Tracing the influence of ‘Fleabag’ on popular culture
In 2013, Phoebe Waller-Bridge performed her one-woman show, Fleabag, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Within three years, it had been turned into a television series, with Waller-Bridge reprising her role as the eponymous character, a flawed young woman who copes with grief in a variety of unhealthy ways. Although the show ended after two short seasons, it has become one of the most celebrated comedy dramas of the 21st century, praised for its wit, sharp writing and exploration of grief, familial relationships and sex.
Of course, Fleabag is not a one-size-fits-all look at these themes, which are explored through the lens of a middle-class white woman. However, Waller-Bridge invites us into the mind of a disastrous, complex woman in whom audiences are sure to find small elements of themselves, even those we would never want to admit to. Fleabag never tries to be perfect; she acts in self-destructive ways, hurts others, and speaks the thoughts we typically attempt to suppress. Despite her grievances, her character is refreshing to follow, and Waller-Bridge employs various formal techniques to give more nuance to her complicated protagonist.
Through the breaking of the fourth wall, Waller-Bridge’s character addresses the audience, drawing us closer to her world. By involving us in her thoughts, from the funny to questionable and downright sad, we truly begin to understand her contradictions and often confusing behaviour. Subsequently, we see the portrait of a woman who is just trying to get by, despite the mistakes she’s made – and invariably regrets. When it’s revealed that Fleabag slept with her best friend Boo’s boyfriend, resulting in Boo’s accidental death, we can’t help but feel a sense of understanding for our protagonist, even though her actions were inexcusable.
Waller-Bridge presents a woman that could be described as difficult, messy and slightly perverted, refusing to censor Fleabag’s behaviour to make her more palatable to viewers. For female audiences, it’s reassuring to watch a character like Fleabag exist on screen, forcing us to question our own beliefs and morals through her own dubious behaviour – the kind that we have almost all engaged in before in some way or another.
Moreover, Fleabag’s depiction of female sexuality is unbounded and raw. Sex is a big part of Fleabag, which opens its first episode with Waller-Bridge’s character engaging in a one-night stand with ‘Arsehole Guy’. While sex is used as a release for Fleabag, its involvement in the show is far from gratuitous. Instead, the show presents female sexuality unapologetically in all of its complicated forms. When Fleabag bumps into ‘Arsehole Guy’ at the corner shop while buying tampons, she turns to the camera to say in a deadpan tone, “Fucked me up the arse”. Waller-Bridge’s dry humour often takes the audience by surprise, challenging our expectations of how women and sex are seen on screen.
Crass jokes about masturbating to videos of Barack Obama or having unholy thoughts about a priest make Fleabag both funny and subversive. Despite many television shows openly depicting female sexuality before, there is something in the honest way that Waller-Bridge depicts Fleabag’s exploits, marred by grief (for both her mother and Boo) and used as a form of coping mechanism, that feels completely unique.
Since Fleabag’s release, a wave of other shows written and led by women have emerged that bear the influence of Waller-Bridge’s show, proving the importance of such media existing. Although many great shows about struggling female protagonists have existed before, such as Gameface and Pulling, Fleabag has buoyed the subgenre with its innovative intersection between form and content. Subsequently, its success has ensured the need for more female visibility on screen, leading to shows like Rose Matafeo’s Starstruck and Aisling Bea’s This Way Up.
While these shows differ in content from Fleabag, and it would be unfair to make comparisons solely on the basis of the writer’s gender, it’s hard not to see Fleabag’s lineage living on through these shows, which centre flawed, complex female protagonists. If not for the overwhelming amount of women latching on to the vulnerability and honesty of Fleabag, then studio executives might not have understood the true importance of allowing female protagonists to exist in such messy on-screen forms.
Over the past few years, many women online have labelled themselves as being in their ‘Fleabag era’. Referring to acting slightly unhinged, perhaps engaging in self-destructive behaviour and going through complex personal problems, this label reflects the vital importance of Waller-Bridge’s character in reflecting the state many modern women are finding themselves in. The phenomenon only highlights the sheer impact of Waller-Bridge’s beautifully relatable show, which reminds women that it’s okay not to have things figured out. Still, there is an underlying hope within Fleabag, reflected in tender moments of sisterhood and friendship, that makes it such a special, era-defining show.