her sexual appetites. “Annie, why are you acting
like a mistress in a Lifetime movie?” “You're funny.” In this trope, we often see
the Type A relying on her neurotic habits as a way of keeping
this unruly side of her in check: Monica’s controlling behavior
can be seen as a response to issues with overeating
in her adolescent years. “The fat girl inside me
really wants to go. I owe her this.
I never let her eat.” But the healthy way to deal with
your shadow self isn’t to bury it— "How did you get in there?!" [giggles] “You're messy." this can only cause it to surface
in ways that are unhealthy, even dangerous. For Annie, accepting that she can’t
control everything is the key to gaining true power over her life. “I was trying to make life go
according to some script. I can't. You can't. We both need to get
more comfortable winging it.” And when Monica’s dream of having
it all by becoming a mother is almost thwarted by
her inability to conceive, "My uterus is
an inhospitable environment? I've always tried so hard
to be a good hostess." she finds another chance
for happiness by letting go of her rigidly pre-scripted plan,
and looking forward to adopting instead. “How do you feel about that?” “I think I feel okay about it. Actually, I think I feel
really good about it.” Although the Neurotic Type A
is initially recognized by her inflexibility, most often her story arc involves
finding new ways to adapt— learning to take life as it comes,
and accept the parts of herself that scare her. “June, you can't plan your life. You have to leave room
for new experiences.” And by learning to let go,
even just a little, she ends up getting more than
she ever planned for. “Yeah, but you don't have a plan.” “I think maybe that's
a good thing for me.” Although neuroticism is defined
by largely negative emotions, the Neurotic Type A shows us how
they can be harnessed into positives, making you more successful,
more resilient, and — to the right people —
even more lovable. “Hermione, you're honestly the most wonderful person
I've ever met.” Her devotion to being organized
is an outgrowth of being extremely passionate. “Oh, it's just some stuff I picked up.
For, you know, the baby. Babies need a lot of things.
I want everything to be just right.” and her lack of cool
can make her extraordinarily warm. “I guess some people object to powerful depictions
of awesome ladies.” She teaches us that it can be healthy
to set expectations for yourself, and to hold onto the aspects
of your personality that others might find intense— “I’m sorry, are you
shutting the door on us? Because that’s not subtle.
We will persist!” as long as you don’t let them
stop you from growing or adapting. “You would be a lot happier
if you weren't so obsessed with everything being perfect” As our society gains greater
appreciation for smart, hard-working women,
the Neurotic Type A has become less of a villain,
or a punchline, and more of a role model. “What if we each agree
to face one of our fears today... for ourselves and for all of womenkind?” So that’s one less thing
for her to worry about. "You're not easygoing,
but you're passionate, and that's good."
