I Am Not Okay With This (2020): Netflix's Genre Bending Graphic Novel Series

I Am Not Okay With This (2020) is a coming-of-age superhero television fiction, available on Netflix. Even from the trailer you can see that it is the work of Jonathon Entwistle, known for his popular programme, The End Of The Fxxxing World (2017).

The 7 short episodes follow high school student Sydney, struggling through high school, as her "powers" begin to reveal themselves.

Like Entwistle's previous series, the opening of the programme was extremely cringe. I was preparing for a long and painful watch. However, this doesn't continue much throughout the show and it was a genuinely interesting and endearing watch. The characters truly represent their age and are therefore cringe, because what young teen isn't dramatic and embarrassing. The cringiness of the characters and the things they say make the programme funny, charming and realistic, which I really appreciate when representing high school age characters.

The only character I found unbearable was Jenny - terribly overdramatic and unrealistic acting, that doesn't mesh with the show at all. Her character was so bad it almost changed my whole view on the programme.

On the other hand, Sydney and Stanley were incredible. Stanley specifically was immediately adorable, he's an outcast and has so many quirks - but he's also a cool indie king. How they look as characters was also super enjoyable because they are awkward and uncomfortable and REALISTIC. Please take notes.

Although the programme is set in the 2000s, it has an 80's, 90's vibe which I am a great fan of. I loved the costume and set design in this programme, it's clear they wanted different ages in the audience to feel nostalgia. This was definitely effective for me.

The colouring of the programme was also very satisfying, and was noticeably stunning.

I will say I have recently watched a few high school drama's (there are way too many). When are we going to stop referencing The Breakfast Club (1985). I understand that it's a classic and will be loved forever, even by myself. But it's getting to the point were I can sense the references coming and just hard eye roll when it happens. We need to move on, it's overdone. The references used to be exciting to see the appreciation to a film we all love, but now it's got boring.

I found the programme entertaining throughout but found myself so disappointed by the closure of the series. It just seemed very sudden and almost unplanned, like they simply didn't know how to close off the chapter and just went crazy in the writing room. It was set up for a next series which, if you read any of my posts, I simply wish for the day that a single series programme comes on my screen. That being said, I will probably watch the next series and see how they manage to continue the story where they left it off.