To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before stole every preteen to teen girls heart across the nation. It exemplified every preteens fantasy of what a romance will be like, and made every teen girl envy the love the two main characters Lara Jean and Peter had that they are still hoping for. With the huge success of the first movie, a second one seemed essential. To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is that very movie. The movie opens with Lara Jean and Peter’s first date that is simply magical. They have a fancy dinner and promise each other to never break each others hearts as they set a lantern into the night sky, you know, something realistic and definitely do-able. Pretty quickly in, among the letters sent out by Lara Jean confessing her love to boys throughout her life, she gets a letter in response. Lara Jean is then met with a decision. She is new to being a girlfriend and struggling to find her way, but still loves Peter. John Ambrose, the boy who responded to her letter, randomly reappears at a retirement home that they both decided to volunteer at and things come as natural as they did when they were kids. In part two of Lara Jean’s love life, she needs to see through all the minor high school dramas and insecurities to choose the boy she wants to go for.
As this is solely a review, I will not spill how the movie ends, however the answer is quite actually in the title. I am skeptical of these teen romance movies, as it enforces the idea to young girls that in order for everything in their life to be perfect they need to be with the perfect guy. To All the Boys does attempt to break the mold in some aspects of the show, like when Lara Jean took the keys and drove the car back, cause that’s the feminism young girls need to see now a day. As the movie continued, it was made clear that Peter had his priorities aligned in a different order than Lara Jean. When they had a date set, Peter came hours late and Lara Jean was upset, but when he came she forgot about the clear issue and allowed Peter to sweep her off her feet. Rather than acknowledging the clear issue, the problem was swept under the rug because Peter flashed his perfect boyish smile in her direction. As I continued to watch the movie, I began to think, what am I watching? There is no clear plot. As the lack of rising action, character development, and climax came to my attention I became increasingly frustrated that this was not getting acknowledged. However, if you are choosing to watch this movie, I realized it is not for the plot. Girls across the country are watching this for the fantasy of it. They are watching in hopes that they will one day find their Peter.
It is clear that To All the Boys will not be winning an academy award anytime soon, however there is still a valid reason that Lara Jean and Peter’s fairy tale romance has been acclaimed. There is a growing realization of the lack of diversity in Hollywood. Lara Jean is an independent Asian women, growing up with a younger sister and Caucasian father. To All the Boys does not follow the typical blonde “girl next door” stereotype that has been plastered into everyone’s mind. This movie allows young girls that are not the perfect blondes to feel like they get a happy ending. Asian Americans have largely been overlooked in American cinema and, although this movie lacks any real substance, the casting makes a larger statement about the lack of diversity in mainstream Hollywood production.
