The want of Sweet Magnolias

Introduction:

From the first 15 minutes of the television show Sweet Magnolias, I was hooked! This show is about a group of three best friends who are trying to navigate life in a small town. They have their ups and downs through marriage, divorce, raising children and small town gossip. Dana Sue is a separated mom of a teenager who runs her own restaurant, Helen is a successful lawyer in their town and Maddie is a mom of 3 children going through a divorce from her husband, who slept with his assistant and is pregnant. Living in a small and a very southern lifestyle type town, you can only imagine all the gossip that goes around when you have “drama” and how fast it spreads. Along with all the adult drama and romance, the children all have intertwined feelings and emotions causing a lot of problems. These friends are there for each other for every single high and low this show offers. They have their weekly “pour it out” margarita nights to help talk, discuss and get advice on all the things they are dealing with.

Emotional/Relatable

A tip from Pixxar says that to be a great story it needs to have emotion and is relatable to the watcher. The show only has 2 seasons so far and it has made me feel a ton of mixed emotions. I moved to a different country away from my family so watching this show has made me feel that desire for the type of friendship that these women have. They are not only friends, but family! No matter what they are doing, they will drop everything to be at the other one’s side. Those type of relationships are hard to find, especially when you move somewhere else, and you want nothing more while watching this.

I also relate to this story because of the small town living. I live in a very small village and the amount of gossip that goes through the village, whether it is by mouth or by digital platforms, is ridiculously crazy! The positive outcome of so much information spreading is that information gets out, but it is also not always about the bad stuff. Amazing things happen and the residents celebrate the victories and the acknowledge all the hard work that goes on around us.

Rooting for a character

Good stories give you a character to root for and this show has many. You have your “good guys” you are hoping that everything positive happens to them and that nothing goes wrong. You want nothing but the best for Dana Sue, Helen and Maddie, but also their children even with all the drama they go through.

Inspiring

Ashley Fell in her Ted talk, says that stories need to have the 4 I’s: Interest, Instruct, Involve and Inspire. Sweet Magnolias has all of these, but I find that this show inspires the most! These three friends go through some of the hardest things that an individual can go through or as a parent can go through. That alone is inspiring to me, especially as a parent, but they also have huge life changes going on as they try to figure out what is next in their lives. I know change is hard and I enjoy seeing others come out on top no matter what comes their way!!