Over the weekend, whether you were too afraid to rejoin society after lockdown or you were forced back into lockdown because people went HAM and your city saw a resurgence of Covid cases, chances are you might’ve come across the new Baby-Sitters Club series on Netflix Family. Though the series was originally intended for a children’s audience, millennials and xennials on my Twitter and IG feeds have also found themselves binging the show. This wholesome content is exactly the nostalgia we’ve all been longing for in a difficult year, and if you haven’t watched it yet, do yourself a favor and head to Netflix.
So what better way to continue that comforting break from reality than to celebrate the iconic series and its characters by asking yourself the simple question of “What does your favorite Baby-Sitters Club character say about you?” None.
Kristy
Did somebody order a control freak? Kristys (Kristies?) are currently stewing over the fact that their 2020 planner has barely seen any action and spend their days in quarantine crafting the perfect itinerary for working from home. You’re not the best with change, but that’s mostly because things don’t sit well with you if you’re not able to run the show and be in complete control. That being said, you are a natural leader and you do your best to lead with love. Your friends are your people and you always show up for them. Like the Mom of the group, you’re reliable and when people need something done you’re the one they have on speed dial.
Claudia
Claudias are the fiercest, most artistic of the bunch. Never afraid to speak your mind, people naturally flock to your confident attitude and effortless style. You will definitely be voted mostly likely to have a future as an #influencer with a roster of Pinterest-worthy DIYs and sustainable capsule collections. Family means everything to you, though it can be frustrating when your family isn’t as open to your free spirit as your friends and fans. You’re a considerate friend who always has a purse full of snacks, encourages others to explore their creativity, and your attention to detail in your art and for the people you care about never goes unnoticed.
Stacey
Ahhh boy-crazy Stacey. On the outside, you give off the vibes of a Real Housewife in the making, when deep down you’re still just trying to figure yourself out (admittedly, most of the Housewives are too). While you worry a ton about what others may think, you try your best to not let your insecurities get the best of you. In reality, all you’re trying to do is find genuine connections in this world, and that goes for friends, romance, and family. You sometimes struggle with living up to your parents’ ridiculous expectations, but you know that at the end of the day they’ve got your back. So keep reminding yourself of that and surrounding yourself with friends and boos who do too.
Mary Anne
Mary Annes are either a future therapist’s dream or have a successful future as a therapist. Never one to rock the boat, you’re always listening and taking in everyone else’s energy. By nature you’re a people pleaser, though one should never mistake your kindness for weakness. You’re still learning to find your voice and develop independence from who you think you should be for everyone else and who you actually want to be. And while you’re still evolving your personality and style, you never discount the value of a solid pair of overalls and you can always be counted on to be there for your friends with an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on.
Dawn
A spiritual goddess, Dawns are optimistic and always look at the glass as half-full—even when the cards they’ve been dealt haven’t always been the best hand. You might have been forced to grow up quickly and play the role of caregiver or authority in your family. And instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you lean into those skills and excel with purpose. Whether it’s educating yourself and taking your efforts beyond performative allyship or leading a guided meditation to calm everyone’s nerves, you are not only happy to be a part of the group but truly want everyone to see just how wonderful and badass they can be in their own right too.
Karen
An honorable mention for Kristy’s soon-to-be step-sister Karen because let’s face it, it’s been a tough year for Karens. Whether we admit it or not, every single friend group has a Karen. Karens can be dramatic and have a tendency to overreact when really all they are is starved for attention. They genuinely believe they mean well, though it often comes out in problematic and extreme ways, like idk, running away at camp or fearmongering over conspiracy theories. And while Karens still admittedly have room to grow and mature, one thing is for sure—if they like you they’ll defend you to the extreme and you’ll always get that impossible restaurant reservation even if you’re just walking in.
Images: Jesse Austin (5), Kailey Schwerman/Netflix; Giphy
“I have got to get my life together. This heat made me realize I can’t go to hell” — a Tweet I read on my feed yesterday and I honestly couldn’t relate more. Unless my friends are willing to quite literally drag me out the door, I’m staying in, because no other force can make me voluntarily expose myself to 100 degrees of summer. Not anymore. Instead, I’ll be in my bed, my AC cranked to winter temperatures, indulging in all the new Netflix shows and movies welcomed to the website this month. And since y’all are lucky and I am nice, here’s a list of some of the best TV shows and movies to watch on Netflix this July.
