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It’s not often when a truly unique idea crosses our screens, but producer-director Boots Riley has come up with one in the new series I’m A Virgo. It’s a coming-of-age story, sure, but person coming of age is a 13-foot-tall young man named Cootie, who has been shielded from the world by his parents for the first 19 years of his life.
I’M A VIRGO: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: People run through a hospital room, while a woman holds a very large baby. The baby is literally as tall as she is.
The Gist: Since the day that LaFrancine (Carmen Ejogo) found herself holding that gigantic baby, she and her husband Martisse (Mike Epps) have been raising the boy, named Cootie, hidden away from the public. We see a montage of scenes as Cootie gets older, wearing patched-together clothes and sitting in the half of the room Martisse has painted yellow in order to keep him from damaging more spots in the house.
As he sits in the house, watching kids play outside on the Oakland streets, he sees news of an entrepreneur named Jay Whittle (Walton Goggins), who has made himself into “The Hero”, a self-style crime fighter. As he grows into a 13-foot teenager, Cootie (Jharrel Jerome) outgrows the house, and LaFrancine and Martisse build a patchwork house that he can stand up in.
Cootie, now 19, just wants to experience life like a regular guy his age, including a Bing-Bang Burger. But LaFrancine and Martisse won’t let him out of the house until he’s 21. They think that’s for the best, but Cootie disagrees. Martisse tells him he’s never eaten that “poison”, so neither should Cootie.
One day, Cootie decides to cover himself in leaves and venture out into the neighborhood. He scares the crap out of a guy named Felix (Brett Gray), whose report about seeing a 13-foot tall Black dude goes viral. Felix dubs Cootie the “Twamp Monster” and sells t-shirts with the image.
He shyly introduces himself to Felix and his friends Jones (Kara Young) and Scat (Allius Barnes). He tells them some of the weird things his parents told him, like young Black men caught without jobs get arrested (which is sort of true, just a bit twisted), and that he was here to achieve something great. But when they ask him to hang out at the side show that night, he goes “I’m a Virgo, and Virgos love adventure.”
He has the time of his life, leaning up against a subwoofer and helping his new friends do side wheelies in their car. Of course, videos of this giant teen go viral, and LaFrancine and Martisse are pissed. She reminds him of what other giants through the years have been subjected to by the outside world. “People are always afraid, and you are a 13-foot-tall Black man. They fear you,” she tells him. However, it doesn’t stop him from going back out with his new buddies and experiencing new things, including getting into a fight with some drunken clubgoers. Needless to say, he handles them easily.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? I’m A Virgo feels like a cross between Sweet Tooth and Swarm.
Our Take: I’m A Virgo starts out a little strange, given the fact that we see a woman holding a baby that’s as tall as she is, but creator and director Boots Riley’s visual style in the opening montage of scenes was arresting enough to keep us fascinated, wondering where things are going. As we see see scenes of Cootie (which is supposed to be “Kuti”, but ends up being “Cootie”) growing up, there are lots of forced-perspective shots and items rendered in miniature to show just how big Cootie is compared to the rest of the world.
But once Cootie hits 19 and expresses a strong desire to explore the world outside his house, the story becomes a bit more balanced. It’s definitely a coming-of-age story, albeit one that involves a 13-foot-tall young man. What’s interesting about the story Riley has created is that much of what Cootie is going to have to adjust to is that the world isn’t what his parents told him it’s like, and that the social awkwardness he experiences is less from being a giant and more from being sheltered his whole life. Jerome’s performance brings out that awkwardness, even though there’s also a confidence there that characters like his don’t always have.
Other interesting ideas that Riley has set up in the first episode is that The Hero, whom Cootie has grown up admiring, isn’t quite the guy Cootie thought he was. For instance, Scat mentions how The Hero busted his cousin for dealing weed without a license. He also passes overhead as Cootie and is new buddies drive away from the side show, essentially coming to bust the side show up. Just what kind of crime is The Hero trying to stop. Sounds like he’s more dealing in “broken windows”-type of law enforcement, much of which is directed at the Black community.
By the end of the first episode, we forgot all about the weirdness at the beginning of the episode and just started rooting for Cootie to make that difference that he said he wanted to make, even though we know why LaFrancine and Martisse want to protect him so badly.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: When news of the Twamp Monster (i.e. Cootie) hits the news, LaFrancine and Martisse check to make sure they’re ready for what’s coming.
Sleeper Star: As Martisse, Mike Epps proves he can handle more dramatic material, even if his character isn’t a heck of a lot different in temperament from characters like Bennie Upshaw.
Most Pilot-y Line: When The Hero asks his computer to asses the threat level of the “Twamp Monster,” it answers in a very Bill Cosby-esque voice. That feels like a bit of a superfluous creative flourish.
Our Call: STREAM IT. I’m A Virgo is about much more than the fact that Cootie is 13-feet tall; it’s a layered story about isolation, coming of age and institutional racism, but all presented with a little bit of a fairy-tale sheen to it.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
