Graphic by Vivian McPherson ’23
To Netflix, nothing seems to parallel the perils of adolescence like telekinesis and murder. Eleven blows up things with her mind in “Stranger Things,” the repercussions of murder become clear in “The End of the F***ing World” and countless attempted and successful vengeance plots unfold in “The Politician.” Netflix’s new story of teenage angst, “I Am Not Okay with This,” isn’t as big and bold as these other examples. It’s not flashy and it doesn’t involve high-speed chases, which might put it closer along the lines of the trials of average, non-bloodthirsty, teens of the “Everything Sucks.” In true Netflix style, “I Am Not Okay with This” does still involve telekinesis, daddy issues and a distinct murder.
The show tells the tale of Syd Novak (Sophia Lillis), a “boring 17-year-old white girl” (her own words) struggling with anger issues after the death of her father. We hear her tale in the form of a guidance-counselor-prescribed diary as Syd struggles with her best friend’s boyfriend, newly emerging sexuality, late-shift working mother and anger-induced superpowers. Typical teenage stuff.
If it has a similar feel to “The End of the F***ing World,” that’s not completely coincidental. Both series are in part created and directed by Jonathan Entwistle and based on comic books by Charles Forsman. The books have a look far from the distinctive warm ’70s color palette of the shows, as if they’d be more at home in a long-forgotten corner of the Sunday comics. However, the plots of both shows stay true to the confusing mix of joy, anxiety and apathy that can plague teenage life.
Though “I Am Not Okay with This” doesn’t highlight it in any way, I was particularly interested in the way the time frame of the story is handled. There are seven episodes, one for each day before the homecoming dance. Each episode is only about 20 minutes long, but the short time frame manages to make the plot of each feel like a real, full day. The pacing makes the audience remember that the sudden changes in Syd’s opinions and daily routine, her feelings of betrayal and her realizations of romance really do happen that quickly in teenage life. The film and television industries have an odd way of distorting time and making an abundance of events occur in film-universe milliseconds, while dragging a character’s change in mindset out for hours. When you really pay attention, “I Am Not Okay with This” does an impressively beautiful job at handling time perception, especially for a series that can be binged in under three hours.
While the show has a pleasingly realistic feel in comparison to the flashy sets and costumes in “The Politician” or the constant factor of humanity’s doom in “Stranger Things,” I was still somewhat disappointed. For the most part, the characters are enjoyable, and each episode brings a new and fun factor to the story. Otherwise, I found a lot of the plot points predictable and taken straight from the high school movie genre, in which football players rule the school and there is a punk rock bully back from juvie.
It’s an interesting take on the “secret superpower” genre that I’m excited for later seasons to explore, but it falls into some boring clichés as well. The show is still worth watching and continues to shock and excite even when you predicted a plot point an hour ago. The most memorable points of the show for me are the predictions I got wrong.
Also, while I’m pleased the show does incorporate LGBTQ+ themes — something that’s not hard to catch once you watch past the trailer — I am disappointed by its lack of depth. It made me think of “Everything Sucks,” “The Politician” and “Sex Education,” which are all known for incorporating LGBTQ+ characters and plots more heavily into the typical coming-of-age drama.
But comparing these shows also led me to disappointment with the lack of characters of color in “I Am Not Okay with This.” I haven’t personally seen “Sex Education,” but just a glance at the main cast makes it clear that it’s more inclusive than “I Am Not Okay with This.” “Everything Sucks” boasts a similarly small cast but features a black main character. Sophia Lillis and the other actors all do fantastic jobs, but I still find it frustrating that, while Netflix’s breakout in originals was “Orange is the New Black,” they can’t seem to muster the same amount of diversity for even one of its most realistic teen dramas.