With the recent announcement that the Community movie will premiere in 2023 (per Deadline), Community will soon bring back beloved characters like Jeff Winger, known for being charming yet insecure, selfish yet caring, and stubborn yet capable of growth. The leader of the study-group-turned-chosen family, Jeff was surrounded by eccentric and outrageous characters leading him to believe he was the most normal one of the bunch.
His witty comments and brutal honesty often made him a fan-favorite character, pushed forward by his character development throughout the series illustrating a more nuanced character. Even today, years after its ending and especially now with the announcement of the new movie, Community fans continue to analyze and look at the characters, specifically Jeff Winger, in new ways.
His Seacrest Looks
Jeff Winger, played by Joel McHale, is often characterized for his good looks and often takes pride in the way he presents himself. A running joke throughout the series is that Joel McHale is a “taller more handsome Ryan Seacrest.” In the episode “Contemporary Impressionists”, Jeff dresses up as Seacrest.
Throughout the course of the series, Jeff prioritizes his good looks and charm and even boasts in the Halloween episode that he is wearing a $9000 suit instead of Troy and Abed’s cardboard robot costume which took several days. When Jeff gets rejected and his looks go ignored, it sends him into a spiral because he believes he has little to nothing else to offer. Eventually, he starts to hold some more depth to his character, and his looks are just a plus.
His Initial Dislike For Everything
Jeff’s cynicism and criticisms reach all, including but not limited to hipsters, emotional vulnerability, Greendale Community College, his friends, and Glee club in the most memorable TV musical episode. That includes singing, especially with the Dean. He stood firm in his sarcastic and witty comments to everything and everyone, including himself many times.
As the series progressed and Greendale faced a potential shutdown, Jeff stopped feigning his apathy and sunk deep into the things he cared about, whether it be singing “Kiss From A Rose” or working to keep Greendale open. He even joins the Glee Club which he earnestly fought against.
His Manipulation Tactics
Source: Reddit
Having had a professional career as a lawyer, Jeff Winger was very articulate and proved time and time again that he understood the power of words. Some words included the manipulation tactics and “puppet-master-like influence” that he often used on several characters, including his friends.
He even gave a “crash course” on manipulation to his friends citing that he knew best how to do it. The group started as a result of his manipulation to get with Britta when he saw her solely as a romantic interest. He was used to controlling the people and situations around him. However, he found himself having to rely upon and become closer friends with the very people he had attempted to manipulate.
Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss
The new “live, laugh, love” meme on Twitter is accurately portrayed by Jeff Winger whose callous attitude, yet emotional vulnerability allows him to succeed in all three. He was able to use his manipulation tactics to gaslight characters, such as Pierce, into believing things that did not happen. He worked effortlessly to prevent Chang, one of Community’s funniest characters, from joining the study group in which Chang had to commit outrageous acts in order to be permitted in.
Lastly, he also showcased emotional vulnerability that often juxtaposed the suave and confident persona that he often portrayed. While Winger appeared as an egotistical character with little nuance, the further on the show got the more dimensions it added to his character.
His Dislike For BNL
In a cold open in the second season, Jeff casually mentions a criticism of the Barenaked Ladies which the group vehemently responds negatively towards. In a hilarious exchange, each of the characters who tend to disagree with each other often unites against Jeff completely disregarding the original point he was trying to make.
Jeff gets angry that everyone missed his point and frustratingly leaves the room exclaiming that they are in a fight and not understanding why they are passionately defending the band. He never explains why he dislikes BNL, but Jeff does not particularly need a reason to dislike something for him to do so.
Troy’s Role Model
Troy, being one of the youngest characters, often looked to Jeff as a beacon of guidance since he longed to be taken seriously. While his callous comments towards the others’ aspirations and situations illustrated his overall pessimism, Troy, especially, looked to Jeff for advice about whether to return to football, what it means to be 21, and how to pick up women on Halloween. The particular piece of advice illustrated in this meme can be applied to many situations in life, but also speaks to the relationship between Troy and Jeff.
While Jeff often led him astray, it helped Troy realize for himself that there was no particular way to become an adult, and it takes a trial-and-error approach to learn more about himself. Jeff finally admits to Troy when he embarks on his trip that this is what finally makes him cool in a full-circle moment.
Jeff’s Friendship Arc With Abed
When Jeff arrives at the community college, his only intentions are to get in and out as quickly as possible, even attempting to rely on his old friend Professor Ian for test answers. His self-serving nature saw Abed as useful and that is why he kept him around.
He uses Abed at the beginning of the show with a complete disregard for his character until they start to formulate a tight relationship. In the episode “Critical Film Studies” where Jeff organizes a surprise birthday party for Abed, Abed expresses eventually how all he wanted was to spend time with his friend whom he felt had been avoiding him. The two became much closer throughout the season and Jeff’s first real friend.
Insecurities And Low Self-Esteem
Source: Tumblr
Jeff’s cocky attitude does not compare to the self-loathing that he reveals about himself as the series goes on. Ironically, he often ridicules everyone for their absurd behaviors, normally presenting himself to be the most normal one in the group. However, he expresses his low self-esteem, especially in regard to his absent father growing up.
One of his more redeeming qualities, particularly in the episode “Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism,” is his ability to get over his childhood foosball trauma from Shirley as a kid where he urinated on himself. He was able to come out victorious and resolve the insecurities he held with that game.
Inspiring Speeches
Despite Jeff’s often nihilistic and selfish demeanor throughout the length of the show, he often ironically provided the most optimism in the group with motivational speeches that lifted the spirits of each of the characters. In the pilot, he uses his orator skills to unite the unlikely group together and state that despite their differences, they made up a study group now thereby claiming them a community in a quote proving that he might be the best Community character.
Though sometimes he uses his speeches as manipulation tactics, he also keeps the group from fighting each other, such as in the episode “Cooperative Calligraphy” where Annie loses her pen and the group accuses each other of stealing it. Jeff’s leadership resulted from his nuanced speeches that bonded the group together for six seasons and fans can say that Jeff got as much out of them as the others did.
His Character Arc Through The Seasons
In the pilot episode, Jeff creates the group to get closer to Britta, who caught his eye in his Spanish class. Towards the end of the series’ run, Jeff becomes codependent on the group and decides to stay and teach at the college instead of returning to his law firm.
Despite his often selfish reasons for keeping the group together from attempting to get with Britta, using them to pass his classes, or for other manipulative reasons, Jeff ultimately did learn about the importance of a group in his life often convincing him to do things he would never have done in his previous life, such as become a professor.
