I absolutely adored this show. I have always had a fascination with the US and cultural differences and especially in the context of being a teenager, homecoming etc like you’d see on movies.
I remember always assuming the US was this far superior, magical place and wishing I lived there. There’s still a lot of things, culturally I think they do really well and things I’m pleased we don’t share.
The American confidence and lack of constant self-deprecation honestly seems so much healthier and I’m always struck by how awkward and insecure the average British person ends up looking side by side. This is magnified in the teenagers.
There was one scene where an adult asked if they wanted to say a few words and they declined, which I think most British teenagers (and a lot of adults) would, but I think the average American could probably launch into a speech at any moment.
There’s this real earnestness about them and I feel they’re a lot less embarrassed to talk about things they’re good at. You can see why so many would be open to therapy - culturally I don’t think there’s near the same barriers to opening up.
it was really apparent with Magda and Eli how her go-to to interaction with him was banter and making fun of him right away, out of awkwardness. This isn’t really a criticism as it’s just a style of humour and communication. I actually found his comment about her room being too small quite rude. They clearly found they got along very well anyway which was sweet.
I was surprised by the focus on dates for homecoming. I always thought this was a movie thing. I know British teens go out with each other but when I was at school there weren’t that many paired up at any one time within our school (only a few “popular kids”). I cant imagine even half would have brought “dates”. It feels a lot more grown up and not really in a good way.
I like the emphasis on sport in the US. I think cheer looks fun but I was surprised by how sexualised the performance was in this day and age. I assumed it was basically gymnastics with people flying in the air by now.
I thought the phone addiction stuff was really interesting and I’m really impressed with how the British teenagers apologised and really tried to make change.
I struggled to like Waylon but I thought it was nice that he is happy with where he lives. I found is uncomfortable how happy he was to openly state his disdain for anywhere except the US but again I think this openness is cultural. Eli’s complaint of Magdas small room I mentioned above is another great example of this. I think the British actually have quite complex rules on politeness.
The British kids were all much more conscious of not offending (even with the church situation) and of not showing their displeasure. I sometimes wonder if a lot of our culture is about politeness. Sometimes I think our self deprecation acts as a way of helping others save face, for example.
I think living somewhere like Mena would be very lonely though. If you’re not a white Christian it’ll always be hard to fit in. I was really saddened by how at the very start it felt like a lot of adults were dismissing the racism or excusing it. Seeing the multiculturalism at the South London school made me realise how much I take that for granted.