Kinda Pregnant’s Villain Mirrors A Fantastic Character In Melissa McCarthy’s $288M Comedy Movie From 14 Years Ago

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Kinda Pregnant.Amy Schumer is in top form in her latest feature-length comic role of this week’s straight-to-Netflix hit Kinda Pregnant. The movie is already heading to the top of Netflix’s global chart, and for good reason. Schumer’s knack for physical humor and razor-sharp delivery is complemented perfectly by the overweening exhibitionism of mother-to-be Shirley, the movie’s antagonist. Played with scenery-chewing aplomb by Gen V supe Lizzie Broadway, Shirley is the archetypal nemesis for a female-led buddy comedy.

Shirley appears hellbent on stealing Lainy’s (Schumer) best friend Kate (Jillian Bell) away from her but by the nicest possible means. Every backhanded compliment and showy gesture of kindly condescension that Shirley aims in Lainy’s direction is laced with poison. In this way, she inevitably draws comparisons with the infuriatingly imperious Helen Harris III, from the classic 2011 comedy Bridesmaids, which starred Rose Byrne as Helen, alongside Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy.

Shirley Is Kinda Pregnant’s Version Of Helen From Bridesmaids

They Play The Same Role In The Protagonist’s Story

Shirley and Helen rub their respective protagonists wrong in all the same ways; they unceremoniously barge Lainy and Wiig’s Bridesmaids character Annie out of the way to steal their childhood best friends. In Bridesmaids, Helen seeks to rob Annie of her role as maid of honor at her best friend’s wedding, while in Schumer’s new movie, Shirley looks to take Lainy’s place as Kate’s best friend by virtue of being her pregnancy buddy. To make matters worse, Kinda Pregnant‘s Lainy lost her mom at a young age and is especially touchy about motherhood.

In both films, the tension between Schumer and Wiig’s central characters and their rivals reaches a crescendo at parties Shirley and Helen are holding for their new best friends. In Kinda Pregnant, Lainy ends up ruining the baby shower that Shirley has put on for herself and Kate. In Bridesmaids, Annie destroys the engagement party that Helen is hosting. It takes another bridesmaid, Melissa McCarthy’s Megan, to snap Annie out of her subsequent malaise. On the other hand, Kinda Pregnant‘s Kate is the one who makes things right with her true best friend Lainy.

Both Shirley & Helen Are Perfect Villains For A Female Buddy Comedy

They’re Flawed Characters But Ultimately Created By Social Pressure On Women

The depiction of both Shirley and Helen as villains in Kinda Pregnant and Bridesmaids works so well because the crime they commit is the cardinal sin of sisterhood. They aggressively undermine friendships between other women, under the guise of offering support to one of them, to sabotage and exclude the other. It’s the ultimate affront to female solidarity, particularly in the context of rom-com storylines where a united front of womanhood is most needed, in the buildup to a wedding and during pregnancy.

At the same time, these characters aren’t portrayed as evil caricatures but as human beings. They’re real women with understandable flaws that stem from their own insecurities and the pressures placed on them by society. Their fundamental humanity keeps the animosity they share with their rivals relatively light, leaving Kinda Pregnant and Bridesmaids plenty of room to focus on comedy.

Bridesmaids does a better job of portraying Helen as a sympathetic character than Kinda Pregnant does with Shirley, whose humanity is conveyed through a single word of remorse and a split-second shot in the movie’s closing scene. Nevertheless, they both work perfectly as buddy comedy villains precisely because neither of them is really villainous. They’re just flawed human beings who come to make peace with their respective rivals eventually, rounding out the happy endings the protagonists deserve.