‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Is a Love Letter to Teenage Girls Everywhere

I went into The Summer time I Turned Fairly considering I knew the way it was going to go. I hadn’t learn Jenny Han’s books, however I gleaned sufficient from the outline to foretell what Prime Video’s summer season teen romantic comedy needed to supply: a younger, lovely solid, attractive surroundings and robust beachy vibes that will have me craving for the ocean’s salty breeze. 

I should not have been so cocky. Positive, you would possibly guess the tip vacation spot, however I used to be stunned by how a lot I loved the journey. The key to this success should not be exceptional, nevertheless it’s one thing that is really surprisingly elusive in teen exhibits: The creators know their core viewers of teenage women. They usually use each device of their arsenal to achieve them, together with writing, casting and music alternative. 

The Summer time I Turned Fairly, or TSITP, is proof that showrunners needn’t reinvent the wheel to draw audiences. Teenage women are, rightfully, among the most discerning audiences, they usually deserve exhibits that do not take their viewership with no consideration. And I am completely satisfied to report that due to all their efforts, TSITP is among the greatest teen rom-coms on the market.

‘This summer season will probably be completely different’

The seven episode season follows 16-year-old Isabel “Stomach” Conklin’s many romantic relationships all through her summer season trip within the fictional seaside city of Cousins. Stomach (Lola Tung) has been in love with Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) for so long as she will be able to bear in mind, however Conrad has at all times seen her as just a little sister. Conrad’s youthful brother Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) can also be in love with Stomach. Add in a celebration each episode, loads of alcohol and many unhealthy communication, and you have a basic love triangle teen drama.

However, it is not that dramatic. One of many issues that TSITP present creator Jenny Han does rather well is displaying restraint relating to the end-of-the-world framing of relationships that is all too widespread in teen exhibits. The romantic relationships are the primary focus of the present, however when one relationship ends or begins, the characters simply transfer on. Maybe it is as a result of there are simply so many relationships to get via within the brief collection, however the message that life goes on after relationships finish is a crucial one, particularly for a younger viewers.

That is not the solely factor that separates this present from its cliché-ridden contemporaries. Stomach is surprisingly real looking, a self-aware heroine. She is not at all times easy, like in her painfully-awkward-to-watch relationship with Cam, however her optimism and allure come throughout as real and endearing fairly than irritating. Within the lead function, Tung brings a compelling innocence to her heartfelt efficiency that also has me rooting for group Stomach, regardless of some actually eye-roll-worthy choices Stomach makes all through the season.

One other essential observe about how TSITP is completely different from different teen exhibits: The solid is age acceptable, or at the very least as shut as potential. Thanks, TSITP casting administrators, from the underside of my coronary heart, for not casting 30-year-olds as youngsters. Tung, 19, really seems to be like a youngster, as do all the opposite younger individuals solid. This may increasingly seem to be a small factor, however having people who find themselves youngsters (or only a few years previous) makes the present a lot extra plausible. 

The summer season Stomach wasn’t the primary character

Individuals who’ve learn the books are undoubtedly in for some surprises, although the adjustments are largely for the higher.

Followers of the books, the primary of which is advised solely from Stomach’s viewpoint, may be pleasantly stunned that the present expands past simply Stomach’s relationships. It touches on each households’ fractured parental relationships, the pairing of Steven and his fashion-forward girlfriend Shayla, and the real love story of the collection: Laurel and Susannah’s decades-long friendship. 

However there are lots of matters the present brings up briefly but would not discover past a cursory scene or two: the racism Steven experiences working on the Cousins nation membership, the monetary distinction and pressure between the Conklins and Fishers, Jere’s fluid sexuality. All this stuff deeply have an effect on the characters and the conditions they discover themselves in all through the present, however they don’t seem to be given the right time to be explored totally. For viewers who have not learn the books, this may be irritating. 

Even when the second season revisits these points, Stomach’s voice-overs frequently carry the viewer again to Stomach’s viewpoint. The voiceovers constantly break a scene’s movement and barely add new info or clearer context that the viewer could not get in any other case. 

In future seasons, it could be nice if the present reduce the voice-overs altogether or handed the mic to different characters to maintain the give attention to whoever is the primary character of the episode’s storyline.

