Netflix’s series I am Not Okay With This, an adaptation of Charles Forsman’s graphic novel of the same name, is…interesting. Good interesting, but interesting rather than entertaining, for me.
It begins with a young woman in a white shift, covered in blood, running from what sounds like police sirens. The voice over starts, “Dear Diary….Go…Fuck Yourself.” And from that point on, I did, indeed, binge-watch this story of Sydney, a young woman whose entire already crappy life is turned upside down by even more circumstances beyond her control than usual. At fifteen, Sydney is angry and frustrated by life, and as a result she’s an asshole to people who are probably only actually a little annoying.
Sydney’s got problems, as most people do. She’s hauling around a lot of anger at a father who killed himself, and she’s secretly in love with her best friend, something she comes to understand as the story plays out. But her friend is not in love with her. Instead her best friend is going out with a star of the football team who kind of tries to not be a jerk, honestly.
Unfortunately for Sydney, she’s also beginning to manifest powers of manipulation….powers driven by her anger, mostly. Explosively violent powers. And so, as the season ends, we come full circle to the beginning, with Sydney, running away from sirens in the background.
Sydney’s sexuality is part of the story and it takes her a longer while than it takes us to figure out where her interest lies. But whether it will ultimately be a good thing is still way up in the air as the season ends.
The biggest hurdle in the story is not the horror of it all, or even the tedium of school life, which is thoroughly explored, but that Sydney herself is just not a particularly nice or interesting person. Her “good” column is mostly filled up with Sydney’s genuine affection for her little brother. That said, Sydney is fantastically acted by Sophia Lillis, who captures every single annoying, awkward, self-absorbed quality of queer adolescence competently. The rest of the cast is likewise excellent, with special shout out to Wyeth Oleff as Stanley Barber, Sydney’s confidant and would-be boyfriend.
Ratings:
Acting – 10
Story – 9
Characters – 8 Exceptionally well portrayed
LGBTQ – 4 Sydney figuring it out is a thing
Service – 2 a little dress up
Overall – 8
If you’re looking for a happy teen drama-comedy, this is not the teen drama you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a queer lead paranormal/horror story, a lesbian Stranger Things or had a fondness for the teen drama of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I Am Not Okay With This will probably scratch your itch. Whether a Season 2 will happen we don’t know, but it does appear that it’s being considered, if not actively made yet. The comic ends with finality, so if there is a S2, it will be going in a different direction.
