I Really Wanted to Like, “Derry Girls.”

I was looking for something semi escapist to take my mind off of Minnesota being attacked by ICE thugs and our crumbling democracy. The home where I am dog sitting has Netflix, so I chose, “Derry Girls”.

Right away, the cast is stellar, all very bright and charismatic. And it was a fun challenge for me to listen to catch a lot of the dialogue. I love the scenery of Ireland and how different the buildings are from the US.

And the part I love the most is the friend group, probably because my friends are one of the most important parts of my life, and in my Adult Children support group, we are looking at our ,“inner teens”, so I am currently immersed in nostalgia around my own teenagehood.

So the show has all the makings of a show I would like. Except I don’t.

Here is why. No one is nice to each other. The main character, a teenage girl, is critical of herself, of everyone around her and limerent of anything outside of herself that she believes will rescue her from mediocrity and give her status. Which is exactly how I was when I was a teenager, with disastrous consequences.

Her friend group is comprised of several girls and one boy. The girls are very focused in their wants and more firmly rooted in their own identities, even if they are unbalanced. Except the boy, who is the object of ridicule because he is English and soft spoken. The character really seems upended being abandoned to his unkind cousins by his mother and is always looking to be moored in the strange waters he finds himself in.

Ideally, there would be a soft landing with the adults, but three episodes in and the mother remains critical and punishing, the father constantly gives in to everyone and the maternal grandfather is constantly bullying and threatening the father.

Yes, there are jokes. But the humor is not strong enough to bear the weight of the bitter family network.

The only respite I found in the show are the scenes where the friends walk together through their town, discussing whatever the episode’s conflict is, as armed soldiers roam the streets and ongoing political turmoil create broader, more anxious shadows.

Given my own interests in and efforts at healing the effects of my challenging childhood, and the current political unrest in this country, it’s a small wonder I find hope in scenes of people walking, getting out. People go on living, those that don’t get killed by soldiers, or die in detainment, living life under occupation. I would hope that upon entering any familial space, there would be warmth and reassurance. But in real life, there often isn’t and in this show, there isn’t. The occupation is a dick and the occupied are dicks as well, to borrow a phrase from the show. Injustice grinds down its victims and turns households anxious, bitter and hopeless under its weight.

I don’t know if that bitter tone conveyed in the series is intentional, or a reflection of the environment the creator grew up in. Or if the darkness under the “roastiness” was unconscious. But it leaves me feeling tremendously sad. The way the family does not support each other, does not show love, just obligation is upsetting. Especially the grandfather character.

I’m a comic that makes light of the same conditions that cause PTSD. Sometimes my jokes land and sometimes the audience feels sorry for me. Haha. I do not want to be critical of another person’s work, especially another woman artist. I do not know enough about Lisa McGee but I am curious about her. She is a very talented writer. I might attempt to go on with the rest of the series, to see if there is any hopeful evolution to anyone. But I might not make it.

I really wanted to like, “Derry Girls”. But I don’t. So far, I just want to give them a hug.