A trailer and two Taylor Swift songs: August from the album Folklore and Back to December from Speak now, which has been re-released this July with updated recordings the singer now owns. Amazon Prime Video and Jenny Han, creator of The Summer I Fell in Love, knew very well what they were doing when they published a promotional video for the second season with this music. It was confirmation, in case there was any doubt after its premiere last summer, that this series is designed for swifties, especially for those who adore the singer’s most youthful stage.
In the first season, Belly was like Taylor from You Belong with Me: your typical ordinary girl who, despite being cute, felt invisible, especially to Conrad, her childhood friend, crush, and practically family. One could visualize Belly with headphones in her room crying to the sound of “if you could see that I’m the one who understands you / been here all along / so why ca n’t you see? you belong with me.
But, after developing in adolescence, her status changed, a bit like Swift, who went from being the weird girl to dating Joe Jonas, John Mayer or Jake Gyllenhaal. So for Belly trouble is coming. What is worse than inadvertently finding yourself in a romantic triangle between two brothers, that Conrad who now realizes her romantic potential and Jeremiah who always treated her as she deserved?
In that first season, songs from Lover such as False God, about an impossible relationship where the sexual component is fundamental, and one of Swift’s sexiest songs (We were crazy to think / crazy to think that this could work / remember how I said) sounded. I’d die for you?), Cruel summer that went like a glove considering the title of the series and its plot (Oh, it’s new, the shape of your body / It’s blue, the feeling I’ve got / And it’s ooh, whoa, oh / It’s a cruel summer) or that outburst of kitsch (and also anthem) that is Lover (You’re my, my, my, my Lover). And, luckily for the sake of teen coherence, there was even an appearance in The way I loved you by Fearless (Breaking down and coming undone / It’s a roller coaster kind of rush / And I never knew I could feel that much / And that’s the way I loved you).
With the second season, however, this loving impulse that sexual awakening has, first love and the opportunities that present themselves to you when you open your eyes and realize that your environment is an all-you-can-eat buffet is abandoned, either to imply the heart, go on a date or put (or let them put) your hand under your clothes. Tragedy marks this new stage, after the health problems of Jeremiah and Conrad’s mother, Belly’s state of emotional block, and the pieces of broken hearts that were left lying on the floor in the fantastic summer house they shared. your families.
In this sense, Jenny Han is faithful to the adolescent feeling of Swift’s beginnings. She does not relativize or ironize about sadness, the frustration of not being reciprocated or having her self-esteem destroyed, but rather these feelings are validated, extolled, respected. It makes perfect sense to know that Han attended The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift’s current tour, with Lola Tung, her romantic heroine. She even filmed the actress dancing to August’s tunes even though she “has no idea we’ll be using her in our teaser.”
Of course, while Taylor Swift is the sentimental chronicler of our times, a kind of genius or prophet who speaks directly to the hearts of those who take a moment to listen to her without prejudice, The Summer I Fell in Love is content to be a correct teen drama. . And, for the record, perhaps this is enough considering the number of series in this subgenre that opt ??for frivolity, the darker side of adolescence or shocking the public, instead of honoring that way of feeling so loose and formative.
