Ginny and Georgia spoilers follow.
Note: The following article contains discussion of themes including self-harm.
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“It’s just so fun to hate Ginny,” declares Ginny (played by Antonia Gentry) early on in season two of the popular Netflix series.
The Wellsbury teen may be referring to the fact she was kicked out of her friendship group MANG (Max, Abby, Norah, Ginny) for sleeping with Max’s (Sara Waisglass) twin brother Marcus (Felix Mallard), but the Ginny Miller hate train seems to extend beyond the show – and it doesn’t make sense.
The Ginny backlash is by no means a new development. Fans of the teen dramedy took to social media (in their swarms, might we add) to voice their frustrations over the character’s coldness towards her mother Georgia (Brianne Howey) way back in season one.
But given the many layers season two adds to Ginny’s character in order to offer viewers a better understanding of her own perspective on things, it was surprising to learn that the backlash persists.
Is Ginny controversial at times? Yes, she certainly has her moments. Like when she cheated on Hunter (Mason Temple) with Marcus. (Gincus/Marcy forever, though). But to suggest that she’s just some bratty, ungrateful teenager with no valid reasons for being volatile towards Georgia suggests that you haven’t really been watching the show at all.
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Don’t get us wrong, we love Georgia. We really do. She’s the type of character who could literally murder (and she literally does) and still be likeable. She loves her children deeply and has even shown a lot of growth in the parenting department this season.
But while we as viewers are offered flashbacks to Georgia’s abusive past and can understand and empathise with the decisions she’s had to make based on the shitty cards life has dealt her, that isn’t Ginny’s perspective. She hasn’t got that same grasp on her mum’s past as we do.
We know Georgia murdered her ex-husband Kenny, moved her kids around and used credit cards in their names among other things to doggedly protect them from the life she had, but Ginny is forced to carry around the burden of all this knowledge without any real context and, understandably, she’s angry.
Georgia does provide her daughter with some context at the end of episode three, mind, in an emotional monologue delivered by the always-captivating Howey.
“There was no one protecting me, Ginny. No one,” she says. “I may be wrong, and I may be horrible, and I may be ugly and not worthy of anything. But you are. And it was up to me to make sure you got that. And like it or not, I did that. I took all the darkness and I ate it. So that you, my daughter, could live a good life.”
With a better understanding of Georgia’s motivations (though it’s still not quite the same as the front row seat we’re offered as viewers), Ginny is able to somewhat move past the guilt she harbours over Kenny’s death and the mother-daughter duo start to mend their strained relationship. Sort of.
Ginny’s mental health is pushed to the fore in season two and she starts therapy for her self-harming, which, as we come to learn, began when she was just twelve years old as a result of her unstable upbringing.
Ginny tells Dr Lily (Zarrin Darnell-Martin) that she was invited to a birthday party when she was twelve. To a child who was constantly moved around and never got the chance to make any real friends or fit in anywhere, this was a big stepping stone for her. But Georgia decided to move the family once again and Ginny was unable to go. Shortly after, with “this insane, pent-up energy and the urge to just hurt,” she burned herself for the first time.
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Again, we know why Georgia ran. She was trying to keep her children safe. But this chaotic lifestyle unintentionally caused an adverse effect on Ginny and is actually the root of her trauma.
Georgia doesn’t really start to understand things from Ginny’s perspective until she learns about her self-harming and attends her therapy session, finally opening the door to some better communication between them and (hopefully) a more stable relationship. (Georgia’s arrest for the murder of Cynthia’s husband Tom might make that a little trickier come season three, mind).
The therapy session is also when Ginny is able to explain how she feels about her mother’s lack of understanding when it comes to her race, like the time she dressed up as Scarlett O’Hara for Halloween without thinking about the impact it would and did have on Ginny.
It’s another prevalent aspect of Ginny’s life that Georgia failed to fully understand until the session, and another valid reason for some of Ginny’s discontent towards her mother.
And yet, despite all of this, Ginny is a sixteen-year-old girl. Murderous mother (we still love you Georgia) aside, she’s a realistic sixteen-year-old. It’s normal for hormonal teens to be moody and have spats with their parents and this doesn’t automatically make them bad people.
But coupled with everything else, it’s all heightened for Ginny and her rebellion does make sense. It might be fun for some of you to hate on Ginny, but that doesn’t make it fair.
Ginny and Georgia is now available to watch on Netflix.
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
