Hulu Shouldn’t Have Canceled High Fidelity: Here are 5 Reasons Why

I’m just going to come straight out of the gate and say it, I am not a fan of reboots. They are an unnecessary addition to the canonicals of an already existing property in popular culture. Reboots are pieces of art that cannot stand on their own and their funding could be used for better original content. However, there is one reboot that stood out among all the rest, giving a fresh and necessary perspective, with great performances, and bomb music supervision: the 2020 reboot of High Fidelity on Hulu—a reimagining of the 1995 novel and 2000 film starring John Cusack.

The High Fidelity reboot has a lot in common with its predecessors. All three iterations are about Rob, a record store owner, trying to figure out how to deal with having been recently dumped while simultaneously trying to get back with the person that dumped them, as they process their past failed romantic relationships. Along with two friends - one, a fun and loud wild card, and the other more reserved. The 2020 iteration differs because this time, Rob, is a young Black woman—and it works. It works really well...or, worked really well. I have to use past tense now because Hulu canceled this amazing show before it was able to reach its full potential.

Here is my top five list of reasons why High Fidelity should not have been canceled on Hulu.

1. Zoe Kravitz was FINALLY Given Mainstream Material to Showcase Her Strengths as an Actress

High Fidelity was well written, well-directed, had interesting production design (Rob’s apartment was gorgeous, my dream aesthetic, and I want it), and the music supervision by Questlove was phenomenal. Any good piece of television works well when all of the departments put forth their best efforts, but the show is good first and foremost because of Zoe Kravitz. The success of High Fidelity hinges on her ability to carry the show, which she does well. Rob is a character I’ve been waiting for from her. Zoe has shown her strengths as a lead actress in indie films like Yelling To The Sky. However, when she entered the mainstream Hollywood system, she became relegated to the white woman lead’s best friend or Black male lead’s love interest; never fully realized, never given depth.

Zoe is finally allowed to take up space as a performer on a mainstream project. Here she is, electric and charming on-screen. As she became relegated to these supporting roles the focus shifted onto her lineage, her beauty, her tattoos, and her infamous goddess braids, all of which have branded her as the “ultimate alternative cool girl”- a persona of mystery. In the very first episode of the series, Rob has her first date in a year after her engagement was broken off. She sits at her cluttered dining room table, meekly eating cereal, as she explains her most recent hookup. Everything about the movement of Zoe’s body as she slouches, to the cadence in her voice, is inviting. She’s embraced all of her cool-girl personas. While she often presented Rob as someone who may exhibit a superiority complex with a demeanor of surprising modesty, she capped it all off with an unassuming flare. I wanted more.

2. Cherise and the Layers She Brought to the Show with Her

Remember when I said that one of Rob’s friends/employees was fun and a loud wild card? Well, in Hulu’s version, her name is Cherise, played wonderfully by Da'Vine Joy Randolph. Cherise’s function is to be the “Jack Black” of the group. She’s also big and loud. These personality traits, in the wrong hands, could be used to the character’s detriment, but Cherise is instead the impetus for most of the introspective conversations throughout the show. At the record shop, while hanging out, a discussion is sparked about the group’s personal favorite top five villains. Rob offers Michael Corleone from Godfather. Displeased with that answer, Cherise claims he doesn’t count as a villain because he’s the protagonist of the movie. Rob offers the notion of an antihero, but Cherise shoots her down, ‘’There’s no such thing as an anti-hero. That’s the bullshit that they feed us so that we don’t notice Clint Eastwood is a fuckin’ asshole all the time.” I love that this Black woman has all of these opinions about art in a show like this one, where often cishet white men's opinions are held as indisputable gospel. Underneath all her spunk, seems to lie deep insecurities and possibly trauma that needs to be unpacked, hinted at through Da'Vine Joy Randolph’s performance and loaded interactions with customers at the store that touches on her feelings toward desirability. I was upset that Cherise was not given more of an arc or her own individual episode. Although, not too upset thinking they would remedy this in the second season. Until ya know...

3. The Amazing Music Supervision

While Grease, High School Musical, and Glee will always have a special place in my heart, my favorite kind of musical show is when music is woven seamlessly into the everyday fabric of a character's life. There are many scenes in High Fidelity where music is playing, but the source is indistinguishable from Rob’s head versus the outside world. At the end of the first episode, I Can’t Stand The Rain plays as Rob smokes and sits in the middle of frame; anguish and utter devastation are plastered across her tear stained face. She nods into the camera, as the lyrics echo her current situation. In a later episode, Cherise is trying to get her attention as Daydreaming by Aretha Franklin plays. The viewer cannot tell if the song is playing in the shop or if it’s playing in Rob’s head. In life, we as humans hold onto songs because they bring us joy due to nostalgia or because they’re relatable. The lyrics and melody ring vividly in our ears at the exact moment of the corresponding life event. This is a device used in mass media, but usually abruptly in choreographed routines or over a montage without the character’s knowledge within the show. Here, music is such a staple in Rob’s narrative that it connects with her just as it would with you or I. The show used music effectively to score Rob’s life. 

4. Rob as an Interesting Protagonist

Rob is self-absorbed, but this trait never crosses the line into full-blown narcissism. She has a very selective and opinionated taste in art, but never forces her taste onto others or thinks of others as less than for their own. Rob in some ways fits the woman-child trope. She’s stuck feeling unfulfilled in this inbetween stage in her life, almost like her second adolescence. I’d liken her to Issa Dee on Insecure. I relish in the idea of a Black woman being able to make mistakes and not be a pillar of strength for anyone, fully indulged in her own problems and betterment. However, she grows throughout the show because she’s actively trying to improve herself, and has good intentions to get to the root of the red flags in her past. Rob starts out with her heart set on rectifying past relationships and learns it's better to just not repeat those same mistakes going forward. I also love that Rob becomes invested in relationships that fall into the platonic, and not just the romantic, as her friends and brother begin to take up prominence in her life as the show goes on. 

5. Rob and Cherise’s Dynamic and Friendship

I find the dynamic between Rob and Cherise to be very interesting and complex. Rob and Cherise are two Black women in the same space that have had vastly different life experiences due to colorism and fatphobia. The existence of the two of them in that record store parallels the larger context of Black womanhood in society and Black women in the entertainment industry; the preference for women who look like Rob over women who look like Cherise. The direct opposition of these two women speaks to the deeply ingrained beliefs taught to us by white supremacy- that whiteness is the peak of desirability, and being as close to that as you can is the next best thing. Those who cannot meet those ideals face hyper-masculinization; a treatment Black women receive when they’re not small, lighter in complexion, or dainty. Rob, even being allowed to be the star of the show, reveals society and the entertainment industry’s inability to fully unpack our uncomfortably with the complexities of dark skin black women within the show, Rob and Cherise’s relationship is the one that I became most invested in throughout the course of the show. I wanted to know more about how they became friends, and see more of their relationship blossoming as Rob began to understand the importance of friendship. In the last episode, Rob gifts Cherise a guitar that she had secretly been eyeing. I was excited because it meant Rob was consciously making Cherise more of a priority in her life, offering support for her passions, and possibly becoming a fixture to help her solve the personal issues plaguing her.

Making a reboot of an early 2000s IP and updating it with the child of one of the original stars could’ve gone very wrong. It could’ve turned into studio heads trying to make peace with the history of their past work and ending up with a shallow and forgettable end-result, but it didn’t. High Fidelity was an important show. It had a lot to say about multifaceted relationships, the way we consume art, how our love of pop culture manifests in the way we move throughout the world, and who is valued in creative spaces. Rob’s story is one the masses need to see more of. I just wish Hulu felt the same.