By Cammie Dutchess, Managing Editor
“Grand Army,” a new Netflix original series, follows five teens as they navigate and overcome high school, political and social obstacles.
The series, which is ranked nine in the top 10 in the U.S. today, is set in a fictional Brooklyn high school where people of all identities attend.
The show begins with a bombing in Grand Army Plaza, just a few blocks from the Grand Army High School. During the safety procedure, the five dynamic students find out exactly how they fit in, or how they do not.
The first plot line follows Joey Del Marco, played by Odessa A’zion, as the heroine of the Degrassi-style drama. When Joey first gets spotlighted, it is immediately known that she is the popular, body-confident girl who sticks up for others and infatuates the people around her.
She is also usually the first person to stand up for what is right.
When a teacher is yelling at a duo of students during the lockdown, she turns to confront Joey about wearing gym shorts, saying, “You’ll find any excuse, right, to put your body on display” – as if wearing gym shorts during a gym class is a crime.
To rebel against the teacher’s actions and words, Joey and her friends decide to “free the nipples” and go braless during the school day to protest the regulation of women’s clothing and bodies.
As the series continues, Joey’s relentless high confidence is not immune to a traumatic event that impacts her loving character and causes her to form a barrier around her that does not crack until the season finale.
Someone who is not Joey’s biggest fan, however, is Leila Kwan Zimmer, played by Amalia Yoo.
Leila’s character reveals how a show’s victim can also be a villain.
Leila gets bullied by her fellow Asian students because she cannot speak Chinese. Although she was adopted at a young age by a white Jewish family, her peers ridicule her for being a “fake Asian” and at one point call her Anne Frank.
However, at times it can be hard to feel sorry for Leila. When she is not getting harassed, Leila is very self-absorbed and sabotages herself whenever she is faced with the chance. It is hard to root for the underdog when all they do is hurt themselves.
What is surprising about this series, though, is the small bursts of cartoon animation in each episode. Whenever Leila is confronted with a challenging situation, the show switches to a graphic liveliness that does not seem to go well with the show. This only happens with Leila’s character which is confusing because she is arguably not the forefront character that Joey is.
Another character who gets harassed because of their identity is Sid Pakam, played by Amir Bageria. Not only is he a young man of middle eastern descent who gets the side-eye from New York subway riders because a terrorist bombing just occurred, but he is a closeted gay whose coming out secret in his Harvard admission essay just got leaked to the entire school.
Sid’s swim teammates tease him and he struggles to confide in his strict parents about his true sexual identity.
Also roaming the halls of Grand Army High School are best friends Jayson Jackson, played by Maliq Johnson, and Owen Williams, played by Jaden Jordan.
During the school lockdown, the duo play an innocent prank on a fellow student, which gets them in trouble and results in extreme disciplinary action.
Jayson gets off with a small suspension, but Owen gets the worst of the half and must give up his spot at all-state championship for his saxophone skills.
Although the prank was harmless, it shows how the judicial process inherently does not support the marginalized. In a world where young Black boys are just trying to survive, people do not want to see them succeed.
This can also be said for Dominique Pierre, played by Odley Jean, a young Black woman who is trying to support her family and make her voice heard in spite of the hate she receives in the process.
Dominique is a hardworking student and an aspiring psychiatrist, but her worth can sometimes be defined by the color of her skin.
She gets yelled at by other high schoolers for taking a knee during the national anthem at a basketball game and in a later episode, her boyfriend yells “I can’t breathe” during an assembly.
It is nice to see show producers and writers still keeping George Floyd and Colin Kaepernick in the forefront of their minds to assure viewers that these social and political issues are now prevalent more than ever.
“Grand Army” showcases the difficulties that high schoolers endure on a daily basis. It is not a series to take for granted, but one that can enlighten people of all ages.
“Grand Army” is available for streaming on Netflix.
jonesdca17@bonaventure.edu
