The summer that we watched together.

Being a teen mom is terrible, is what they say. But I consider it opposite. I see a person with thoughts and perspectives who can talk for hours with me. That includes watching mindless silly web series on teen romance like “The summer I turned pretty”. I label them as silly now because I am supposed to be the mature 40 year old woman or rather a mother who should teach their kids to not dream about princes and instead show them the real world. How do I say that this mom has that one corner in the heart which still nurtures the dreamy princess in her who dreams of fantasy world princes and the eternal love story that never happens in the real world. How do I deny them the opportunity to float in the dreams when I myself hasn’t stopped myself from doing so?

The web series, TSITP, shows Belly, who has to decide between two brothers vying for her love. Not at all original, I know, but that maybe the beauty of it. I notice the patterns that keep repeating in stories which we call as cliches. These normalcy of the cliches maybe what is attracting us to them. Unless you are a Nolan fan who likes to eat your own brains for breakfast, I think I prefer such simple stories. The same old tropes like friends to lovers or enemies to lovers, the overused love triangles etc. 

She is of that age that I grew up on DDLJ, KKHH, the Titanic and other famous movies. The difference is its all American web series and books that occupy her world. I was limited to just Nancy Drew and the Brontes. I don’t have the heart to limit the new adult books that contain too much of smut that would make our ancestors hide in shame even in their graves. If they could read those, what is stopping them from watching all the series and shows available all over social media. And so we watched it together over the American Summer. 

Obviously the first question is whether I am TeamConrad or TeamJere. There was a similar war we had over Edward and Jacob. But the Rene Jacob twist threw me off very badly. How can you explain the wolf vampire connection of “you were hitting on me because of my unborn daughter? oh please!”. I learned the lesson then and there. No teams anymore. In TSITP too, I was Team Belly, and wanted her to jump out of the Cousins Well and explore more. And thanks to the social media hullabaloo, I found out that there were many parents who voiced the same. Unlike the olden times, the Instagram reels and Twitter comments make the viewing much more involved. We both were sharing reels explaining the analysis and some memes too. There were talks of therapy, grief, red and green flags, and such heavy topics could be easily discussed because we have such references now. 

Long back, when the nude scene in Titanic was aired on national television, I remembered how uncomfortable it was to watch with family even if nothing was shown because of Indian censorship. Now I am okay to watch anything with her. Way better than the violent killings and gruesome rapes that are being shown on films these days. Let them know that sex love and kisses are so normal in real life, and there should be no shame around it. 

And now that the movie is announced, the wait continues. But till then, we would be watching some other series for now.