| “ | I'm the villain in my own story. I'm the bitch in the corner of the poster. I'm the figure in the doorway or the Kraken up in Norway. God, who is this song's composer?! | „ |
| ~ Rebecca in her song 'I'm the Villain in My Own Story', where she begins to doubt her moral compass. |
Rebecca Nora Bunch is the titular main protagonist of the 2016 series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Throughout the show, Rebecca struggled with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and sometimes behaved villainously (particularly toward her ex-boyfriends). With therapy and help from friends, she gradually began to learn to behave in healthier ways, instead of letting her impulsivity and reactivity control her decision-making.
She is a business owner, formerly a lawyer, who once coincidentally ran into her ex-boyfriend, Josh Chan, in New York. Rebecca followed Josh to West Covina, California in the hopes of rekindling their relationship. As Rebecca's condition became more unstable, she ended up seeing herself as a villain, and once tried to embody the vengeful stereotypes of being a femme fatale.
She was portrayed by Rachel Bloom, who also portrayed Queen Barb in Trolls World Tour.
Personality[]
Rebecca is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder by Dr. Akopian in episode six, season three of Crazy-Ex Girlfriend. Rebecca finds herself resonating with all nine symptoms, which are:
- Severe mood swings.
- Profound fear of abandonment.
- Instability in relationships.
- Unstable sense of identity.
- Paranoia or dissociative episodes.
- Excessive, frequent anger.
- Feelings of emptiness.
- Impulsive behaviour.
- Recurring suicide threats or attempts.
Besides these characteristics, Rebecca was also shown to be vindictive when she feels she has been wronged, going so far as to give Josh a Tupperware of her own faeces. Rebecca also has a wide-ranging knowledge of musical theatre, having adored it from a young age when she attended a summer camp.
Rebecca has shown impulse on various occasions, such as moving to California from New York, sleeping with people in inappropriate proximity to her and making expensive financial transactions.
Despite this, Rebecca has a strong desire to self-improve and be as emotionally stable and regulated as she can be, as well as happy with being single.
Rebecca is also meant to parody the misogyny of the crazy ex-girlfriend stereotype found throughout many rom-coms.
Physical appearance[]
Before Rebecca moved to California, she had straight brown hair, and wore professional clothing. She seemed paler with dark circles around her eyes. After she moved to West Covina, Rebecca's hair became thicker and more styled, where it had more wavy texture to it. She also dressed a bit more casually. In season two, Rebecca's hair grew slightly longer. By season three, Rebecca's appearance changed to support her femme fatale intention. She dressed in all-white, with darkly-dyed hair and red makeup. When this look was ditched, her appearance remained darkened.
Biography[]
Background[]
Rebecca Nora Bunch was born to parents Naomi Bunch and Silas Bunch. At a young age, Rebecca enjoyed playing make-believe as a medieval princess. Rebecca would grow growingly frustrated with friends whose imaginations did not match hers. As a preteen, Rebecca did not have many friends, but worked hard to gain some. A birthday party of Rebecca's went miserably when after a heated marital argument, Silas left Naomi and Rebecca.
After Silas left Naomi and Rebecca, Naomi became increasingly harsh and critical of Rebecca, calling her and her friends losers. Naomi manipulated Rebecca to have a rivalry with Audra Levine as part of a motivation for Rebecca to succeed. She continued to overwhelm Rebecca with pressure to succeed academically and later in her career, forcing Rebecca to attend extra-curricular activities such as mock trials and summer camps. At one summer camp, Rebecca met Josh Chan. The pair began a romantic encounter, which was cut short when camp ended. This deeply upset Rebecca, who returned to a life of being chastised by her mother.
Rebecca succeeded in her academia, and attended Harvard Law School at the same time as Trent Maddock, where she began a relationship with one of her professors who was married. When the relationship ended, Rebecca became devastated. To get revenge, she intended to start a small fire in his bedroom by burning a Harvard jumper. However, this escalates to a real fire and causes significant damage.
Rebecca faced court where she was able to obtain a highly beneficial plea deal where Rebecca would transfer to Yale and complete her studies there. Rebecca then qualified as an attorney, where she began working at a prestigious law firm in New York alongside Audra. However, it becomes evident that despite her success, Rebecca is truly unhappy. She begins seeing a quack psychiatrist who prescribes her incorrect medication, numbing Rebecca.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend[]
Whilst working, Rebecca is told that she is due to be promoted to junior partner at her prestigious law firm by a colleague. Unable to process the situation, Rebecca leaves and begins to panic. As she is depressed, Rebecca is unable to find the situation has made her "truly happy", beliving career success would make her happy. Wanting a sign, Rebecca sees her old boyfriend, Josh Chan, on the streets. She takes this as a sign for when she was last happy, and approaches him.
