The New Girl Scene That Aged Poorly
"New Girl" remains one of the funniest shows to come out of the 21st century, and in many ways, it broke the mold of what a basic cable sitcom could look like, starting with its central protagonist, Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel). She was a true feminist icon, embodying characteristics of both femininity and masculinity, never settling for less than what she absolutely wanted and defending her eccentricities when necessary. This unique personality put her in plenty of hilarious situations, especially when it found her at odds with her best friends she lived with.
Many of the jokes and plotlines hold up by today's standard, which they should, seeing how the show was only on the air from 2011 to 2018, but that doesn't mean the show always nailed subject matter. As tends to be the case with a lot of jokes from a decade ago, some have aged rather poorly due to changing social standards, and there's one from "New Girl" that definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Actually, asking for consent is very sexy
Cece (Hannah Simone) has never been great at giving advice, but there's one little nugget she tells Schmidt (Max Greenfield) that's genuinely ill-advised for everyone watching at home. The moment comes in Season 1, Episode 12, "The Landlord," where Schmidt's trying to get tips on how to approach a woman he likes at work. Schmidt has trouble making a move because he can't tell what she's thinking, and that's when Cece says, "Stop asking permission, and go get it. That's what I would want. There's nothing less sexy than a dude asking if he can kiss you."
Maybe Cece just wants a guy to go for it when it comes to her relationships, but generally speaking, if you're on the fence about whether to make a move or not, it's best to err on the side of caution. It's always better to ask for consent and get turned down than make someone uncomfortable by putting them in a situation they may not want to be in.
And judging from chatter on social media, it seems many women are in agreement. The "New Girl" moment kickstarted a whole Reddit thread with women chiming in their thoughts, and many of them are in agreement that it's not only totally fine to ask to kiss a woman, but it can be downright sexy in and of itself. One user wrote, "I think it'd be hot as hell if a guy whispered 'Can I kiss you?' in my ear." Redditor u/hytone echoed those sentiments, "I find guys asking if they can kiss me to be very sexy." Looks like "New Girl" should've done focus groups in some subreddits before going ahead with that particular line.