I have always turned to tv shows and movies to process my emotions. Whether it be to sit with my feelings and emote them properly, or understand why I am feeling this way by through a parallel narrative, media is a part of my process. I am able to release my sadness by tragic love stories, and balance my anxiety through an even more stressful slasher film. But rewatching my comfort shows manages to fix any emotional state. So when I saw Wanda Maximoff's form an alternate reality to literally recreate her favorite shows as the ultimate form of escaping to them, just to cope with her grief, I was immediately hooked.
WandaVision kicked off the MCU’s Phase Four as the first Disney+ series following Avengers: Endgame. The show follows Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) in an idyllic, shifting suburban reality in Westview, New Jersey. This entire false reality, the “Hex,” was unknowingly created by Wanda to cope with the profound grief of Vision’s death.
The storyline successfully balances Wanda’s personal story about grief with the larger MCU world. Wanda’s reliance on American sitcoms as the core of her coping mechanism is super clever and incredibly relatable. Sitcoms, with their contained structure, quick resolutions, and “feel-good story” nature, offer the perfect space to avoid the heavy reality of loss. The exploration of a comfort show for each decade of television highlights her immense love for the narrative of a sitcom, complete with meticulously recreated details like laugh tracks and breaking the fourth wall. Wanda’s ability to “roll credits” whenever she wanted was a clever demonstration of her power over the narrative.