The Bear and Its Community
A Study of Our Human Emotions
I will start by saying….No, this is not about the animal, the bear. For context, this is going to be about my reflections about the writing, acting, and supreme, deep, study of our human emotions in the The Bear, a Hulu show that I have found to be one of my favorites.
Major points I will make about The Bear:
*We live in a fast-paced society and The Bear shows some of the fastest-paced existence, as they navigate the life of someone who works in a restaurant and the most exquisite slow-paced, in-depth character studies I have seen in any series.
*A series that “takes you along on a ride” of your own emotions is a worthy series.
*In my opinion, this series on Hulu is a piece of ART.
Starting with my first assertion: The Bear shows this amazing breakneck speed and dynamism the people who work designing and preparing the food of a most exciting gourmet restaurant juxtaposed to the deep dive into beautifully written and acted character studies exploring each character’s personality, motivations, traits, actions, and relationships. Not every television show, series, or movie is able to take that deep dive with the finesse that The Bear does. It takes its time to guide us in not blatantly telling us about each character, but guiding us so we can make our own decisions about what we are seeing and hearing. There have been various times when I just felt transformed by an episode and ultimately went back to view that episode again.
Second assertion: A series that “takes you along on a ride” of your own emotions is a worthy series. This reminds me of what we know about the importance of reading fiction. It has been researched that reading fictional books enhances our empathy. There is what they call an “emotional transportation.” Please read this research below.
Research on Fiction and Empathy
Think about a series, a movie, a painting, a photograph, a sculpture, a piece of music, etc., that have transported you to a place that you could truly feel the myriad emotions you have. I believe The Bear is one of those pieces of ART that transports one to places or “takes you on a ride” through our emotions, our experiences, our ways that we all share our humanity. Themes of how sometimes we share destructive patterns of our parents, how self-awareness takes time and hard work, how grief impacts all of us differently, how adults can continue to feel fear about various things in their lives, even when we think we are “adulting”, how family can be biological and also our chosen family, etc. The themes and emotions felt are innumerable. All of these points I am making make this series worthy to be seen and discussed by many.
Third assertion: In my opinion, this series on Hulu is a piece of ART.
The definition from Oxford Languages reads:
Art: Noun: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
Did you notice that part of the definition is “producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power?” Artists take risks. Artists create something new. Artists enable us to feel.
One of my favorite musicals is Sunday In The Park With George. It is one of my favorite musicals, for many reasons, however, one that is so impactful to me is what it says about artists and ART. The character Dot says to George Seurat:
“Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see…”
George says as he is talking about his ART:
“Look, I made a hat...
Where there never was a hat.”
ARTISTS help us see, and hear, and care, and feel. The Bear is a piece of ART. The community of The Bear, each and every member of the cast, writers, producers, everyone who enabled this show to exist made a piece of ART.
If you are so inclined, take some time to watch this masterfully created and acted series. In my opinion, this is a piece of ART which transports us to all of our emotions.
With love, compassion, and creativity!
Debbie Havert
Oxford Languages: Definition of ART
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3559433/
(The cover of this substack article is a watercolor piece that I happen to love. I took a risk and I am glad I did).
Debbie this piece is a work of art. Why? Because your review and analysis of the emotional dynamics of, The Bear, captured my interest and attention and aroused my curiosity. I had dismissed it without engaging with it. Thank you
I never knew that research about fiction - how wonderful! I do very much want to watch The Bear but found in the first episode that it doesn’t make for good nighttime watching for me after a long day of hyper vigilance with the kiddo. Maybe someday.