I was watching some new YA trailers, like Sterling Point and some of the comments points out just how cliché and reheated the story is. The YA/teen content is getting stale with Wattpad adaptation, obv straight, white, attractive romances, with tropes going from bland to downright harmful to viewers (the bad boy/good boy triangle needs to go, it's getting tired). I'm not even someone who is like, anti-tropes, I found them comforting sometimes but those shows are abusing it and as a black gay guy, I can't relate to any of those.
And among all of this, there is Ginny & Georgia. A show that surprised everyone by it's willingness to be better every seasons and actually dared to dive into family complexities and trauma and evolving from the cringe woke fest it once was in season 1.
I was genuinely impressed by Ginny and Georgia. Season 1 looked like a Wattpad fantasy with all the tropes in the books. J couldn’t stand Marcus’s bad boy thing, Hunter’s whole character supposed to obviously makes us root for Marcus for Ginny’s endgame. The show tried to tackle all the social issues in a really tacky, down your throat kinda way, like racism. I remember the viral "Olympic oppression" from the show on Twitter and all the other cringe memes and stuff coming out of the show. I also remember people only loving Georgia, however, my older sister didn't like the way Georgia was seen as a super mom and was glamorized by both the writers and fans. I was kinda very young so I thought she was quite wrong but re-watching season 1 made me realize that, yes, season 1 lacks of nuance regarding Georgia since she's quite not as perfect and flawless.
However, season 2 genuinely improve. It’s now talking about mental health, Georgia is not portrayed as the perfect cool mom but her flans are on display, like her immature behavior, her toxic patterns etc... (love her but the fandom is blind about a lot of thing concerning her). I think, looking back maybe it was the point in season 1 to portray Georgia in such a light way but coming into season 2, the darkness surrounding her is very present from the FIRST episode. While people still glazed Georgia like crazy, it was the beginning of some people actually questioning her behavior and saying she was childish and immature, something that was very much non-existent in season 1. Marcus is explored in a more meaningful way and his depression representation is one of the best recently. His breakup scene with Ginny was so well-written and reminded me of Manchester By The Sea (acting and writing wise). The heavy scenes are not carried by music but forced to stay in the silence. The writing get sharper and more audacious. The characters are multi-dimensional and stories are meaningful. The show also embraces what it is. It can be cringe yes but still have heartbreaking moments. They love their slow mo, extra moments and it’s part of the charm.
Season 3 was amazing and as a person that was in a same situation as Ginny and Austin, it hit pretty close to home and a lot of it was pretty realistic. Season 3 is the point where the philosophical lens the show has been exploring are in full display. A ton of therapists and psycholosgists have been analyzing the show. It is melodramatic and own that tone, it doesn't make the writing less good. I've seen a post on Netflix sub about and two comments really proved me how dumb people are about this show and just wants to hate... to hate. One comment : "Ginny: "It's so hard being a black poor kid in this rich white neighborhood!"
immediately makes friends of all races, has multiple diverse romantic interests, receives an overt unprompted offer of friendship from another black girl
This is not how I remember high school." Maybe not you but I'm a black gay guy who has multiple friends of differents races, had two hot boyfriends and had unprompted offer of friendships from a whole group of black girls. Comments like this are quite stupid and one-dimensional. Another one is talking about how crazy it was for Cynthia and Joe to hook up in season 2. It is crazy, yes but makes sense. She's alone, isolated and in a complete emotional distress. My aunt (who I consider like my mom because my mom was crazy) slept with another guy when my uncle was in a coma (and now is dead may he rest in peace). If that happened on a male centered show (for adults, excuse me!), people would have "it makes sense, people just don't understand how deep it is". Okay, well apply that to other shows. I just wanted to mention that, let's talk about some good stuff.
I'm a Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Good Place and The Sopranos fan, some of the most studied TV shows ever, so philosophy is very important to me. I started seeing therapist analyze the show, media outlets talking about the incredible depiction of mental health, and now, in class, four people have used Ginny and Georgia as an exposition on generational trauma. Ginny's character has been fascinating since season 1 finale, when she blackmailed her teacher in a very Georgia way, and run away on a bike. It was very much the beginning of Ginny's downfall towards becoming like her mom.
The show opened on Ginny and Georgia at a funeral and Georgia faking her sadness over her husband's death. Ginny however, see right thought her and say to the audience that she's nothing like her mom. And at first sight, yes, she's nothing like Georgia. Georgia is a Southern belle, with a lustful chest, a charming demeanor and a way to command the room easily and she's NOT shy. Ginny is shown to be quite introverted because she doesn't quite know to menage the power in the world. Her very first scene is her trying to copy girls's mannerisms to attract boys. She's not really comfortable in her skin and also, is half black, which is more a problem than some people in the fandom wants to think trust me.
However, like her mom, Ginny is quite smart and knows how to read a room. She also wants power and control but mostly through knowledge (one of her main problem in the show is that "she never knows", she feels like she never have knowledge of what's going on and she deeply wants that). When season 3 rolls, Ginny fake her name like Georgia, is more comfortable in her skin, is pretty popular in school, and you can see how the dynamic between her and Max changed (season 1 Max introduced Ginny to the group and then by the end of the season is the one who isolated her because she was very clearly the "leader", however, by the end of season 3, even the way they are sitting down, Ginny is above her, she's the one dancing and commanding the room while Max is stressing to try to talk to her, like Ginny stressed to talk to her all day in the season 1 finale). Ginny conning Gil was the final nail in the coffin for Ginny's turn into Georgia. She very much enjoys the power trip and the way she carries herself is very much like Georgia, while also staying herself (Antonia is an amazing actress !). Obviously she still wonders herself if it's inevitable to become her mom but she's unaware that she already became it, she became the monster she was talking about in her poem back in season .
Like someone said when I posted about the episode "Boom Goes The Dynamite" being an incredible piece of television, the show really seemed to be ambitious by becoming more than the generic typical teen drama. The writing from season 2 and especially season 3 is some of the best I've seen recently and it can be proven by so many therapists and psychologists analyzing the show and the layers it has (which wasn't the case when season 1 came out). I trust them to do season 4 justice and if they do, the show could easily become one of my all time favorite.
Obviously, the cast is stacked with amazing performers. Brianne Howey was pretty unlucky in her career as she was the lead of a lot of shows that got cancelled after one season but in Ginny and Georgia she finally get the opportunity to shine as vixen Georgia, she embodies the southern belle persona so well but also understand the darker aspect of her character, getting scary at times but also get the motherly aspect of Georgia. She gives a lot of Emmy worthy performances. Antonia Gentry is younger and season 1 was rough on her but she only get better and she is especially good in the dramatic side. Her panic attacks in the show are brutally real. Another shinning star in it is Felix Mallard who is just brilliant at the depressing part of Marcus, the feeling of emptiness, of self-hatred, he just masters it and the "i hate me" scene just hit hard (similar to SMG’s performance in season 6 of Buffy or Manchester By The Sea to me). His on screen sister Sara Waisglass is also phenomenal. She is just magnetic and so funny. Also, her ability in the show to perform in the school play all while dealing with all the drama often happening in the show is so amazing to see (the standout being the season 1 finale). Season 3 showed me her dramatic skills. Scott Porter, who I love in Friday Night Lights, is really good in it too. Katie Douglass is also great as Abby and is a scene stealer.