To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: Blending Nostalgic Romance with a Fresh Perspective
We all know how this story goes. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy.
Girl likes boy. Boy likes girl.
A stirring romance is created that builds with a few twists and turns upon the screen.
As the end of the film is in sight, something dramatic occurs. After this revelation, a hurdle between the young lovers may split them up for some time. But in the end, it is expected that the boy and the girl get together and then they live happily ever after.
We’ve watched this very version of a romantic comedy in hundreds of different young adult movies that were built around the singular notion of cue-the-music romance that gives tingly sensations to its viewers and a serene satisfaction of having seen something as rare as a unicorn, the success of true love conquering the day by the end of the film.
We know what happens at the end and yet we watch it anyway. Some of us even watch it multiple times because we cannot get enough of it. This pop cultural obsession with romantic comedies derogatorily termed as “chick flicks” upon the generalization of the intended audience being young teenage girls, is still highly evident today in the digitalized era of the 21st century.
This is proven by what Variety reported on October 16th upon the subject of Netflix’s success in the summer. Netflix released a slew of romantic comedies and this genre gained them recurring views from over 80 million subscribers, all around the world over the past few months. In particular, the website reported that the streaming giant did something highly unusual for the first time to prove its point. It released data indirectly through Instagram showing how Lana Candor and Noah Centineo’s follower count has grown immensely since To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was released. This in turn easily proves what a sensational hit the movie had been and Netflix called it their “most viewed original film ever with strong repeat viewing.”
So what was so special about this film?
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a suitably faithful film adaptation of the Young Adult best seller novel of the same name in which Lara Jean Covey, the 16-year-old Asian-American protagonist is the very soul of the story. Lara Jean writes love letters to her crushes when her romantic feelings grow so intense that she needs an outlet for them. Rather than telling them, she pens down her feelings into those letters and places them in envelopes with their mailing addresses written upon them, in a shoe box inside her closet. When these love letters somehow get mailed to each of her five crushes, Lara Jean finds her quiet high school existence turned upside down. How she deals with these changes is what forms the crux of the movie.
What differs in this romantic comedy when compared to other films is the insightful manner in which the usual cliches of rom-coms were woven into its plot, along with the attention it paid towards the representation of Asian-American culture in this genre. The cliches although were very evidently present throughout the film, were placed at the right moments, in the right shots and only sweetened the pot, rather than souring it for the viewers in the film. The representation on the other hand, truly helped quite a few viewers to connect on an emotional basis with the film, rather than scoff at such an overdone plot.
The background cliche that stands out is that of the utopian setting in which the movie takes place. A barely racist Portland where white suburbs are portrayed to have little to none effect upon dear Lara Jean’s existence is truly comical to a person of color who has actually resided there. In the real world, most minorities who have lived in Oregon, Portland would have quite a lot to tell you about why the city is to as the “whitest city” in existence in the United States. An easy evidence to support this statement is the lack of racial diversity among those who reside there. 87% of the population is Caucasian in nature and you will only find 4% who identify themselves as “Asians” in that arena of the country.
Onto the movie’s collective dynamics — our female protagonist, Lara Jean’s portrayal as the underdog, her rising social life as the movie progresses, the curves that form in her relationship with Peter Kavinsky, the jock love-interest, and so on are also fairly overdone tropes in every well-done romantic film that has been shot since the past decade or so. Christine, the faithful best friend she’s always had; Lucas, the queer friend/ex-crush she gets close to; Gen, the childhood frenemy she plays passive-aggressive with; Josh, the cute boy-next-door she really likes and finally Peter, whom she eventually has romantic feelings for; all play the roles of the required characters that balance the equation of a cheesy film just right.
Despite these cliches having been used to make the film enticing and adorable, the backbone of this film lies in the writing of both Lara Jean and Peter’s characters.
Our female protagonist plays soothing tunes with the right amount of post-pubescent awkwardness, shy yet quietly confident characteristics as well as displaying easily relatable traits in numerous ways to the average teenager of this generation, throughout the movie to make it as harmonious as possible. Her playful relationship with her father, her expression of grief upon her mother’s death, her strong bonds with both her sisters, Margot and Kitty made her more three-dimensional and fully rounded in terms of character development rather than the ones we are used to. She showed us the narrative of how our families play a great role in our lives, no matter what role that may be. Lara Jean was enthusiastically real in a way quite a few main characters in films aren’t portrayed anymore, which is a real shame since characters like hers really ought to charted onto plots more often.
On the other hand, Peter Kavinsky, the dreamboat jock was drawn in starry-eyed parallel to the realistic characterization of Lara Jean. Without any displays of toxic masculinity and utter boyish-charm, he not only wins over Lara Jean’s heart but also those of the viewers as well. He is shown as the most popular, lacrosse-playing athlete who’s gentle enough to write notes to Lara Jean as soon as he starts liking her, defending her in the school hallways without a second’s hesitation when she needs him to and so on. Such traits add to the appeal of him seeming unrealistic when it comes to the portrayal of boyfriend material. For most of us, it’s almost comforting to see such traits exist in an imaginary teenage boy since, in real life, a lot of us might yearn for a knight-in-shining-armor such as Kavinsky. But at the end of the day when logic reigns and dreams are defeated, we know for a fact that it’s rather foolish to lie in wait for such a character to be present in flesh and blood. And yet, in a teen romance such as this, we expect to see a character such as Peter playing the lead role.
This only strengthens the fact that, conclusively the reason the young-adult romance genre works so well is due to its’ denial of reality and its’ mirage of a daydream coming true in real life.
Another important factor that contributed to the movie’s success is the representation of Asian-American culture brought through the Covey family. Lara Jean’s mother is Korean and her father being American caused her and her sisters to be born in a diasporic Korean-American culture that is relatable to many first or second generation Americans growing up in the US today. Instances like the reference to a Korean dish made while Lara’s dad tries to recreate their mother’s cooking at the beginning, the sharing of face masks between her and her queer friend in the film, are subtle connotations on how the writers managed to incorporate her culture into her life, without letting that take over as the central theme of the story.
People who’ve grown up trying to incorporate their own cultures into their lives despite having been brought up in the West responded to this film with wide ranged love for finally getting to see a glimpse of themselves on screen and relating on some basis to Lara Jean’s character. Cassandra Hsiao, a reviewer, considered this movie to have helped build the right narrative for Asians being capable of romantic attraction as well. She considered this a step in the right direction for Hollywood to produce more films that help people understand different parts of their identity. Jenny Han, the writer of the book, insisting on Lara Jean being cast as an Asian-American lead no matter what, really did pay off due to her sticking to her guns and helping to produce a more diversified movie in such a genre. In a society where the norm of a romance is a white girl and white guy falling in love and somehow asking everyone to relate to their story, this film did its intended job in standing out to an audience that is finally craving different faces upon the big screen.
Ultimately, it can be said that To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before isn’t “just” a chick flick with love notes cinched into its plot. The movie itself is a love note to all those who’ve experienced a crush before, who would like to reminisce upon their awkward high school romances, who’d like to see a film with an Asian lead succeed, who want to see themselves partially reflected in the characters and most importantly, it is for those who are craving for a coming-of-age film without the usually exaggerated angst and that right amount of bittersweetness that will leave you craving for more when the credits roll in at the end.
Written by Sreya Kanugula.
Edited by Madhurima Khadilkar.
