Many people accidentally stumbled across Derry Girls on Netflix while looking for Doctor Strange, and since the Netflix algorithm thought that both belonged to the English category, clicked. The show seemed interesting, and the first episode brought something that led to the waiting for a show I am most definitely a fan of. Every teenage girl needs to watch; Derry Girls focuses on four teenage girls living in the titular town of Derry in Northern Ireland; it is based around the end of "The Troubles" in the late 90s. Like the political situation in the early 2000s for Pakistan, there is political upheaval and terrorism in Northern Ireland. The girls in this situation are not caricatures of misery but functioning teenagers and people with distinct, three-dimensional personalities, interests, and goals who go with life. These turbulent circumstances are impactful but not their entire personalities. Something which is unique ad special about Derry Girls is that though the teengers are played by adults, they look and feel like actual teenagers going through puberty.
I felt much camaraderie from the narrative of the Derry girls. They functioned, growing up in a place like Pakistan in a time of terrorism and terror and yet experiencing fun, teenagehood, and parents being angry at them for not going to school. At the same time, bombings are something every Pakistani goes through, and putting a twist on it with female friendship at its center is a beautiful and unique story coming from Ireland, one in which many people can see themselves going through turbulent times.
The adventures of normal teenagers, not ones who have cars or attend high-scale parties but fun and new spins on teenagers who live with parental guidance, grades, stupid decisions, and most of all normalcy, but all this does not lead to staleness as creators of other famous teenage shows seem to think so like Riverdale. The show is a breath of fresh air in the teenage genre. It has romance and the necessitating emotions of feeling not understood by society as a young adult experiencing adulthood and its experiences. Teenagers from Pakistan can experience many of the trivial things that make teenagehood a monumental worldwide experience.
It is a must-watch for women; in a male friendship-centric world, Derry Girls will tell you what female friendship stands for: fun, laughter, and loyalty.