So, in following my Pride Month theme. I'm talking about a story with a lesbian MC today. The Netflix series "I am Not Okay with This" is about a teenager who, in addition to dealing with the usual teen angst and bullying and the recent death of her father learns she has some kind of super powers.
It is pretty clear from the start of the show that main character Sydney has a crush on her best friend Dina. The fact that Dina has a boyfriend creates a lot of tension for her character. Dina's boyfriend being a total douche creates even more. Her younger brother Liam is being bullied and she can't go in their basement because that's where their father killed himself. So her therapist recommends that she write her thoughts in a journal.
Sydney narrates the story through the journal entries she makes where she talks about getting angry and things happening around her. She gives Dina's boyfriend a nosebleed at one point, and throws a sign at another. As her emotions escalate, so do her powers. It's not a spoiler because it's in both the preview to the show and in the first episode as foreshadowing, but the discovery of these powers culminates in a pretty horrific way. I'm not going to say exactly what happens, but the foreshadowing makes it pretty obvious so you'll probably figure it out while watching.
I said Sydney is a lesbian even though she experiments sexually with a guy. That is because she likes him platonically and she's frustrated about Dina and since he's into her she thinks "what the hell". The guy in question Wyatt is a pretty good character. I'm glad his character was added and it doesn't make Syd any less of a lesbian because she had sex with him once. Especially since she realized she wasn't into him and that it was a pretty huge mistake immediately thereafter. Many women don't come out as lesbians right away or realize before they've experimented with a guy, that doesn't make them bisexual. Bisexual women are attracted to both men and women, although they may have preferences towards one or the other.
I liked the way they explored the platonic bond between Syd and Wyatt and contrasted that to the bond between Syd and Dina (who she's in love with). Despite containing more than its share of messed up stuff, this show is pretty good. The only real beef I have with it is the way it ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. I'm not sure if it will be renewed for another season, so if you don't like to be left hanging you might want to skip this one. I would also warn that there is a some gore towards the end (but you are definitely foreshadowed this several times during the series), so if gore bothers you maybe this isn't for you.
I liked Syd as a character. I liked Wyatt. Appropriately named Richard (Dick) was a very hate-worthy villain (not a super villain, mind you, just a homophobic, misogynist, entitled white guy villain). Dina was a good character as well (though I'm not sure I believed her relationship with Richard, kinda lop-sided). That brings me to something I just noticed. When a show wants you to root for two characters to get together, often they'll have one of the characters dating a total douche, even if that's completely unrealistic for their character. I guess that makes it easier to swallow than if both the love interests are equally likeable. Like if Dina had been dating Wyatt, it would have been harder to root for them to break up so Syd and Dina could get together. I guess that's because you don't mind if a douche gets dumped, but you don't like to see a good person get heartbroken. Although Wyatt still gets heartbroken because he falls for Syd, so it would have happened either way.
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