Going nonetheless farther and embracing these different storylines as equal in worth to Stomach’s romantic relationships would make the present a a lot richer, nuanced watch. 

The summer season I blared the TSITP soundtrack

I do not know what the soundtrack funds was. All I do know is it was cash nicely spent. Olivia Rodrigo, Lizzo, Phoebe Bridgers, Ariana Grande, Tyler the Creator, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish again up the present’s key moments. To not point out the most effective tune placement of all time: “The Manner I Beloved You (Taylor’s Model)” by Taylor Swift within the ultimate episode. My poor Swiftie coronary heart swooned.

Aside from the songs’ thematic significance — Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo throughout a combat scene, for instance — the music choice exhibits that the present’s manufacturing crew clearly understood its younger, feminine audience. These are the songs and the artists that many teen women really hearken to, as in the event that they have been pulled straight from their telephones and playlists. The music choice enhanced so many scenes as a result of it was in a position so as to add a deeper emotional stage. There have been a number of moments after I thought, “Yeah, that is what I might hearken to after one thing like that occurred to me.”

The soundtrack additionally prompted lots of on-line chatter, together with Lizzo’s superb 4 half TikTok response collection. Along with releasing the collection’ official playlist, Amazon Prime additionally gave the actors free rein and created character-specific playlists, filled with songs they used to get into character and simply a few of their very own favourite songs. Tung’s Stomach playlist is particularly good.

The Chris Briney summer season: Standout efficiency

One of many notable performances is Christopher Briney’s Conrad. Conrad may simply simply match into the brooding, good-turned-bad boy cliche, however whilst early as the primary episode, Conrad’s character seems to be greater than he appears on the floor. Whereas the writing already units Conrad as much as subvert expectations, Briney’s efficiency brings a complete new layer of emotional depth and nuance. Watching Briney’s Conrad is a grasp class in vulnerability, one thing that may be laborious present in teenage boys.

Briney’s brilliance lies in his means to subtly present all of the conflicting paths and roles Conrad desires to take: the older brother retaining his household collectively, good friend to native creator Cleveland Castillo, and a cussed teenage boy who cannot completely resolve how he feels about Stomach. It is a delicate line to stroll, however Briney manages to disclose simply sufficient to maintain viewers engaged and interested by Conrad’s not-so-brooding behaviors. Once you return and rewatch the present understanding what Conrad is coping with, Briney’s efficiency solely will get extra spectacular.

The piece de resistance of Briney’s efficiency comes throughout episode 6. After watching Briney so deftly bury and deflect Conrad’s feelings for the entire collection, he navigates this devastating second with a reserved heartbreak that is each laborious to look at and unimaginable to look away from — you lastly see how all of the items of Conrad join. It is a fantastic, weak scene, and it is one through which Briney shines.

The summer season of romance book-to-screen diversifications

There’ve been a rash of romance films and exhibits coming again by well-liked demand in the previous few years, together with Sarah Dessen’s Alongside for the Experience, Sally Thorne’s The Hating Sport, Jenny Han’s first book-to-screen adaption, To All The Boys I Beloved Earlier than, and The Kissing Sales space, primarily based on the e book initially revealed on Wattpad. TSITP now outshines all of them.

To be truthful, a few of these diversifications are meant for a barely older viewers, as their supply materials is as nicely. However so many of those exhibits and flicks are marketed towards teenage women, and so typically the individuals behind these exhibits haven’t any clue who these women are, what they need or how greatest to signify them.

Usually teenage women are demeaned or mocked for what they like, made to really feel as if their pursuits are simply the newest passing fad, undeserving of the time or vitality it could take to really perceive them. It might be simple for TSITP to fall again on stereotypes, add in a couple of cultural references and name it a day. It is tougher to create a feminine lead who makes questionable choices, struggles in her friendships and would not stay and die by her present love curiosity, as a result of none of this stuff are related to the standard TV teen lady. However they’re all issues that apply to Stomach. They usually make her, and the collection, a lot extra attention-grabbing, as a result of she appears actual. 

In an oversaturated style, The Summer time I Turned Fairly exhibits that the creators not solely perceive teenage women, additionally they worth them — as entire individuals, with sophisticated emotions and relationships and objectives. This units the collection aside, in one of the best ways potential. With a powerful basis established in season 1, and so many matters left to discover, I can not wait to be stunned once more in season 2.