Warning: Major Spoilers below!
When I first watched the trailer for the new Netflix film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (based on a novel of the same name), I wasn’t sure what to think. Personally, I am not a massive fan of overly sappy movies or shows because I find sappiness to be disingenuous most of the times, or romanticized to a point of unbelievability. That’s sort of how this film came across, but what caught my eye was that the main character was a PoC (actress Lana Condor is of Vietnamese ethnicity, playing half-Korean character Lara Jean Covey). Then I thought about it – and realized how jarring it was to figure out how few mainstream rom coms or teen films there are that have PoC characters as the lead. This is definitely something that needs to change, and it made me instantly appreciate that TATBILB is one of the current few that will pave the way for a canonized world of more representation in the teen romance genre. The millennial/Gen Z eras are on a whole more openly accepting ones, and I have to say I absolutely love that.
So, of course, I decided to give it a chance, and I embraced the sap. Throughout the film I kept thinking that it was such an interesting combination of the generic teenage drama storylines we’ve seen in soap operas and rom coms alike, as well as a fair amount of unpredictability. The unpredictability stems from the unique plot background of a girl who writes letters to her various crushes throughout her youth, as a way of catharsis (Lara Jean is a self proclaimed writer and lover of fantasies, and this is so well represented through the writing of letters, which is considered “old school” now). She keeps them in a box, though, never to be seen by anyone but herself. This allows her creativity and romanticism to flow freely on paper, satisfying the part in herself that feels deeply for a person without actually having to face the reality of dating and love. Coming from a family of two other sisters and a widowed father, Lara Jean’s social awkwardness is noted by those close to her, including her younger sister who secretly decides to send out the coveted letters, and all chaos ensues after this. Lara Jean’s older sister, Margot, has just moved away for college and has broken up with her long term boyfriend Josh – who Lara Jean happened to have a major crush on, not realizing how she felt until after Margot started dating him (he is one of the letter recipients). The film sets itself up to seem that it will follow a storyline of Lara Jean and Josh, but throws a curveball when one of her other letter receivers and old middle school crush, Peter Kavinsky, confronts her about the letter. Lara Jean, mortified that drama will ensue between her, Josh, and Margot, avoids Josh at all costs. Peter and Lara Jean soon enter into a fake relationship in order to make Peter’s recent ex jealous, and he convinces Lara Jean it will help her Josh situation out too. The film then follows as Peter and Lara Jean slowly realize that they actually like each other as more than fake partners, and through various conflicts, situations, and assortment of feelings, the movie concludes with Lara Jean and Peter finally ending up together for real.
It’s a bit of a roller coaster ride, full of the usual teen rom com tropes (ie. exploring sex and sexuality, high school bullying, teenage mean girls, relationship drama, etc) made less tropey by throwing some more heaviness into the mix. Major loss and death, broken families, deep rooted self esteem issues, love, heartbreak, and the journey to letting go, are all dealt with in the film – balancing any moments of vapidness with real, relatable qualities. We see the pretty, semi-awkward, but nevertheless strong, funny and quirky main character fully realize her own self worth, with the aid of a legitimately sweet guy who actually never treats her badly or is a proper jerk to her (I only mention this because there are a surprising number of films that deal with the male love interest who, more often than not, mistreat their romantic prospects before eventually getting with them). Lara Jean eventually works out her feelings with Josh, Margot, and her family, and all’s well that ends well.
I honestly don’t have too many complaints, although perhaps a PoC love interest would have been nice in addition to the PoC main character, but in the end that doesn’t really matter too much to me. This is because frankly, the two main characters have amazing chemistry, and make you feel like you are truly witnessing two teenagers fall in love. The representation that is present in the film is pretty great, and makes me enjoy the movie more than I would its non-diverse predecessors. Even though aside from Lara Jean and her sisters there aren’t many other PoCs present, the fact that the main character and her siblings are PoC is pretty huge. I was entertained throughout the whole film, and genuinely felt that it wasn’t as predictable as a lot of other teen rom coms, which is a huge bonus. Watching a film, too, that centres on the way one’s feelings can change and evolve over time – especially when dealing with romantic feelings – is a theme that isn’t often explored in more lighthearted movies, making To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before a surprisingly mature, lovely and ultimately heartwarming film to watch.
~ Z ~
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
