It's Always Sunny Analysis

Legendary author and humorist Mark Twain once wrote, “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” This quote encapsulates the importance of using comedy as a tool to reflect society. Comedy is much more than creating laughter, for it is a way to strip serious issues of their pretense and unabashedly remark upon the problems that face America. Authors Mary M. Dalton and Laura R. Linder, impart this notion in their book, The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed, as they explore important subjects including gender and sexual orientation in television comedy. Furthermore, these topics frequently play a large role in the American sitcom, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This show, also referred to as Always Sunny, revolves around five main characters known as “the gang”, who run a bar together. The creators of the show, who also play three of the main characters, have referred to Always Sunny as a darker version of Seinfeld, in the sense that the protagonists are written as

unlikeable and selfish people. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is a television comedy that illuminates and reflects upon the current conditions of gender and sexual orientation in America, as they are explored in The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed.
First off, Always Sunny uses its comedic platform to reflect the current state of gender in America, and illuminate issues within the culture. The sitcom is comprised of four male protagonists and one female, which in and of itself expresses a lack of gender equality in media. Despite this, the character of Dee Reynolds, portrayed by Kaitlin Olsen, is a refreshingly realistic depiction of women. In earlier episodes, Dee is a more passive character who is the voice of reason. Early Dee reflects how women have been unfairly portrayed in media for decades. For example, in season 1 episode 2, “Charlie Wants an Abortion”, Dee spends most of the episode nagging the men about women’s rights. She is ignored by her twin brother Dennis, played by Glenn Howerton and his two best friends Mac, played by the creator of the show Rob McElhenney, and Charlie, played by Charlie Day. Later in the series however, Dee distances herself from a female stereotype as she becomes a more complex character. Like the rest of the gang, she becomes a more self-involved and deeply flawed person as the series continues. It is quite important to note how Dee has been written to be just as crude and unapologetic as her male counter parts, while still retaining her female voice. This illuminates the potential for female characters in television comedy, and reflects the complexity of women in real life.
To continue, earlier episodes Always Sunny contain hints of the character Dee will blossom into in later seasons which reflect an accurate portrayal of gender. In season 1 episode 3, “Underage Drinking: A National Concern”, Dee is on the phone and asked if she has any plans. It cuts to her looking down at her vibrator in bed, then cuts back to her responding that she can make some room in her schedule. This scene uses comedy to accurately portray female sexuality without it being the butt of the joke. This is significant because female masturbation has long been a taboo subject in American comedy despite its accuracy, while the male version is constantly used in mainstream media. Moreover, as Always Sunny continues into later seasons, Dee reflects the sexual liberation of women by involving herself in numerous unattached sexual relationships.
However, while Dee hooking up with men instead of committing to a relationship may reflect a trend among modern women, most of Dee’s escapades result in a personal downfall. The Sitcom Reader comments on this trope by stating, “The implication seems to be that a desire that has no end is somehow uncontrollable and ultimately self-destructive, and while this is often the direction that sexually active female characters in media “take,” I believe that this is a patriarchal construction working to assuage fears of female power in society,” (Dalton, Linder 112). The author of this passage argues that sexually liberated female characters such as Dee, must have their casual experiences lead to negative consequences in order to appease a male audience. While this is reflected in Always Sunny, the show utilizes satire to illuminate societal issues through comedy. Therefore, Dee falling into this pattern may be an attempt to enlighten viewers about the portrayal of women in television.
Similarly, Always Sunny uses comedy to reflect the current condition of males in America, and illuminate the issues surrounding men’s gender perceptions as well.

