With the end of our weekly Wednesday night episodes comes time for reflection and analysis of the much-loved show The Summer I Turned Pretty. Now, I might be biased because I have watched each season of the show as it came out, so as Belly, the main character, was spending her summers with the Fisher boys, I also felt like I was spending my summers with them at Cousins Beach. What was different about this season is that the episodes were released one per week instead of a season all at once. It was reminiscent of how people consumed shows pre-social media, but it also allowed us the chance to absorb the content and reflect on it for a week before receiving more. Some could call it a ‘dopamine detox’ in the age of short attention spans, fast trend cycles, and a binge-watching culture. This also, however, opened the floodgates of commentary, opinions, and critique of the show — some warranted, others not.

My biggest problem with the commentary surrounding The Summer I Turned Pretty was the demonization and vilification of Belly’s character, which I believe was rooted in mainstream misogyny and the expectation on women to be perfect. Belly is a flawed character. Her biggest misstep was dating both brothers, while secretly holding more space in her heart for one. While she ultimately led Jeremiah on, she also truly loved him for years. It seems that her biggest fault was that she loved both boys and dated the ‘wrong’ brother for years. Belly is blamed for ‘splitting the brothers up’ and ruining their bond, as if it was her responsibility to keep a family — that isn’t hers — together. People also ignore the fact that she was only dating them because each of them showed interest in her too. Why is Belly shamed for showing interest in Jeremiah after dating Conrad, when it is Jeremiah who should hold more loyalty to his brother than anyone else? Jeremiah was never a victim of the same backlash for destroying his family and betraying his brother’s trust.

I do not mean to say that Jeremiah was not on the receiving end of criticism as well, with his character often being the most hated one on the show. But, unlike Belly, Jeremiah did things that many people would strongly consider as wrong, like cheating on Belly and being borderline neglectful of her in the weeks before the wedding. However, even those actions can be explained through a simple character analysis. Jeremiah has always felt inferior to his brother, resulting in jealousy and competitiveness in every aspect of their lives. When Belly started dating Jeremiah, he took it as a form of victory over his brother. It becomes apparent in the scenes after the wedding, when Belly called him and not Conrad. Afterwards, Jeremiah used her call as a way of mocking Conrad and turning her love into a competition. For Jeremiah, Belly seems to be a symbol of his status over his brother, a way to prove his worthiness to a family that had always pitted them against each other. He remained immature for so long because he was never given a chance to grow past it. He was dating Belly, working for his emotionally abusive father, dealing with the loss of his mother — all while going through the never-ending cycle of falling short of earning his father’s love and respect. All of this came easily to Conrad. He got into medical school, always got the perfect grades and opportunities, and everyone knew Belly’s heart had a gaping hole the size of Conrad Fisher that no man was able to fill, not even his brother.

The show’s fandom was split into ‘Team Jeremiah’, ‘Team Conrad’ and strangely ‘Team anti-Belly’. The latter category only formed in Season 3 as a way for fans to express their displeasure with Belly’s actions, such as not dating the majority’s favorite, Conrad. They felt like she was leading both boys on and she was causing unnecessary division in the family. If she would have simply left them alone, she would have made everyone happier. There were also calls for Conrad to ‘choose himself’, and even when Belly inevitably came back to him, fans wished for him to reject her because of her indecisiveness and inability to make the “right” choice for the past five years. Team Jeremiah argued that Conrad was emotionally unavailable and uncommunicative, showing the typical signs of being a bad partner. Team Conrad, however, joined the discourse by giving Conrad the analysis and backstory he deserves. Many fans believed that Conrad, being the older brother, felt like he had to carry the weight of the family on his shoulders. He found out about his mother’s illness long before anyone else did, and he did not want to burden anyone else. So he sat with it, internalized it, and had to figure out ways to deal with it alone. This decision made it difficult for him to open up because of the heavy responsibility he felt. He was always tasked by his mother to do the right thing and take care of his younger brother, and in his mind, taking care of Jeremiah meant making sure he was happy. These feelings did not make him a terrible partner — they made him human — someone who fell into traps of trauma and oldest-sibling-syndrome.

Do you see how I spoke about both brothers in-depth? While both had their negative moments, at least they were given some form of analytical discourse. Giving a character the consideration they deserve is a form of empathy. It is the recognition that their actions do not exist in a vacuum, they happen in the context that was awarded by their story. Belly was never afforded the same degree of empathy. Therefore, I have decided to take it upon myself to give her the compassion she deserves. In the beginning I said that Belly — just like the Fisher boys — is a flawed character. She was raised alongside her older brother and her girl best friend. She saw Conrad and Jeremiah every summer. The show begins with her saying that summers were the only thing that mattered to her. To me, it has always seemed like her entire world revolved around these four people. So, when she matured and her appearance changed for the first time, she was yearning for the approval of her boy best friends over at the Cousins Beach house. The show has established that she always loved Conrad because of how gentle and kind he was to her, compared to her brother and Jeremiah excluding her from their “boys” club when they were young. As many people would expect, they fell in love, but only began dating one fateful summer in high school. This is not an uncommon story, but what is uncommon is that his brother began liking her that same summer as well. This is when the competition between them began, but Jeremiah had to simply accept that Conrad and Belly were unstoppable.

