PEN15

Somehow my other post deleted so I'm trying this again. I'm sorry if this one is a little shorter than before. 

I really enjoyed watching this show again. It's funny, sad, and sweet and the same time, and explores the awkwardness of puberty really well. I remember the first time watching this, feeling like it was a lot cringier, but this time around I didn't feel as much second hand embarrassment. However, I do think this show really works for creating second hand embarrassment because it brings back the awkwardness of middle school so vividly. I remember the first time watching, feeling particularly like this watching the third episode. It's such a bold portrayal of masturbation since I don't think there's a TV show or movie that I've seen show a middle schooler masturbate. PEN15 definitely knows what it can get away with as a show by using adult actors, and even though it's uncomfortable, that's what makes it work so well as a show. It's somehow really disturbing seeing Maya wear a My Little Pony shirt and do that in her childlike bedroom while looking like an overgrown kid. The level of discomfort makes the viewer laugh but the episode is undercut with a level of seriousness because Maya is dealing with the guilt from ojichan's ghost.

I think this show also captures the excess and awkwardness of adolescence well by using adult actors, since they feel out of place and "too much", much like one does in middle school. Going through puberty is awkward and I definitely feel like the actors embodied this gangly awkwardness that I felt at that time. A lot of the dialogue is so reminiscent of middle school and I loved that too. Maya and Anna say things that are just so out of place or sometimes disturbing to those around them. 

PEN15 captures the intense relationship between Maya and Anna, as well as the intense period of time that is puberty, and builds the individual characters of Maya and Anna. The show is primarily focused on the relationship between the two girls, but still builds their individual stories by including the storyline of ojichan's ghost, Anna's parents' divorce. UGIS is framed as something that brings them together but I think it could have been explored how it was alienating specifically for Maya, like we discussed in class. 

Hopefully this is everything that I had written before. I hope everyone is surviving fifth week/midterms!