‘The Sinner’ Season 1
This show is a crime drama mystery based on an international bestseller, so you know it’s good. Jessica Biel plays the creepy af lead, Cora. The show starts off with Biel just randomly stabbing a man she’s never met before at a beach full of witnesses, in broad daylight. Umm Jessica, I sympathize with you because I get that can be tempting, but if we all just stabbed men as we please, you know a lot of us would be in jail by now, right? The season revolves around detectives trying to figure out why Cora killed the random man by delving into her past to find shocking secrets and emotional trauma. As the New York Times puts it, the show basically hits the sweet spot between “smart pulp and arty melodrama”.
‘Orange Is The New Black’ Season 6
Everything is about to change this season. Just watch the trailer if you don’t believe me. As Carrie says, all you’ll have yourself asking is, “What the fuck is happening??” For those of you living under the most unschooled rock, Orange Is The New Black is based on Piper Kerman’s memoir, Orange Is The New Black: My Year In A Women’s Prison, about her experiences at a minimum security federal prison. Season 6 is set to come out July 27, if you aren’t caught up already, you better get to it because a) hello? The badass all-women cast and b) the show was declared Netflix’s most-watched original series.
‘Shameless’ Season 8
This show probably has the most fucked-up family dynamics. In fact, it’s so fucked up that when you watch it, you feel like your family is all normal and shit—yea, rare. This American comedy-drama is based on the British series of the same name, but honestly, the American one is so much better. What I really like about this show is that although the unfortunate circumstances that this dysfunctionally shameless family endures are somewhat exaggerated and quite frankly, fucking insane, the relationships and emotions involved are very real and relatable. Also, why would you wanna miss any chance to see Paul Abbott aka Lip Gallagher aka the only man on earth to make smoking cigarettes look hot af??
‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’ Season 10
One car. Two comedians. And some coffee. In the show, Jerry Seinfeld goes out in his flashy new car (a different one each time) for some coffee and conversation with another comedian. Steinfeld basically sells the show on the fact that we already have plenty to do in our lives, so the show doesn’t wanna take time away from that. That’s actually pretty genius of a sales pitch imo because although in reality, I don’t really have plenty to do daily, with Steinfeld saying that, I like to feel like I do—it makes me feel more important and productive, ya know? There are already plenty of shows we watch that are more complicated (Handmaid’s Tale, anyone??) and require a relatively longer attention span, but this one doesn’t. The episodes are literally just 14 minutes long. Out July 6, this season’s star-studded lineup includes Ellen DeGeneres, Kate McKinnon, and Alec Baldwin, among others. 
‘Samantha!’
This is a Netflix original Brazilian comedy series about a child star, Samantha,whose needs are simple: fame, adoration, and an exclamation point after her name. Relatable. The show revolves around the notion that when the world brings you down, you climb back up. Samantha comes up with various harebrained schemes to get herself back into the spotlight, the one she had as a child. Attention-seeker much? Ring a bell? Guilty.
‘The Princess Diaries’
The Princess Diaries is really the comfort food of all chick flicks. We’ve all seen it already, but this is one of those movies that’s just good to have available on Netflix, especially for July summer nights when you need to put a halt to the heavy drinking and look for something chill to do with your girls. The over-the-top princess life of Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is reassuring to watch, because with what’s going on within the political sphere of this country, an escape into a fairy tale lifestyle can feel quite refreshing.
‘Her’
This movie has quite a few genres mixed into one and when you see it, you’ll understand why. Her is a romantic sci-fi drama that is about a man who develops a relationship and falls in love with his computer operating system, who is played by Scarlett Johansson. I’d generally question this behavior, but it’s fucking Scarlett Johansson. Amy Adams says in the movie, “Love is a form of socially acceptable insanity”—which firstly, true—except the kind of love between the man and the voice isn’t exactly socially acceptable, yet it is as fine as any other romance, which is what makes the unravelling of this story so great.
‘Jurassic Park’, ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’, ‘Jurassic Park III’
This one’s kind of a three-in-one deal. And of course, Netflix cleverly decided to bring these into the website in July because it’s the perfect time to revisit the original story of the cloned dinosaurs in a theme park terrorizing humans, before seeing the 2018 Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom (in 3D!!). It’s honestly just really great marketing, but I’m not complaining because the gory dinosaur movie franchise was the epitome of my childhood horror movie existence. These movies are a classic, hence a must watch.