Dee’s twin brother Dennis is often used to reflect insecurities that men face in the current cultural climate. Dennis is obsessed with his physical appearance, which twists the cultural perception of masculinity as women are typically shown to be the only gender to worry about their looks. Dennis’s body dysmorphia is referenced in numerous episodes, but is most notable in season 7 episode 10, “How Mac Got Fat”. In this episode, there is a subplot about how Dennis thinks that the sudden success of the bar is due to his good looks. He then partakes in a serious of increasingly risky activities to preserve his looks, including doing an unsuccessful chemical peel. While his desperation and subsequent actions are comical, his obsession sheds light on the fact that men in American society also feel pressure to look their

best.
Meanwhile, Dennis’s best friend Mac illuminates the issue of hyper masculinity within American society. While Mac may not be as outwardly self-conscious as Dennis, his obsession with masculinity reflects a hyperbolized version what American culture expects of the male gender. Mac sees himself as the physical protector of the gang, or the “Sheriff of Paddy’s Pub”, as he calls himself in season 5 episode 2, “The Gang Hits the Road”. There are frequent running jokes about Mac’s character that include his affinity for bodyguards, obsession with martial arts, and constant references to bulking up or tacking on mass. In the beginning of the series, these jokes seem only to reflect America’s obsession with masculinity, but later in the show the audience learns that these funny personality traits have been building up to something deeper. In fact, Mac’s macho façade illuminates the complicated relationship between sexual orientation and American society.
To expand, America has always been prudish when it comes to sex, especially when it comes to any orientation that is not heterosexual. The Sitcom Reader addresses this in the following passage: “Major commercial networks aim to minimize overt representations of same-sex affection and kissing on prime-time U.S. television so as not to offend the “viewing American majority” or commercial television sponsors,” (180). The text confirms that television reflects the conservative values of America, in that shows will rarely allow homosexual couples to show any sort of physical affection. This further propagates the notion that most Americans are afraid of seeing non-heterosexual representation on television. Always Sunny is acutely aware of this phenomenon, as the show subtly hints at Mac’s homosexuality for five seasons.
In general, the character of Mac has been used to represent the negative and often repressed attitudes within the American psyche. In season 6 episode 1, “Mac Fights Gay Marriage”, Mac is so over the top with his arguments against gay marriage that the gang outwardly comments that they believe Mac is gay himself. Always Sunny uses Mac to reflect that Americans are so afraid of what they do not know about sexuality, or what they have been made to fear, that it has created a culture of repression and hostility aimed at the LGBT community.

However, in the season 12 which premiered this past January and ended in March, Mac officially came out as gay. In the episodes that follow, Mac no longer takes on his hyper masculine front, but begins to settle into a more realistic depiction of a newly out gay man. In The Sitcom Reader’s chapter on sexual orientation, the author comments on identity stating that, “[A] communicative perspective sees identities as formed, changed, and negotiated through social interaction… identity is more a process than a product, is about “becoming” rather than about ‘being’,” (200). Always Sunny reflects this passage to illuminate how repressing sexual orientation will affect a person in the current conditions of society. Mac’s homosexuality was never the joke, but humor targeting his previously hidden sexuality was used to show the level of which people in America fear representing themselves as their true identity. This enlightens the audience to the issues facing these communities by representing the struggles that they face while coming to terms with who they are.
Moreover, homosexuality is not the only sexual orientation represented on Always Sunny. The character Charlie portrays the extremely underrepresented asexual community, as he is shown to rarely desire or enjoy sex at all. The most obvious example of this is in the season 3 episode 6 “The Gang Solves the North Korean Situation”, when Charlie hysterically laughs at the notion of kissing being a pleasurable activity. In fact, he calls kissing gross and scoffs at Dennis for suggesting he would be interested in the act. However, there have been times in the show where Charlie has had sex, but these endeavors are rare and in some cases only happened so that Charlie could make a strategic play. Always Sunny portrays Charlie as asexual to reflect the various sexual orientations in American society that often go unaddressed.
In conclusion, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia reflects the current conditions of gender and sexual orientation as they are discussed in The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed and Skewed. As a sitcom, Always Sunny utilizes comedy to illuminate deeper problems within these societal issues. The humor in this show works not only as a delivery system for laughter, but as an important tool for discourse. The show accomplishes its mission to make viewers laugh while commenting on current problems in America. Television comedy in general is one of the most important instruments in defining and reflecting the current conditions of American culture on a mass media scale.