I Think Netflix's New 'Messy Girl Summer' Category Missed a Few Titles, but I've Got You
This category features about 35 titles, all offering some take on multifaceted women. Netflix shows that appear under the category include the newish Julianne Moore-Meghann Fahy dark comedy Sirens, Ginny & Georgia, Glow and the brand new Lena Dunham-penned rom-com, Too Much, which is hovering in Netflix's Top 10 at the moment. There are also a bunch of movies on the list, including Amy Schumer's pregnancy comedy Kinda Pregnant, Todd Haynes' psychological drama May December and the rom-com He's All That.
"Messy Girl Summer" is a broad term evoking female characters who are allowed to be flawed, weird, vulnerable or secretive -- and that's a combination of traits that has worked for Netflix for years. One of the platform's first hit shows was Orange Is The New Black, a show filled with messy women in prison. But that show has fallen off most people's radar, and thus, it was left off this list. In fact, there are a lot of titles that aren't on this list but probably should be. Netflix really could have blown this category out and had some fun with it. It's OK, I'll step in.
If I were curating Messy Girl Summer, I'd start with the show that's the progenitor of the genre, Sex and the City. Back when appointment television was still a thing, that show was essential Sunday-night-in-the-summer viewing. (Its sequel, And Just Like That, is currently tormenting longtime fans every week over on HBO Max, but it's just not the same.)
Also missing from Netflix's list are the documentary Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, about one woman's years-long relationship with a man who didn't exist, the kinda-weird Irish crime drama Bodkin, the Japanese series Asura about four sisters whose lives are thrown into chaos when their dad's affair is discovered, or the Mexican erotic drama Playing With Fire. Every woman on each of these shows is a mess or is dealing with one in some way or another; they absolutely deserve to be included. Need more messy girl movies? Nothing messier than One of Them Days (friendship/rent is due mess), To All The Boys I've Loved Before (romantic mess), or documentaries like Con Mum or A Deadly American Marriage (real-life mess).
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Netflix
I'm all for trendy, zeitgeisty slang (if for no other reason than to make my kids uncomfortable when I use it), so messy girl summer doesn't bother me, but it did make me realize that when you're labeling women, messy is an easy shorthand for the Venn overlap of "flawed" and "chaotic." Usually, "flawed" male protagonists aren't "chaotic" as much as they are "tortured" or "vulnerable" -- instead of "messy," they get to be "complicated." For shows about men like that, I suggest Dept. Q, Lupin, Breaking Bad or Bodyguard. (I guess complicated men tend to either be in law enforcement or on the run from the law.)
Honestly, you can shoehorn pretty much anything into a category if you try -- we all contain multitudes and we're all a mess somehow, right? Which is probably why we like watching shows and movies about people whose lifestyles are even more complicated and messy than our own.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP N.V. ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION OF CYRILLE BOLLORÉ FROM ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
HILVERSUM, Netherlands, July 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Group N.V. (EURONEXT: UMG) announced that Non-Executive Director Cyrille Bolloré notified the company of his resignation from its Board of Directors with immediate effect to focus his time and energy on the Bolloré Group. Mr. Bolloré remains strongly supportive of UMG's management team and strategy. The UMG Board is very grateful for Mr. Bolloré's contributions to the Company. About Universal Music GroupAt Universal Music Group, we exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising, and audiovisual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation, and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms, and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information, visit Cautionary NoticeThis press release is published by Universal Music Group N.V. and contains inside information within the meaning of article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation). View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Universal Music Group N.V. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Vogue
25 minutes ago
- Vogue
Ty Haney Is Ready to Give Outdoor Voices Another Go
