Never Have I Ever

Gosh, I have watched so many online shows and movies that it makes it hard to pinpoint on a particular one. The trend or genre that I find myself leaning towards is comedy romance. As embarrassing as it is to admit as a +30 year old, teen romance draws my attention the most as it takes me away from my own reality and to have a good few chuckles. Recently, Never Have I Ever on Netflix is the one that fits the criteria and got me hooked episodes after episodes. 

I Binged it

Having a lifetime job as a mother and a full-time day job, life is hectic and time just goes by within a blink. As I am creeping to my mid-life, I can’t help but reminisce about the good old school days, being carefree and young. Never Have I Ever is a teen comedy revolving around the school and personal life of a first generation Indian American high school girl from school, friendship, love and family, which are all checkpoints everyone will experience in their lives. The title gives out a big clue as to what the story spine is about; the protagonist will experience a first in her lifetime and it is usually something significant and worth learning from. Each episode title adds on to the drama title Never Have I Ever: Pissed off everyone I know and it is the level of reality mixed with humor that makes it real and engaging, and also foreshadows what struggle the protagonist is able to face. 

The Rooting Character

Having an ethnic background, I am automatically drawn to the protagonist, Devi, as I can relate to the same feeling, stereotype, cultural heritage, minus being an academic genius, that she experiences. Devi’s personality is witty, nerdy and outgoing, however her struggle with controlling her emotions tends to get her into trouble. Her character shows vulnerability on what a typical high schooler would face from social pressure (a major one), school and family expectations. The story takes us on Devi’s emotional roller coaster ride, which “inspire empathy, love and bonding”, sharing those “universal feelings” on what makes us humans. Even though Devi makes questionable decisions and is a great anti-heroines, she is the character that I support, because she depicts some of the true raw personality we may have, normalizing that we may all make bad decisions but it is up to us to make that change, especially for the better. 

A Good Strong Narrat[or]

One unusual thing about the drama was the choice of the narrator. As the story centers around a high school girl with Indian ethnicity background, the story was narrated by an older American tennis player, John McEnroe. These pairing seems to be the polar opposites but McEnroe’s voice and humor blended so well together and made you think Mindy Kaling yet again, is a brilliant screenwriter, as she was the one who got McEnroe to be the narrator. There are a couple other narrators that play the inside voice of other characters. I don’t know about you, but I often find myself talking/thinking to myself inside my head, reflecting, reacting to a situation and that we all have the “angel/devil” conversation to ourselves.

It will be another long wait until season 3 comes out but the choices on Netflix are endless, it will keep me well entertained.