Netflix's I Am Not Okay With This has been taking the internet by storm, fans of the show loving the Stranger Things vibe, the telekinesis, and teenage girl anger. Telling the story of teenager Syd Novak, who has telekinetic powers, and her friends Stanley and Dina, the show has disappointed fans only because of how short it is, and how major the cliffhanger they left us on was.
However, while the show was short, it wasn't lacking easter eggs. Whether it's comic book references, song choices, or sneaky nods to John Hughs' films, Netflix's I Am Not Okay With This is filled with moments you might not have realized were imbued with meaning.
What Year Is It?
Even though the show is probably set in the present day, there's an agelessness about it that doesn't reveal the true date. While VHC tapes seem to be a thing of the past, Syd mentioning it was weird that Stanley had so many, so it's definitely taking place after the 90s, there also aren't many things revealing when the show takes place. There are no cellphones in the show, and Syd's mom works at an old school dinner and wears a classic dinner outfit.
As such, the vibe of the show is very dated, placing it in the same realm as Stranger Things, or The End of the F**king World, which is not at all surprising since the show was produced by the same people who produced Stranger Things, and written by the same comic artist as The End of the F**king World.
The Breakfast Club
The creators of I Am Not Okay With This were obviously inspired by so many other movies and shows, which makes the TV that much more interesting. Infused with meaning because of all the references, John Hughes was definitely a big inspiration. One of his movies that the writers reference is The Breakfast Club.
When Brad, Dina, Syd, Stanley, and Jenny all get detention during after hours at school, you can see the similarities even in the selection of who gets detention. You have the jock, the popular girl, the nerd, the bad girl, and the outcast. As Dina, Syd, and Stanley get into some trouble, it mirrors The Breakfast Club characters also getting into trouble.
Carl The Janitor
The second reference to The Breakfast Club is Carl the Janitor. Both the movie and the show make it clear that the janitor, who is seen mopping in both, is called Carl. In both the movie and the show, Carl gives a speech berating the teens though this looks different; in The Breakfast Club, Carl berates Andrew and Bender for mocking his job as a janitor, telling them that they are "sh*theads" who think of him as an "untouchable peasant".
In I Am Not Okay With This, when Dina is trying to flirt her way into getting the keys from him, he tells her that her behavior is demeaning to both him and her and that he's not interested but also he's gay. Which brings us to our next Easter egg...
Jessie's Girl
The show also has a lot of musical references that add to the narrative but that you might not have noticed right away if you weren't listening to the rad soundtrack. Brad ditches Dina at one point in I Am Not Okay With This and Dina asked Syd if she wants to go to Ricky's party with her instead. Stocked to be hanging with her best friend, who she has recently found out she has feelings for, Syd is more happy than usual, smiling through out the scene before Brad shows up.
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While Dina and Syd dance, the song Jessie's Girl plays in the background, a song about the singer who wants Jessie's Girl. Given Syd's newly found out feelings, it seems apt that the song plays, interrupted by Brad when he shows up to the party. Dina tells him she'll hang with him after the song is over, which really states the importance of the song.
Pretty in Pink
While watching I Am Not Okay With This, viewers might not have noticed the references to Pretty in Pink. Molly Ringwald's character in Pretty in Pink also ends up needing to find a dress for the prom, though she makes her own, and she also has a sweet and nerdy best friend named Ducky, who kind of even looks like Stanley, especially given his excellent outfits and bolo tie.
The movie is filled with iconic music, just like I Am Not Okay With This, which helps with the narrative arc.
Molly Ringwald
Something viewers might not have noticed is how much Syd looks like a young Molly Ringwald. Both women have short red hair and freckles and play the central characters of the story. Given all the references to The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, it's not surprising that the creators of the While their mannerisms are a bit different, Ringwald's characters have a lot of teen angst, and though a lot less angry than Syd.
It makes sense that Syd is angrier than Claire from the Breakfast Club and Andie from Pretty and Pink; the John Hughes characters don't have a dad who committed suicide.
Blood Witch
Audiences watching the new Netflix show loved the soundtrack. Having found out that one of the songs while Stanley is dancing is called Blood Witch, lots of people wondered about this band they had never heard of. The band didn't actually exist before the show!
Graham Coxon and Tatyana Richaud make up what is now known as Blood Witch, the musicians having written the musical score for both The End of the F***ing World and I Am Not Okay With This. After the show, their music actually went up on Spotify.
Not Men Comic
Something audiences might not have noticed while watching I Am Not Okay With This is that when Syd is in Stanley's basement, looking at all his things, she picks up a comic called Not Men, a superhero comic which is clearly about superheroes who aren't men.
This foreshadows her own future, discovering that she has powers, and Stanley actually ends up bringing the comics to the bowling alley as research material when trying to figure out how to help Syd control her powers. The comics aren't actually real and clearly were placed into the I Am Not Okay With This world to talk about Syd's own powers.
Origin Story
As previously when talking about the Not Men comics, there are plenty of references in the show to superheroes and super powers. If you're a comics fan like Stan, you might have caught all his references to superhero origin stories when he was trying to help Syd understand herself at the bowling alley he worked at. If you're not a superhero expert, you might have missed Stan's references.
He asks Syd if she's sustained a spider bite, referencing Spiderman, interacted with radioactive goo, the origin story of Radioactive Man, whether she lived through secret military experimentation, which reference Captain America, whether she interacted with alien gemstones, referencing Captain Marvel and The Scarlet Witch, and finally whether she had a bionic limb transplant, referencing Bucky Barnes. As well all know, none of these things happened to Syd, but the comic references were a great part of the show.
Comic Book Adaptation
What a lot of people might not have known after watching the show is that Netflix's I Am Not Okay With This, like Netflix's The End Of The F***ing World, is based on comics of the same names created by Charles Forsman.
While the comics actually aren't really about a superhero, the telekinesis of the comics more of a metaphor for anger and mental health problems than actual powers, the TV series really delves into the supernatural aspects of the comic. This is also why the show nods to The End Of The F***ing World several times, just as a fun reference to their similar origins.
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