The Summer I Got Addicted to a Teen Show: How Wednesdays Had Us All in a Chokehold
Image Credit: Prime Video AU & NZ via Wikimedia
“Belly almost married Jeremiah!" and "Can you believe Belly moves to Paris?" were the first conversations my flatmates and I had when reuniting at the end of summer. Four months of not seeing each other, yet we skipped the holiday small talk and jumped straight to the more demanding subject: that finale episode. I don't know what it was about the hit show - based on Jenny Han’s bestselling YA novels - that made it so trendy, especially since the first two seasons were so ‘cringe’. Somehow, before I’d even started the last season, I was already familiar with the entire plot line; constantly being fed new details about each episode, getting edits of the show all over my TikTok and Instagram, and seeing endless memes going viral (re: “Belly, cacao is the bean”).
Although everyone seemed compulsively addicted to this show, it was as if there was more criticism circulating it than praise: endless satirical comments about the characters, the plot development (or regression), and I even heard viewers say that certain lines and scenes from the show had a somewhat horrific nature! Nevertheless, this trend, I’ve come to realise, is not specific to The Summer I Turned Pretty. For some reason the mixture of insufferable characters with poor decision-making skills, unrealistic love triangles and situation(ship)s, and an awkward resolution, keeps all of our eyes glued to the screen. Is this a coincidence? I think not.
Audiences are drawn to fictional representations of characters that tend to be more problematic and layered, we’ve seen it before with Rory Gilmore and numerous other publicly hated and judged TV characters (think the entire dramatis personae of How I Met Your Mother), and now we’re seeing it again with Belly - even her name is rage bait!
We love to point blame and make judgements towards these types of characters, but the truth is, sometimes we are so captivated by them because they might just remind us a little bit of ourselves. Whether it be unhealthy attachments, self-sabotage, or their general lack of self-awareness, these problematic protagonists may be fictional but they are also relatable, and most of all, they remind us that we are all human - a role that involves complexity, chaos, and catharsis. That being said, it might not necessarily be the fact that people resonate with a show that makes it popular, but instead quite the opposite: fiction can provide an emotional escape from the realm of everyday life. There is no denying that some parts of the show were ridiculously unrealistic and miscalculated, but no harm lies in living vicariously through these characters and imagining ourselves in their shoes.
TSITP: The Movie has officially been confirmed, so get your popcorn ready! It won't be long before we return to Cousins Beach to see what new chaos Belly and the Fisher boys have in store for us…