Why be realistic, when you can be aspirational?
I tried the first book a decade ago, and it wasn’t for me, I dnf’d and never looked back. The show wasn’t really on my radar, because I’d never connected with the source material, but enough friends and clips on the internet inspired me to give it a shot, and I’m so glad I did.
After the first watch through, I consumed a bunch of the media around it, cast interviews, fan reactions and edits and one thing that struck me was the decidedly mixed (at least in my feed) reactions to changes made to the characters, specifically the men. Disappointed comments about making them softer, kinder, more emotionally intelligent. Reminders that these were “men written by women” and therefore completely unrealistic. So I dove in a watched again, paying closer attention to better understand the commentary, and why I loved it so much, and here is the conclusion I’ve drawn.
Watching young men and women unconditionally support each other, avoid slut-shaming and body shaming, cheer each other on and have honest conversations about sex and consent is incredibly refreshing. Maybe it is unrealistic, but how sad is that? Why not use a platform like Off Campus to show a better way? Change only happens if people are shown a different path. Maybe more shows could follow Off Campus’s lead.
I love shows that cut against the grain, provide a platform for characters that can be real role models. Shows like Heartbreaker, Schitt’s Creek, Heated Rivalry, Abbott Elementary, all show us what the world could be like if we met each other with kindness and curiosity. Supported each other in times of crisis and accepted one another for who we are. In that same vein, Off Campus, shows us that we can aspire to be more than a stereotype, that grace cost nothing and kindness is free.
Watching the people involved in making the show, the cast and creators, talk about it, it feels like they are actually “being the change” so many of us want to see. So i guess I just came here to say, I love that so much for them, and I love it even more for us.