It’s a Friday night; you and all your girls are gathered in the living room with snacks, blankets and age-appropriate drinks, ready to kick back and relax after a long week when an important question dawns on you: What should you watch tonight?
Never fear, ladies; your problems have been solved. I present to you “The Sex Lives Of College Girls.” It’s the perfect balance between funny and frisky for the next girls’ night viewing pleasure.
The HBO Max show follows four girls as they journey through college, relying on one another to get through the ups and downs that life throws them. It’s a fun, easy watch that has something for everyone.
A character for everyone
While most newer TV shows are doing a better job of ensuring a diverse cast of characters, this show really knocks it out of the park on all fronts. I feel they have tried to represent as many people as possible without making it their entire character arch.
Who could want more than an uptight, rich snob from a high-class, fiscally conservative family from North Carolina discovering herself and her sexuality? Leighton Murray’s — played by Renee Rapp — snappy, bordering on vicious commentary, keeps viewers on their seats.
Or what about a dedicated soccer star who’s made bold moves since she started college? With a Senator mother and a flakey musician father, Whitney Chase — played by Aliyah Chanelle Scott — struggles with coming to terms on who she is outside of being a college athlete and what her future looks like academically.
Kimberly Finkle — played by Pauline Chalamet — provides a more reserved character for watchers to relate to, having never lost her virginity before coming to college. Little does she know, this girl is about to pull some of the most attractive men in the show — with great personalities too, of course — proving that weird girls can come out on top without changing a thing.
Bela Malhotra — played by Amrit Kaur — brings the comedy to this comedy series, literally, with her dreams of being part of the prestigious, male-dominated comedy group, the Catullan. The dilemma? This is a direct contradiction to the desires of her American-Indian family for her to become a dedicated academic and eventually a doctor. She’s more focused on making sure her next comedy pitch is perfect or where she can find a man that is living up to any family expectations.
College transition, done comically modern
While there are plenty of other shows and movies about the college experience, this is an accurate depiction that complements the comedy well. So many different perspectives are represented to relate to all different backgrounds and experiences, impacting their stories.
Each person you meet in college – whether for friendship or a figure of authority – has different dynamics that are entirely new and different. Learning how to navigate these new relationships can be difficult and uncomfortable, but shedding some light on that struggle can make it a little easier, or at least less lonely, of a journey.
Sex positivity from the female perspective
The show delivers sex positivity through the female lens. While many shows that we have seen contain female characters that are sex-positive, it still feels that they are always viewed in a negative manner. The women are slut shamed and made to feel less-than. But this show is the complete opposite. Regardless of your stance, you can’t deny that this show does an outstanding job of never stigmatizing the characters due to their sexual habits. The characters in the show are never bashing each other for exploring their sexuality; they are never anything but supportive of one another.
At the end of the day, this is a show about girlhood and friendship in college, something we all long for. The girls go through all of these struggles, and the one common factor is that they have each other at the end of the day. Hopefully, your girl's night “what to watch” woes have been solved, at least for three seasons.
The opinions desk can be reached at opinions@ubspectrum.com
