As we all know by now, Netflix has been pumping out Netflix Originals. A majority of them are really spectacular, great writing and aesthetically pleasing. Shows like Stranger Things and Black Mirror being major hits along with movies such as Bird Box and Set It Up. But not all movies were created equally— Or done with care. The thing is, I’ve noticed a pattern with some of these horrid Netflix Originals… the romantic comedies (teen or not) had the worst, least accurate, and most cliche writing out of all the genres. Besides Kissing Booth and The Perfect Date, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser… just sucks.
Let’s start with a bit of background information. Sierra Burgess who is shown as a “nerdy” high schooler who is bullied by the popular girl because she isn’t what high school culture deems normal. She’s this smart, poetic, and “quirky” girl who doesn’t fit in. Veronica, the popular girl, is approached by a guy (Jamey) from a different school who thinks she cute, she gives him Sierra’s number as a cruel joke to get him to leave her alone with her friends. Somehow Sierra catfishes this guy who thinks he’s talking to the popular girl. Which in turn ends up ruining her relationships which weirdly includes Veronica, and her best friend(who is kind of the only sane person in the whole movie).
My problem with the movie isn’t the fact that Sierra tries to be so poetic that its cringe worthy but that it’s so unrealistic that I cannot watch it without rolling my eyes in annoyance and sighing in defeat. In the movie, we see that there are cliques of populars, football players, and outcast type people. This couldn’t be further from real high school than how its portrayed in the movie. If someone is popular in school, it’s because they have a great personality and do extracurriculars not just because they’re pretty and dating someone remotely attractive. Also the fact that Veronica went along with Sierra to catfish Jamey and thinks it’s okay to do speaks volumes about how clueless the writers are about how high schoolers conduct themselves. Or maybe they don’t care about quality writing and just want to push out mediocre movies that get hype that Netflix wants, who knows.
Not to say that catfishing someone isn’t a serious offense (you can go to jail for fraud) or immoral, but there are two things that occur that are arguably more crass and disgusting within this movie. The first being that Sierra pretends to be deaf as to not have to speak to Jamey when her best friend (Dan) tries to get her to tell the truth. Not only is Jamey’s brother ACTUALLY deaf, but she has to try and hold a conversation with him though sign language in order to hide the fact that she is lying. Instead of confronting her problems and telling jamey that she is catfishing him before it really get out of hand— although it already has. Not only was the whole debacle cringey, but insensitive to people who struggle with hearing loss and deafness on a daily basis. The movie kind of made being deaf a qUiRkY lighthearted joke which really offended people with real disabilities. Not to mention they used homophobic and transphobic slurs to demean Sierra, that also show the audience that they don’t mind using whatever words they want to make a fictional story more “entertaining”. *add tweet wrap text* The second “offense” would be that during one of the scenes Sierra and Veronica team up during a date to try and make Jamey believe that he wasn’t being catfished the whole entire time. When Jamey and Veronica are about to kiss, Sierra and Veronica switch places(as Jamey’s eyes are closed). Again trying to play on the “quirkiness” of the situation. In reality Jamey didn’t consent to kissing Sierra but in fact, Veronica. Problematic, is all I have to say about the whole scene.
And yes, I do understand that most Netflix Originals are decent or even actually enjoyable to watch. But it’s the bad ones that irk me to the point were I don’t want to watch them unless I know if it has bad writing, I just want to prepare myself. There are a few homophobic and transphobic jokes in the movie as well, which are beyond me. Overall I'd rate this a ten out of ten trash movie. The only time id recommend this movie is if you want to laugh and cringe at the stupidity and insensitivity displayed in Sierra Burgess Is a Loser.
Let’s start with a bit of background information. Sierra Burgess who is shown as a “nerdy” high schooler who is bullied by the popular girl because she isn’t what high school culture deems normal. She’s this smart, poetic, and “quirky” girl who doesn’t fit in. Veronica, the popular girl, is approached by a guy (Jamey) from a different school who thinks she cute, she gives him Sierra’s number as a cruel joke to get him to leave her alone with her friends. Somehow Sierra catfishes this guy who thinks he’s talking to the popular girl. Which in turn ends up ruining her relationships which weirdly includes Veronica, and her best friend(who is kind of the only sane person in the whole movie).
My problem with the movie isn’t the fact that Sierra tries to be so poetic that its cringe worthy but that it’s so unrealistic that I cannot watch it without rolling my eyes in annoyance and sighing in defeat. In the movie, we see that there are cliques of populars, football players, and outcast type people. This couldn’t be further from real high school than how its portrayed in the movie. If someone is popular in school, it’s because they have a great personality and do extracurriculars not just because they’re pretty and dating someone remotely attractive. Also the fact that Veronica went along with Sierra to catfish Jamey and thinks it’s okay to do speaks volumes about how clueless the writers are about how high schoolers conduct themselves. Or maybe they don’t care about quality writing and just want to push out mediocre movies that get hype that Netflix wants, who knows.
Not to say that catfishing someone isn’t a serious offense (you can go to jail for fraud) or immoral, but there are two things that occur that are arguably more crass and disgusting within this movie. The first being that Sierra pretends to be deaf as to not have to speak to Jamey when her best friend (Dan) tries to get her to tell the truth. Not only is Jamey’s brother ACTUALLY deaf, but she has to try and hold a conversation with him though sign language in order to hide the fact that she is lying. Instead of confronting her problems and telling jamey that she is catfishing him before it really get out of hand— although it already has. Not only was the whole debacle cringey, but insensitive to people who struggle with hearing loss and deafness on a daily basis. The movie kind of made being deaf a qUiRkY lighthearted joke which really offended people with real disabilities. Not to mention they used homophobic and transphobic slurs to demean Sierra, that also show the audience that they don’t mind using whatever words they want to make a fictional story more “entertaining”. *add tweet wrap text* The second “offense” would be that during one of the scenes Sierra and Veronica team up during a date to try and make Jamey believe that he wasn’t being catfished the whole entire time. When Jamey and Veronica are about to kiss, Sierra and Veronica switch places(as Jamey’s eyes are closed). Again trying to play on the “quirkiness” of the situation. In reality Jamey didn’t consent to kissing Sierra but in fact, Veronica. Problematic, is all I have to say about the whole scene.
And yes, I do understand that most Netflix Originals are decent or even actually enjoyable to watch. But it’s the bad ones that irk me to the point were I don’t want to watch them unless I know if it has bad writing, I just want to prepare myself. There are a few homophobic and transphobic jokes in the movie as well, which are beyond me. Overall I'd rate this a ten out of ten trash movie. The only time id recommend this movie is if you want to laugh and cringe at the stupidity and insensitivity displayed in Sierra Burgess Is a Loser.