It’s that time of the year when you just want to cuddle up on the couch with a warm blanket, a bottle of wine, popcorn and a good rom-com. And after Netflix’s success with To All the Boys I Loved Before, I decided to watch Sierra Burgess is a Loser. I saw some familiar faces: Noah Centineo, Shannon Purser and Chrissy Metz. The plot seemed cliche but I figured, “hey nothing could be worse than Kissing Booth…” Boy was I wrong.
*WARNING SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*
1. Sierra Burgess didn’t do Shannon Purser justice
You probably recognize Shannon Purser from her roles as Barb Holland on Stranger Things and Ethel Muggs in Riverdale. And like me, you might’ve been excited to see Purser in her first starring role in a Netflix original. You might’ve even thought that Sierra Burgess is a Loser (SBL) would make Shannon the next Molly Ringwald of our generation (they both have red curly hair and everything). Unfortunately, all SBL managed to do for Purser was give her bad makeup, bad clothing and a poor character arc.
2. Sierra Burgess has a false sense of body positivity
SBL tried to start a conversation about body issues and body insecurity but in reality, all it does is use “fat girl tropes” we see in films all the time. SBL glosses over body image issues and by the end, the “skinny mean girl” who bullied Sierra gets more character development than Sierra (the main character, by the way). I would’ve liked to see Sierra as a mean girl, an ambitious music kid or a strong independent girl falling in love. Really, anything that could give Sierra more depth to her character besides just being innocent and meek.
3. Sierra Burgess catfishes
An appropriate time for Sierra to tell Jamey that she wasn’t Veronica would’ve been when he texted her: “Hey Veronica, what’s up?”
4. Sierra Burgess pretends to be deaf
Pretending to be deaf is NOT ok! This has been talked about on the internet A LOT so I’ll summarize the main point: this was a cheap joke that wasn’t necessary, especially when Jamey pointed out that his brother was deaf.
5. Sierra Burgess gives an unsolicited kiss
This was by far one of the most uncomfortable parts of the film. In short, Veronica goes on a fake date with Jamey to the movies and Sierra, of course, hides in the back giving Veronica tips about her conversations with Jamey. And that’s not even the weird part. Eventually, Jamey and Veronica walk over to the parking lot and they decide to kiss. Sierra’s hiding underneath a car and Veronica asks Jamey to close his eyes. Veronica motions for Sierra to stand up. While Jamey’s eyes are still closed, Sierra kisses him while he thinks he’s kissing Veronica! No, just no Sierra. I actually had to cover my laptop screen and look away. There is never a good excuse to kiss someone without their consent especially if they think they’re kissing someone else.
6. Sierra Burgess slut shames her friend
I get it. Sierra was hurt when she saw Jamey and Veronica kissing but uploading a picture of Veronica hooking up with her ex-boyfriend on the home screen during a football game that the WHOLE school attended was just mean. Not to mention Sierra, you roped Veronica into pretending to be in a relationship with Jamey. The mature thing would’ve been for Sierra to talk to Veronica about how she felt.
7. Sierra Burgess has a token black best friend
Dan is Sierra’s token black best friend and throughout the film, he’s given very little character development apart from saving Sierra from her messes and constantly supporting Sierra despite her terrible actions. We never get to see what Dan truly wants until the end when he gets an epilogue about “successfully arguing his way into an all-girls college.” Dan is not the first token black best friend and won’t be the last, but he is a part of the many tropes that make SBL a failure.
8. Sierra Burgess doesn’t have any consequences to her actions
After catfishing, slut shaming, not completing her assignments and being a neglectful friend, Sierra decides to write a song and share it with everyone she’s harmed hoping everyone will forgive her. And of course, they do. I’ll admit the song is really good but is it good enough to make up for taking advantage of all of your friends and loved ones?
9. Chrissy Metz needed more screen time
This is completely unrelated to the plot of the film but Chrissy Metz (from This is Us) was in this film, and I think she could’ve been better used as Sierra’s mother instead of Veronica’s mother. SBL should’ve taken notes on how This is Us discusses body image in a sensitive and respectful manner.
10. Jamey takes Sierra Burgess to Prom
This is one of the most confusing parts of SBL. I can’t understand how Jamey shows up to Sierra’s house to make-up when it should be the other way around. Maybe if Sierra showed up to Jamey’s house and apologized for her actions, she’d be owning up to her mistakes and they could start an honest relationship. But still, I have no idea how they could end up together or even be friends after everything that happened.