Rita

I stumbled upon a random Danish show recently, while scrolling through Netflix. One online review had compared the show to Fleabag, and since that was such a delight to watch, I decided to give it a go. Sharing all the things that I loved about the show and why I would recommend it to others.

1. Danish Culture!
   It was a breath of fresh air, to get to know about a new culture from a show. People are super helpful over there, and well one of the most happy people as well. I was looking for some references of Hygge, the secret Danish recipe of happy life, but I am sure I will be able to draw some parallels from that book once I read it.
   Their language was a delight to the ears. I ended up signing up for Danish lessons on Duolingo. Pronouncing the mighty soft d is a little difficult but someday maybe.
   
2. Schooling.
   This show has touched upon so many matters but proper education being one of the most important ones. Everyone talks about having diversity in their schools or companies, everyone talks about creating an inclusive environment but very rarely people actually stand up for it, and do something real which makes a difference. Every kid comes from a different background, with some secrets of their own, with different situations at home, that affect them. It is upto the adults to understand their problems and help them in overcoming them. How teachers are supposed to be a safe haven is presented very well in the show. Even our main protagonist says that she became a teacher to protect children from their parents when needed and that sends out a very strong message.
   
3. Friendships
   It is important to support your friends in their problems, be happy in their happiness, sometimes be present for them silently, even when they say they don’t need you, and always show up. These are all expected from any friend, but sometimes a friend needs to shout at you to bring you back to reality, to jerk open your eyes, to help you in facing the reality and being strong. Because that’s what matters in the end and that’s how you will move on. Hjørdis, one of the colleagues of Rita, who had not seemed like such an important and sensible character in the beginning, turned out to be the truest friend there ever could be.
   
4. Rita
   Rita. Unapologetically herself. Reckless. Irresponsible. Makes millions mistakes. And yet holds her head up high and forgives herself for everything that she is guilty about over and over again. She fights for what she believes in, and the most important being her students. She is a little insensitive to her own children’s feelings initially but gets so much better at everything as the time progresses. She is sad when she is living alone, but too proud to tell anyone about it. I would just say she is one of the most honest and real characters I have seen. She is just like all of us, imperfect.

The show is not about showing happy endings, not about how everything works out for everyone in the end, and definitely not about girl meets boy and gets married. There are problems now, and will be in future, but it just makes you believe that you will figure it out at the end of the day. And whatever you do, just be true to yourself, because that’s the beginning of everything.

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Sex and the city

Having just finished binging the amazing series Sex and the City, my head is muddled with all kinds of emotions. Feeling like Carrie Bradshaw, and writing about emotions and wondering what it all means, and hoping that whatever I say might matter to someone as well. I wish feeling like Carrie involved the cute outfits and experiencing the New York City as well, but for today, I’ll have to keep it limited to the writing.

This series is so much more than just sex and the city. It talks about relationships, experiences, discovering yourself, growing past your fears and embracing someone or something that you thought you never could, LIVING in a city and enjoying everything that it has to offer, outfits, oh so cute outfits, and above everything else, friendships.

There were many moments in this “too ahead of its time” series, where somehow the problems faced by Carrie and her friends in early 2000s felt way too similar to the kind of things the millenial Indians are dealing with themselves. We have been through it all, from wanting to celebrate singlehood, yet fearing that singlehood is going to make us lonely; trying to find the perfect person for ourselves, yet making mistakes and settling for people and regretting; marriages being the hottest topic all around and not being one of the married people making us feel like a failure; being in too many relationships and being judged; and many more that I am yet to deal with.

Like everything, the series has a rosy ending, and the protagonists find true love and apparently lives happily ever after (thank god there were movies to tell us how rosy the life turned out to be) but that makes me wonder that even though we might relate to the problems and issues faced by the characters we see on TV, do we get the same endings that they get, ever? Not just in the matters of love, but all other walks of life as well?

But the part that I loved the most was these women, these four amazing fabulous women, who were so different and yet so similar. We have to agree that we do not always think like our friends do, but sometimes it becomes difficult to deal with these differences, we judge each other, fight with each other, grow apart, we even try to change ourselves to fit in. But it matters more to be more accepting of each other, even if how we look at the world is poles apart, we need to celebrate each other’s choices and be supportive. And that is the icing on the cake for this series.

I think this is what I want to take away from the series as well. Love or no love, getting married to somebody or just to yourself, it’s all alright, and having people in your life who will support you through all these phases, what more can one want?