Drama
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Based on novel by Jenny Han, this series follows the complex love life of Belly, a young girl caught between two boys who are childhood friends as she joins the world of debutantes.
It’s a rare thing to make it big in the music industry. But Santi thinks he has a chance.
His reggaeton song, “Exagerao,” blew up on social media, getting him over 6 million views and plenty of new fans. And while nothing is guaranteed, Santi hopes that his newfound fame will help him get a record deal in Miami.
He’s so confident that he, along with his manager, Ness, and creative director, Felix, move down to the city, risking it all on the venture. And they even get a meeting with Mia, who represents one such record label, seems to be able to make Santi’s dreams come true. But then Mia hits the trio with a big dose of reality.
“What’s the next move?” She asks. “And please tell me it’s not that you moved here, was gonna take a couple meetings with some labels and was just hoping they’d climb over each other to sign you.”
Well…when you put it like that…
It turns out that Santi’s not the first hopeful to uproot his life, believing that he’s a special treat for the industry. In fact, you can meet those hopefuls waiting tables in just about every restaurant in the city, all still waiting for their big break.
So, is Santi actually unique? Well…that’ll be up to him.
When some think of the music industry, they think fame; money; glory. But they might think of the more unsavory aspects, too: the exploitation and objectification of women; the rampant partying and drug use; the endless hustle culture.
And Neon hits on all those points.
As Santi and his friends look to build up Santi’s image as a reggaeton artist, we, as viewers, will see just how depressing the industry is. We’ll see plenty of women in little clothing and hear many comments that treat women like objects for sexual gratification rather than people. We’ll see people hurt others for personal gain. And in terms of other content issues, we’ll see drinking, hear a lot of swearing and will meet an LGBT character.
And all that culminates in a show whose neon sign feels burnt out and leaves us in the dark.
Santi and his team move to Miami, hoping to make it big in the reggaeton industry. But they learn that the climb to the top will be much more difficult than they planned.
A man wears a shirt that makes him look like he has the body of a naked woman, and we see the woman’s breasts depicted on the shirt. Many women are seen in revealing clothing, including bikini tops and dresses that expose significant portions of their chests. Santi’s song includes a line about the size of a woman’s rear.
Santi has a dream where three women come backstage to ask him to have sex with them. Santi’s cousin runs a company that fixes botched butt lifts, and an advertisement for the company features a a woman’s clothed rear. A man is seen shirtless. We learn that a woman is a lesbian. Felix asks if Santi was attempting to seduce a woman. Dancers grind on each other.
When Santi and his team tour an apartment, Felix asks if someone died in it, since he feels like someone’s ancestors are present. The apartment contains a couple crosses mounted on the wall. A man is addressed as “Diablo.” People drink alcohol.
The f-word is heard 15 times, and the s-word nine times. “A–” and “h—” are both used once. God’s name is used in vain twice. We hear a Spanish word used to describe sexually promiscuous women. A man calls women “hoes.”
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Based on novel by Jenny Han, this series follows the complex love life of Belly, a young girl caught between two boys who are childhood friends as she joins the world of debutantes.
This lighthearted cartoon is a clean, wholesome option for younger viewers craving a mystery.
Young viewers should perhaps run around this Prime Video show about some perpetually inebriated wannabe rock stars.
This sequel to The Office features the same setup, crisp writing and cringe-worthy jokes of its forbear. But The Paper’s content issues can be significantly worse.
