In hopes of bringing the story behind the infamous Florida Man meme to life, the new Netflix dark comedy series starring Edgar Ramirez, Anthony LaPaglia, Abbey Lee, Lex Scott Davis, Otmara Marrero, Clark Gregg and others released on April 13. The 7-part show was created by Donald Todd, who also pitched in as one of the executive producers alongside Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan and Miguel Arteta.
Unexpectedly, the series that deals with the Sunshine State as its poster theme was actually filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. The show creator was born, and also grew up in Florida, so he made sure to keep the spirit of the American state alive through its storyline. But does it really work in the series’ favour? Let’s take a look!
What Was the Series About?
Mike Valentine is an ex-cop making amends to stay out of trouble and his old gambling habits. However, not everything goes the way he plans, especially since he’s working under Moss, a Philly mobster’s wing, to pay off his gambling debts. Ultimately forced to head back to his home state, Florida, to find his boss’ runaway girlfriend, his life gets entangled in a web of lies, crime and action that leads him into a treasure hunt for Gold, all while he has to reconnect with his estranged family members.
Does the Florida Man Meme Become the Centre Piece of the Series?
While in talks with TUDUM, Todd explained “why Florida is Florida” and how the ‘Florida Man’ “doesn’t live by your code”, leading him to not live by any code at all and meandering independently, with pride. This meme was popularised in 2013 when Freddie Campion created the titular Twitter account, wherein each of the posts pointed at a news headline highlighting the wayward actions (and the consequences met after that) of a ‘Florida Man’, who eventually came to be known as the “world’s worst superhero”.
However, instead of focusing on how dangerous the state is, we should be questioning why no such headlines ever rise to the top with mentions of other U.S. states. So, why is Florida always caught in the middle of these horrors that eventually turned into a viral meme, all credit going to the power of social media?
In 1967, the state laws took a turn as the public compelled the government to make things transparent. Since then, government records could be easily accessed by the people. As a result, with all records available and accessible to anyone, all footage and information were bared. During the TUDUM event, Todd brought the focus back to the context of it all. Instead of just paying attention to the headlines, mug shots and craziness of it all, the Florida Man series became a means through which these stories could be humanised so that we could all look past the memes into what lay beyond them.
While the intention was sincere, unfortunately, the show reduces it all to a punchline in the background, with mere headlines playing on the news, while the main focus adheres to the heist subplot that takes up more ground than anything else.
Through Ramirez’s Mike, we get insight into a character who’s escaped the Florida scene, and even when he’s compelled to go back on a mission, he’s reluctant to do so despite his family still being back there. The whole thing eventually becomes more of a personal account restricted to his character and his family issues, and though, all of that comes to light, making room for some sympathy in our hearts for the context in which he’d been brought up in, it doesn’t necessarily speak of the Florida-ness of the issue.
The extreme ‘Florida Man’ headlines are only portrayed through other sub-characters in the background, who are forgotten early on. With journalists delivering the news on TV and again poking fun at the situations in the series, it all falls flat. It descends to its meme-ish roots, barely covering the humane ground it sought to initially.
This may make you wonder – if that’s that, then at least we have comedy. Sadly, no. The only character in the show which carries situational comedy through is the secondary comic relief portrayed by the Agents of SHIELD actor Clark Gregg, who’s equally happy to make it out of the state in one piece after all that happens to him during his search for his beloved, one-of-a-kind gun.
Going back to Todd’s comments, the idea of how in the Sunshine State, the “brightest sun casts the darkest shadows” gives enough room for people to act and hide in the shadows – thereby making way for a crime story. But, by the time you finish watching the series, you’re left feeling hollow and clueless about whether it was all supposed to make you feel for these people, laugh at them, or witness everything as a mere outsider who otherwise has no connection with any of it.
While the series underlines the “how we got here” part when dealing with these headlines that people laugh at, the lacking emotional connection with it all cannot generate the drama or the comedy that one had hoped for.
Florida Man is now streaming on Netflix. Read our review of the show here.
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