Until they were not. They broke up on Belly’s prom night because of an instance of miscommunication. Almost immediately, it felt like the audience started sympathizing with Conrad, painting him out to be the victim of a situation he himself did not believe he was the victim of, meanwhile framing Belly as the girl who simply does not understand Conrad’s angst. They were all teenagers at the time, so I am not even sure I understand where this expectation stems from. She wanted a perfect prom night, as most teens do, and he was going through a million things that he refused to communicate with her. Of course she was heartbroken, and in the midst of heightened teenage emotions, they broke up. Next summer, comes in Jeremiah Fisher, the fun and flirty younger brother who got a chance to “win” the girl and prove his worth. A heartbroken Belly, attempting to come to terms with her loss, tries to fill it with the only other person she could think of and that has shown interest. For a girl whose whole life revolves around these boys, I think it makes perfect sense for her character to choose this option and end up in a 4-year long relationship where she was only half happy. She probably thought she would never experience the same spark with anyone other than Conrad because her other attempt to date someone else went poorly and she appears to have no interest in anyone else during high school or university. She also grew very attached to the Fisher family and the beach house. This was only exacerbated by the death of Susannah, Jeremiah and Conrad’s mom, as both families came together in mourning, a loss only they would understand the weight of.

So, for a girl who has never really discovered herself, her passions, and her needs outside the beach house, is it that surprising for her to date the brothers and settle for the one that actually expressed interest in her? I would say no. Does it excuse her for unknowingly leading Jeremiah on? Probably not, but I believe we should have more empathy for complex characters. In reality, it was not Belly’s fault that the family split up, they were all at fault. Conrad with his never-ending sense of martyrdom, Jeremiah with his childish competitiveness and inferiority complex, and Belly with her inability to make her own decisions. She went to the same university Jeremiah went to, to be with him. She never had to choose. Perhaps she never even felt like it was an option to go anywhere else, because if you love someone and want to be with them, you simply have to make that kind of sacrifice. Her cancelling her study abroad in Paris later on in the season is not out of character, since this was also right after Jeremiah proposed to her.

All of this to say, Belly was written as a complex character, and she should be given the same time and thought that the boys got. We should also reflect on why she was so hated. In my opinion, she did fewer hurtful things throughout the show than the boys. She dated Conrad’s brother, but Conrad disappeared, did not communicate with any of them, broke Belly’s heart repeatedly, broke off his brother’s wedding, and continuously attempted to get Belly to fall in love with him. Jeremiah cheated on Belly, withheld things from her, did not communicate, dated his brother’s ex-girlfriend, and neglected her right before the wedding so that he could prove his worth to his dad. Belly, in my eyes, did not commit any serious crimes or was even as uncommunicative and irresponsible as both brothers at any point during the show. Yet, she managed to garner more hate than Conrad ever did, and I would say at some points even matching people’s dislike of Jeremiah. Why, then, was she so disliked? Is it because she was a young woman making mistakes in a world that expects perfection and morality from women? Is it because her character was less relatable in her struggles, and people on today’s internet simply cannot place themselves in someone else’s shoes? I believe there is a reason why so many people understood and sympathized with Conrad, and that is because his story is the one we are used to in society. An uncommunicative, brooding man who was shaped by his trauma and is so misunderstood by everyone but remains a kind, compassionate person is an easy sell. We love these stories and understand what it feels like to be sad and misunderstood to the point of self-seclusion.

Belly’s and Jeremiah’s stories, though, are harder sells. Not many people can relate to being a young girl with the two boys you have been best friends with since childhood suddenly liking you and fighting for your attention. Not many understand what it means to be extremely attached to a house and a family that are not yours — so much so that you would want to be part of it if you could. In the mix of all of this, you also have very little agency and sense of self, so you continue to repeat the same mistakes you always have. Jeremiah’s story too, with feeling an unbearable sense of jealousy towards his brother and never being able to escape it because he is constantly reminded of it by his father. Their stories are complicated and intricate. They demand more complexity. I fear that we are slowly losing the ability to understand these different perspectives and make space for them in today’s world. If that happens, we would be losing the point of art. Art that demands thought and analysis of worldviews, behaviors, and actions you do not understand and cannot relate to have always been at the epicenter of society. You are supposed to question these characters’ behavior, but it should never boil down to being ‘anti-’ or ‘pro-’ a character simply because they are annoying or charming. This dumbs down art and removes the point of creativity and exploration. Let’s fight this compartmentalization and simplification of media and arts by starting at popular shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty, and extending their stories to become a bigger, broader cultural commentary.