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The Edge of Seventeen
Apr. 1st, 2019 07:07 amSometimes you watch a movie and your reaction is completely different than you expected. From the short descriptions of The Edge of Seventeen - “High school life gets even more unbearable for Nadine when her best friend, Krista, starts dating Nadine’s hated older brother Darian” - I expected to get annoyed about the boy getting in between the girls’ friendship.
But in fact, once I started watching the movie, I was 100% in favor of Darian/Krista, not in spite but because of the fact that it disrupts Krista and Nadine’s friendship. When Nadine discovers Krista and Darian are dating, she attempts to issue an ultimatum to break them up - “It’s either him or me!” she shouts at Krista - and when Krista sensibly refuses to choose, Nadine storms off and refuses to speak to her or even be in the car with her afterward.
And it’s worth noting that it’s not just her hated brother that Nadine doesn’t like Krista hanging out with. (And also worth noting that Nadine hates her brother because he’s a nice person and people like him and that increases her sense of inadequacy, because she’s a mean person who lashes out viciously whenever she feels insecure, which is most of the time.) When she sees Krista making small talk with another girl at a party, she mocks Krista afterward.
Darian, meanwhile, never issues ultimatums. He supports Krista and Nadine’s friendship. Unlike Nadine, who tries to prevent Krista from meeting new people, Darian takes her to a party and introduces her to all his friends because he thinks Krista’s great and he wants other people to have the opportunity to realize how great she is too.
#TeamDarian, is all I’m saying.
Now, in all fairness to The Edge of Seventeen, the movie is aware that Nadine is behaving badly: it ends with Nadine realizing as much and taking baby steps toward making amends. She apologizes to Darian, but with Krista, she just sort of… starts behaving as if nothing happened. There’s not even a half-assed “sorry.”
And Krista goes along with it, and the movie clearly expects the viewers to go along with it too - yay! They’re friends again! - but no. Why should I be happy that Krista is going to spend yet more time with someone who treats her so shabbily?
But in fact, once I started watching the movie, I was 100% in favor of Darian/Krista, not in spite but because of the fact that it disrupts Krista and Nadine’s friendship. When Nadine discovers Krista and Darian are dating, she attempts to issue an ultimatum to break them up - “It’s either him or me!” she shouts at Krista - and when Krista sensibly refuses to choose, Nadine storms off and refuses to speak to her or even be in the car with her afterward.
And it’s worth noting that it’s not just her hated brother that Nadine doesn’t like Krista hanging out with. (And also worth noting that Nadine hates her brother because he’s a nice person and people like him and that increases her sense of inadequacy, because she’s a mean person who lashes out viciously whenever she feels insecure, which is most of the time.) When she sees Krista making small talk with another girl at a party, she mocks Krista afterward.
Darian, meanwhile, never issues ultimatums. He supports Krista and Nadine’s friendship. Unlike Nadine, who tries to prevent Krista from meeting new people, Darian takes her to a party and introduces her to all his friends because he thinks Krista’s great and he wants other people to have the opportunity to realize how great she is too.
#TeamDarian, is all I’m saying.
Now, in all fairness to The Edge of Seventeen, the movie is aware that Nadine is behaving badly: it ends with Nadine realizing as much and taking baby steps toward making amends. She apologizes to Darian, but with Krista, she just sort of… starts behaving as if nothing happened. There’s not even a half-assed “sorry.”
And Krista goes along with it, and the movie clearly expects the viewers to go along with it too - yay! They’re friends again! - but no. Why should I be happy that Krista is going to spend yet more time with someone who treats her so shabbily?