Rebecca learns Josh has lived in New York for some time, but is returning home to West Covina, California after finding that the New York life wasn't for him. Rebecca returns to work, and swiftly declines the promotion (which is taken by Audra), and moves impulsively to West Covina. There, she begins a wild stalk after not being able to get a response from Josh that she is in West Covina.
Rebecca meets Greg, Josh's friend, who says that he is going to a party that evening that Josh will be attending. Attracted to Rebecca, Greg invites Rebecca to come with him, which she agrees to. Whilst at the party, Rebecca uses making out with Greg as a way to easily move around the party and find Josh. She learns that Josh is now not coming to the party, and is staying in with his girlfriend, Valencia Perez. Not knowing Josh had a girlfriend, Rebecca feels nauseated and tries to leave the party, to Greg's chagrin.
There, Rebecca is met by Paula Proctor, a colleague at her new law firm, who had been stalking Rebecca. Paula learns what Rebecca did (now believing that she is "crazy"). However, Paula shows support to Rebecca which starts the pair's process of trying to break Valencia and Josh up. Rebecca becomes complicit in Paula's overarching plan by getting Rebecca to be a bridesmaid for Josh's' sister's wedding, blackmailing Valencia's boss to control when her yoga schedule is, and keeping a general profile on him.
As such, Rebecca is able to get through to Josh, who breaks up with Valencia and kisses Rebecca. The two begin a relationship, but and is proposed to by Josh. Rebecca accepts, and begins to plan her wedding and becomes obsessive over it. In the midst of the Santa Ana winds, Rebecca cheats on Josh when trapped in an elevator with her boss, Nathaniel Plimpton.
Placing more hope on her happiness coming from her marriage and future with Josh, she invites her father, who abandons her again. After being jilted by Josh, Rebecca becomes hell-bent on getting her revenge, and being a "woman scorned" femme fatale. She does so by coordinating a series of villainous assaults on Josh's family.
Later on in the series, Rebecca's law firm is bought by Nathaniel Plimpton III, of whom the two begin an inappropriate relationship.
Redemption[]
Rebecca is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and commits to working hard in therapy. She begins to recognize her toxic patterns and try to improve her thinking and behavior. She works on her black-and-white thinking and emotional reactivity.
Rebecca also learns that focusing most of her energy on romance is unhealthy. She begins to pursue things that interest her, such as music.
Quotes[]
| “ | You want to know all the things I've done for you? I moved here for you 'cause that day in New York on the street you lead me on! I whored myself out at Beans' house just to find out where you'd gone! I had to clog my garbage disposal when you ignored my calls! I watched you and Anna have sex while I was hiding in a bathroom stall. I also watched you have sex during a poop attack on Thanksgiving! I now associate toilets with heartbreak, welcome to the Hell I'm living! When you asked Valencia to move in I was such a mess; you can ask Paula, she saw it all from the camera on my dress! I ran over Anna's cut just because I had to know if she actually styled eyebrows, or if she was dealing blow! I paid some chick 10,000 bucks just to move her wedding slot, that's how I moved our wedding up - and, oh yeah, I almost forgot! You gave me that worthless proposal then not even three weeks later, I made out with my boss when we got stuck in an elevator! You're nothing without me and my selfless humility! |
„ |
| ~ Rebecca revealing in a self-destructive episode to Josh her nightmarish life since living in West Covina. |
| “ | I was working hard at a New York job making dough, but it made me blue. One day I was crying a lot and so I decided to move to West Covina, California: brand new pals and new career. It happens to be where Josh lives but that's not why I'm here! | „ |
| ~ Rebecca's delusional refrain in the season one opening theme. |
Trivia[]
- Rebecca's fantasy delusions portray her as many iconic villains, including:
- The Evil Queen from Snow White in the song "I'm The Villain In My Own Story".
- Rose Thompson Harvoc from Gypsy in the song "After Everything You Made Me Do".
- Velma Kelly, Roxie Hart and the Cook County Jail inmates from Chicago in the song "What's Your Story".
- Catherine Tramell from Basic Instinct in the song "Where's Rebecca Bunch".
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 villains
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Rebecca Bunch | Paula Proctor | Valencia Perez | Trent Maddock | Naomi Bunch | Silas Bunch | Audra Levine | Santa Ana Winds | ||