'The Summer I Turned Pretty' is triggering millennials who watched 'The Hills' — and here's why
Any millennial raised on MTV-era reality television knows all too well that there's nothing worse than being remembered as the girl who didn't go to Paris.
On Wednesday's episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty, which is currently airing its third and final season on Prime Video, the show's main character, 21-year-old Isabel 'Belly' Conklin (Lola Tung) seemingly chooses to forego her semester abroad in Paris so she can spend the summer at a beach house with her fiancé, Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno).
'I don't want us to be separated right after we get married,' Belly tells Jeremiah. So, she decides, 'I'll stay.'
Immediately, many millennial viewers were reminded of another lovestruck woman who famously chose her boyfriend over a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the French capital: Lauren Conrad from MTV's The Hills.
In the Season 1 finale of The Hills, which aired in 2006, Conrad, the show's star, is offered a coveted summer internship with Teen Vogue in Paris. But like Belly, she ultimately chooses to spend the summer with her boyfriend, Jason, on a beach in Los Angeles. The aftermath of this widely frowned-upon decision was addressed in the season two premiere, during a conversation between Conrad, her coworker Whitney Port and Teen Vogue editor Lisa Love.
'Lauren didn't go to Paris. She's going to always be known as the girl who didn't go to Paris,' Love says, before asking Conrad, 'Do you regret that decision? How was your summer at the beach with your boyfriend? Did that work out for you?'
Having clocked the uncanny similarities between Belly's and Conrad's decisions, fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty and The Hills have been heading to social media platforms like TikTok and X to air their grievances. Giving up Paris for a 'manchild,' according to these loyal viewers, is so not the move.
It's clear, as another fan points out, that Belly didn't watch The Hills.
So, does Belly really not go to Paris? And if she doesn't, is it something she'll live to regret? And is Jeremiah actually her forever love? The Summer I Turned Pretty is based on a trilogy of books written by author Jenny Han, so technically, those who have read them know how this story plays out — though Han has teased a possible change of the ending.
For right now, it seems Belly is satisfied with choosing the boy over the dream. Conrad was too, though she and Jason ultimately broke up.
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