Let’s talk about the one-season hit show ‘I Am Not Okay With This,’ which was produced by Netflix, that tells us the story of the mess that occurs in adolescence through tragedy and dark humor. This show was released back on February 26, 2020, and adapted from Charles Forsman’s 2017 graphic novel.
In this series we follow the story of Sydney Novak, who is a seventeen-year-old girl who discovers that her anger and grief surface as a destructive telekinetic power. In this show we see Sophia Lillis playing Sydney struggling to understand her emotions, her family, and herself while trying to control what grows inside her.
The Weight of What We Feel When Nothing Feels Simple
We see the story unfolding in a small Pennsylvania town, and the story is narrated through Sydney’s diary, which reveals the thoughts she cannot share aloud.
We get to know that her father’s Self-inflicted death leaves a silence that weighs on her entire family, we see her mother, Maggie, who is played by Kathleen Rose Perkins, hiding her pain behind exhaustion and routine.
At the same time Sydney finds comfort in caring for her younger brother, Liam, and their bond reminds us that even amid despair, tenderness can survive.
Outside her home, we realize that Sydney’s world is held together by her friendship with Stanley Barber, who is her odd yet sincere neighbor and the only person who listens to her without judgment.
At the same time, her feelings for her best friend, Dina, played by Sofia Bryant, creates a very quiet conflict within her, as Dina is dating Brad Lewis, who is an arrogant athlete.
As the story continues we discover that Sydney’s powers emerge as an extension of what she cannot express, and they are not heroic or liberating but violent as well as unpredictable.
A Story That Ends Before It Can Begin
The story builds toward the homecoming dance, where Brad steals her diary and reads her secrets aloud, turning her shame into a huge spectacle. Overwhelmed and furious, by what happened Sydney loses control, and in one horrifying instant, Brad’s head explodes.
Afterward, Sydney runs into an abandoned watchtower, where a shadowed man approaches her, and he tells her not to fear him but to fear “them.”
I Am Not Okay with This was sadly cancelled because of the pandemic. But in just one season we all understand that it stands as a quiet reflection on growing up with grief and anger, that have no clear outlet.
