Why Are We So Obsessed With "Normal People?"
- Elizabeth Sharp
- May 21, 2020
- 2 min read
by Lizzie Sharp
By Sinead Magee Art
“Normal People,” the show adaption of Sally Rooney’s New York Times Bestseller Normal People, has been highly praised after its recent release. The show follows loner Marianne and admired Connell in this almost perfectly accurate coming of age story.
Now, I have both read the novel and watched the show. Unlike many other book to television adaptations, this one was particularly stirring. It captured the book in such a way that the viewer might even resonate more with the show than the book (even though the book was quite moving itself).
But why are we so obsessed with this seemingly normal story?
Simple. It’s about us, the normal people.
Do you remember your first crush? First sexual experience? The first time you had to leave someone you loved?
“Normal People” makes you feel that all over again.
It showcases raw emotion, real awkwardness and the overall feelings of growing up.
The first time you see Marianne and Connell have sex, you may feel a bit of secondhand embarassment or awkwardness yourself. I know I did. Then I realized...I felt like that because it mirrored my first time. All of the emotions, desire, clumsiness. Everything I had felt suddenly rushed back to me as if I could pinpoint every action perfectly in my mind.
Marianne and Connell experience the ups and downs of love and lust as they grow up through college together. They experience the loss of each other and then finding themselves. When they meet again, I felt it. It was the most insane feeling. Seeing the one person who has had such an impact on your life after not being in contact for so long. I think many people have felt this at some point, and it is especially resonant when you are young and experiencing this for the first time.
The pair face life together and on their own through the discoveries of themselves as people. Marianne grapples with what we like to call “daddy issues” which leads to her type of sexual awakening into some BDSM through a series of questionable relationships.
Some of the scenes were so familiar that I had to remember I was watching a show and not flashbacks of my own life which is why the show particularly resonated with me. I felt less alone in that everyone is trying to figure it out.
Life. Love. Sex. Friendship vs. Relationship.
Some of the groundwork of growing up.
“Normal People” is a must watch for this generation.
Check out some more "Normal People" art!
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