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I Am Not Okay With This: Yes, Better Than Stranger Things
By Brandon Scott on May 27th, 2020
I'm Great With I Am Not Okay With This
I Am Not Okay with This, despite being an awkward title for a show to both say and read, is one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Compulsively watchable, paced beautifully, wonderfully acted, and simply a solid bit of proof that the producers of Stranger Things were not just lucky—they knew what they were doing and could replicate.
Now, I'm not a binger. Even when I like a show, I often won't watch past what I saw for work—there are simply too many other shows to get to—but I am finding myself drawn to more episodes here. The shortness of each one is likely why and why the pace is so excellent. Hour-long shows can become too slow and brooding. With I Am Not Okay With This, you can easily jump from episode to episode and stop when you need to because it's a little hit of an amazing story. It's binge-able because each episode alone is enjoyable.
I Am Not Okay With This Uses Bit-Sized Plotting
And, yeah, I said "amazing story." Somehow, in three episodes, I Am Not Okay with This manages to blend a character's slow lesbian awakening with familiar psychic powers and add in a family drama plot that's got a real gut punch to it—and, extremely importantly, doesn't drag down or away from the fun fantasy premise. If I may take a stab at why this works so well, it's likely because of something I disliked in Daybreak: the narrating being a constant part of the world. But here, like in a novel, it allows the main character to get across their personality and struggles in a way that comfortably brings us into the drama.
I Am Not Okay With This Tells A Human Story
What also helps this show be relatable is the strangely timeless quality to it. Stranger Things was something built of one decade; the '80s oozes through it on purpose. I Am Not Okay with This seems to be in modern-day but has a setting that's so old-fashioned with its aesthetic that it gains an out-of-time feel. My attempts to research what decade this show is supposed to be in has been fruitless, and perhaps that's on purpose. Perhaps the show is deliberately anachronistic, as it would strengthen the feeling of it being a teenage coming-of-age-story for any teenager, no matter when they see it.
And I'm willing to believe that level of thought going into the location because a lot of skill went into everything else. As usual now, the child acting is great, but so is the camera work, so are the effects, so is the perfect soundtrack. I am not okay with people not watching I Am Not Okay with This because it is proof a movement, a sub-genre, popularized with Stranger Things and solidified with IT, has staying power and immense storytelling potential.
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