‘I, Tonya’
If you didn’t get your ass to the theatre to witness Margot Robbie’s incredible performance in this movie, you’re in luck, because it’s finally on Netflix. I, Tonya is a nonfictional film based on the life of figure skater Tonya Harding. Tonya was the first American woman to complete a triple axel during a competition, but her life completely changed when she got associated with the attacks made on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan. It was Tonya’s ex-husband who conspired to make those attacks, but due to the immense scandal that followed, Tonya was forced to withdraw from the national championship. I know, you really can’t make this stuff up. The film includes interviews with the characters in a mockumentary-style.
‘Blue Valentine’
Ryan Gosling. Michelle Williams. Yeah, you should be tempted to watch this movie for the cast alone. Blue Valentine is a romantic drama that follows a married couple, Dean and Cindy, for six years as they fall in and out of love. Idk about you, but this falling in and out of love is very relatable and high school nostalgic for me. Interesting fact: the two actually moved in together to prepare for their roles and to get into the headspace of the characters, and I must say, that really paid off. Watch the film and you’ll see for yourself.
Images: Giphy (5)
Now that summer is halfway over and all the good holidays have passed, you find yourself bored. Even your summer fling has simmered down and fall shopping hasn’t quite started yet. Don’t worry, that’s why we always trust Netflix to switch up the menu so we don’t get tired of the same thing everyday. Thankfully they understand how easily bored we get and have announced new shows that are coming to the site this August. Since we know the only thing you hate more than being bored is to like actually have to think/do anything, we rounded up our favorite August shows and movies coming to Netflix for you.
‘The Addams Family’ – August 1
We all went through a Wednesday Addams goth phase, no matter how short-lived. And I mean, props to her contributions to resting bitch face and wearing all black in the summer. We may have replaced black lipstick with a more sensible deep purple, but we’ll never forget the joy of this movie.
‘The Matrix Trilogy’ – August 1
It probably won’t hold up, but we’re sure you can find a drinking game to play along with this one. Plus, there’s something about Keanu that keeps us watching, the same way we kept talking to Smarter Child on AIM even though we knew it was a waste of time.
‘Wild Wild West’ – August 1
It’s too bad Will Smith stopped rapping for all his movies, because as campy as this movie was, we still enjoyed it at the time. There’s animatronic spiders and Salma Hayek’s boobs in this, so what’s not to love?
‘Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later’ – August 4
Netflix continues making these and we’re here for it. The last reboot did not disappoint, and we love the comedians involved in this. Plus it’ll help you relive your old camp days, which is both fun and terrifying.
‘Holes’ – August 5
This is where we fell in love with Zero for like five months before the actor who played him promptly dropped off the face of the earth. And the guy who wrote this book wrote the Wayside High books, which was quirky before quirky was a thing. Also, RIP Shia Labeouf. He’s not dead but like, you know what I mean.
Marvel’s ‘The Defenders’ – August 18
Superheroes are for nerds, but Jessica Jones was pretty chill so maybe this series will have some mileage. It seems like an easy enough series to watch, and if we hate it we can just wait for the next superhero series they are making literally every 10 minutes.
‘Once Upon a A Time’ – August 25
If you’re one of those people who just cannot get enough of re-imaginings of classic fairy tales, this show is for you. You’ll see literally every possible fairy tale personality (Elsa from Frozen makes an appearance) and there are so many episodes you’ll be able to binge for days. Also like, costumes and shit.
‘The Good Place’ – August 29
If you haven’t already watched this show now is your chance. Kristen Bell plays a betchy hot mess that gets sent to heaven when she’s supposed to go to hell, and she talks her way into letting them stay if she can prove she is good. Basically talking your way out of the ultimate parking ticket.
And don’t let these shows Irish exit on you. Here’s everything leaving this month, so get your fix in before last call:
’10 Things I Hate About You’ – Leaving August 1
This is a classic, and it’ll never get old. Also, Heath Ledger. RIP, still not over it.
‘Superbad’ – Leaving August 4th
This is a classic one to watch if you’re leaving for college or just remembering the time you were leaving for college.
‘Dope’ – Leaving August 10
Just a classic story about a nerd who loves hip-hop—sort of. Come for the 80s style, stay for the very funny performances and Shameik Moore’s face (consider this your formal invitation to slide into my DM’s, kthx).
‘Revenge’ Seasons 1-4 – Leaving August 28
Catch up on Revenge before it leaves forever.