It's likely to at least catch the attention of current and former fans of the brand; Haney's challenge now is to successfully introduce the OV aesthetic — heavily associated with millennials — to Gen Z women. To do so, she's updated her go-to-market strategy. Outdoor Voices was part of the direct-to-consumer (DTC) retail gold rush of the 2010s, flush with VC cash, which she says eventually diluted her business to the point where she lost control. Gone are the days where a brand's trajectory could be supercharged thanks to Facebook and Instagram arbitrage. Haney now has a new trick up her sleeve thanks to Try Your Best (or TYB), the community rewards platform she launched in 2022 during the Web3 boom, which raised $11 million last month from investors including Offline Ventures and Strobe Ventures. The concept behind TYB is that brands can build fan channels and reward subscribers with early launches, discounts and more, while using the community to gauge new ideas, get feedback and build brand loyalty. Haney's CBD brand Joggy was one of the first to launch on TYB, while other brands on the platform include Glossier, Rare Beauty and Poppi. Outdoor Voices will go live on TYB this week with the product launch, giving those that join early access on 4 August. 'Really, TYB was a direct reaction to what worked and what didn't at OV. It came from understanding the power of community,' she says. With all Outdoor Voices stores closed, the focus is on e-commerce, though Haney says they're in talks with some select retail partners. Some collaborations that will hit on new categories are in line for spring. The Sun Shirt. Photo: Outdoor Voices The Sugar Cardigan. Photo: Outdoor Voices It's clear speaking to Haney that she's back in her element. She says TYB, Joggy and Outdoor Voices are three pieces of the brand world she's building. She has big ambitions, saying that she wants Outdoor Voices to be the next Patagonia (a brand more reflective of her current time spent between her hometown of Boulder, CO, and San Francisco). When she left in 2020, Outdoor Voices was at around $90 million in annual sales; the plan is to hit a new revenue high in the next 12 to 18 months. But she says she's not thinking about growth targets so much as she is building something that lasts, and she says the partners that she has in place this time feel like ones she can trust, ones that she had time to vet and get to know before deciding to return. She's stepping back in as a part owner of the company she started, which was a non-negotiable. 'Ownership matters a lot to me,' Haney says. 'How we fund the company, what the expectations are. That matters.' What happened with her first run at Outdoor Voices feels present. While she initially says she's 'put a bow on those eight years, and I'm very kind and grateful to them', she later addresses how difficult the period was. 'I'm an optimistic person. I think I blocked out those years.' Haney is not the only female founder of her era that left her company in a blaze of allegations of mismanagement and workplace toxicity. Is it vindicating to return? 'From a founder perspective, challenges are par for the course,' she says. 'But I don't think that era where there were so many takedowns was good for women wanting to be founders. So at the end of the day, I couldn't be more excited for this to be a model to show what's possible, and I hope that there's a wake of new interest from young women, to see what's possible in the brand and business-building world.'
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
This week's TV: Jason Momoa in ‘Chief of War,' a Marc Maron comedy special, a Leanne Morgan sitcom, and more
'Adaptive,' Today on Peacock: From the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics to the 2024 Paris Paralympics, the three-episode sports docuseries homes in on the dedicated athletes with disabilities overcoming physical and emotional hurdles to achieve victory. Among the series' standouts are one-legged Ezra Frech, who suffered from a congenital limb impairment at birth. Frech competes in both the high and long jumps. In 2024, he garnered two gold medals. Swimmer Jamal Hill has battled the degenerative Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder while pursuing his athletic dreams. Meanwhile, Josie Aslakson won a silver medal in 2024 as a member of the US women's national wheelchair basketball team. Next stop? The 2026 Paralympics Games in Milan-Cortina. Advertisement 'Dope Girls,' Today on Hulu: 'Hacks'' Dance Mom Advertisement 'Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes,' Wednesday on Netflix. Like the never-ending stories of Charles Manson and his circle, New York's 'Leanne,' Thursday on Netflix: Sitcom king Chuck Lorre ('The Big Bang Theory,' 'Mom') fashions a sitcom around stand-up Leanne Morgan. The Southerner's protagonist is trying to remake herself in her 60s after her husband of 33 years leaves to follow his bliss. With the help of her sister (Kristen Johnson) and mother (Celia Weston), Leanne's going to make it as a single senior after all — but the humor lies in the epic fails along the way. All 16 episodes drop at once. 'Marc Maron: Panicked,' Friday on HBO Max: The mustached Boston University alum, stand-up comic, Advertisement Thelma Adams is a cultural critic and the author of the best-selling historical novel 'The Last Woman Standing,' about Josephine Marcus, the Jewish wife of Wyatt Earp.
