em-talks-about-heartbreak-high - Tumblr blog

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cash going from your typical “ugh here we go another loser drug dealer” stereotype to an asexual child of an alcoholic who struggled with self harm and is desperately trying to escape his groomer and ex-gang to be with his non binary poc partner…I LOVE YOU CASH!

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oh uh. scuse me. just a lil snail crossing your dash

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So Quinni went full Fuck This mode masks off only to :

Have a great time going wild at a party

Accidentally become school captain

Solve a (bird)murder mystery

Run into a burning building; save three (3) lives 

Almost like... embracing neurospiciness can lead to surprisingly positive outcomes? Wooooah dude. 

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so i’m actually just now watching the second half of s2 e8 and holy shit dude

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i love how amerie didn't even hesitate to yeet the fetus, there was no "omg should we keep it" palaver like in other teen dramas, malakai and harper didn't shame her for her decision (unlike some people, *cough* emma and craig when manny had her abortion on degrassi *cough*), there was no angst or regret afterwards (i mean yeah it wasn't the most pleasant procedure for her to have to go through but her being emotional about it had more to do with it being a physically unpleasant thing to have to go through and not because she suddenly changed her mind or whatever).

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I Think There’s Many Reasons Why I (And So Many Others) Find It Easier To Sympathise With Spider Than Sasha:

This might confuse some people that have only just gotten into the show and haven’t finished it. Spider is an upper-middle class white allocishet boy and Sasha is a lesbian Asian girl. Sasha is also notably an activist throughout the entire series. So, why is it so much easier to sympathise with and like Spider? Well … Sasha is disingenuous, and Spider, while his views start out very discriminatory, is coming from genuine feelings of hurt and frustration. Because that’s sort of the whole point.

Spider, even if you disagree with him, is hurt and upset and does genuinely feel like the entire school is manbashing or out to get anyone with a pair of nuts. And then in season two when you meet his mother and realise he has no male role model, it all makes sense. His mother is a misandrist, she openly spoke about how she was scared Spider might hurt a girl, simply because he was male. And because Spider has no male role model, he has no one to look to for how to be a man. All he hears is his mother talk about when men are like. And since she hated him anyway, he decided “fuck it, why not become a fuckboy”.

Sasha on the other hand does not have this same reasoning for acting the way she does. She is comparable to those protestors that end up causing more trouble and making the rest of activism look bad. She says herself, a protest isn’t successful unless the police are called. She also doesn’t believe in second chances while expecting everyone else to give her a second chance. A holier than thou attitude that leads her to disregard the actual community she’s fighting to protect. She treats Quinni horribly, standing her up for her ex only to blame Quinni's upset on her autism and then making no effort to actually learn about autism. She also tells Darren it’s probbo to date Ca$h because of the SA, meanwhile disregarding that Harper, the actual victim, cares about Ca$h and was going to speak on his behalf since he was the one that made sure Harper got out of that car safely.

Spider is a character that’s easier to understand, because we know how toxic masculinity works and we know other characters have been mean to him. Amerie was embarrassed to almost hook up with him, Missy wanted to keep them a secret, Spider’s been consistently told he is the problem so he became the problem. Sasha? She’s an activist, sure, but she doesn’t actually seem to care. Even when Spider’s on his CUMLORDS era, he actually cares about the things he’s talking about because he’s actually hurt. Sasha is speaking over people. Sasha doesn’t believe in second chances, which makes her activism look disingenuous. Because she doesn’t care about improving the people that cause the problems, she just wants them to be severely punished.

She is supposed to be an activist, but she's incredibly ableist, sanist and classist in a way that she disguises, or has convinced herself, is activism. Spider, arguably, does the same thing with his misogyny and sexism being disguised as activism, but there is a key difference. We see Spider get hurt. Properly hurt, in a way that is unique to him. Sasha was hurt by the Incest Map in season one, but so was every other character, so ... Sasha doesn't have any hurts that we're aware of. We never see her struggle, we only see her hurt other people. Meanwhile, Spider does hurt people, but he also gets hurt, and usually when he is hurting people he is being influenced by someone much worse or it is some form of revenge. Sasha does not have that going for her.

The characters that Sasha hurts are also the characters we are made to empathise with. Sasha cheated on Missy at some point, Sasha treats Quinni like shit, Sasha holds a grudge against Amerie, Sasha tries to get in the way of Darren and Ca$h's relationship, Sasha tries to get in the way of Missy and Spider's relationship, Sasha continues to treat Amerie and Harper poorly throughout season two. Sasha is consistently hurting the characters that have the best of intentions. Spider? Spider spread a rumour about sleeping with Quinni, Spider insults Amerie (which everyone is doing), Spider acts misogynistic, Spider helps Dusty make a fake report on Jojo, Spider continues to be misogynistic but that's it. Spider is usually fairly harmless, except for when other people are involved in his actions. He makes a few off comments when it's just him, and that's it. And Spider does try to make a genuine effort to change. Sasha doesn't realise she's done anything wrong.

I’m sure we’ll learn more about Sasha’s home life in season three, because the glimpse of it we did get was confusing, but I would like to learn more. I’m sure there could be an element of her family possibly being so conservative that she’s gone to the furthest extreme, however we can’t know that for certain yet. I do think when we learn more about Sasha's homelife, her attitude of no second chances for anyone but me will make a lot more sense. But so far, she comes off as a very hypocritical person who has a certain set of morals but makes exceptions for herself to be shitty. Mostly due to her not having any visible struggles (obviously she's an Asian lesbian so there are definitely struggles there) and not knowing a lot about her home life.

Analysing these two characters side-by-side was interesting (especially since it's my theory that Sasha just really isn't over Missy yet) and I had fun doing it. If anyone would like to add their opinions go ahead.

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Heartbreak High as things i found on my phone

Bonus:

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Things I loved from Season 2 of Heartbreak High: (spoilers obviously)

bisexuals! bisexuals everywhere!

Cash getting out of jail - and choosing the right car to get in - when i tell you that scene had me literally screaming!

Harper and her like, entire journey

fucking RAGE callback with the aesthetic and everything!

Nan - best character in the whole show!

Zoe being a bit annoying but not being a villain

Cash and Darren just being so in love and like not even batting an eyelash at showing it to everyone (when they werent fighting that is)!

Spider's homelife - didn't see it coming but it fits

the whole commentary on masculinity and the war on "wokeness"

Chook being a good villain - as in, totally believable, totally terrifying in every scene he was in

Jojo and Woodsy just being... such good people, among the mayhem

Missy saying "petit miam" when she's speaking french

the BIRD PSYCHO mystery - kept me guessing right until the end

More Missy - what a queen!

SPEAKING OF ROYALTY HAVE I MENTIONED MY BISEXUAL KING MALAKAI!!!!!

I even liked the Dusty cameos - not too much, not too little

whenever Amerie and Harper would comfort each other in any scenario

actually any scenes with Harper - like literally whenever she was interacting with anyone it was just *chefs kiss* - Amerie, Cash, Woodsy, Ant, Quinni, Darren

SEXY DANCE FART - a slut-drop-fart was soooo not on my bingo card but thank you writers

baby Dougie adopting baby Darude 🥹

the music was banging! SO. MANY. GOOD. SONGS.

Spider's erectile dysfunction and how it was handled - not just played for laughs, but something that is obviously effecting him a lot

finding out the origin of Cash's nickname - heartbreaking!

THE FUCKING NUTBUSH!!!!! Its just not an Aussie school dance if there is no Nutbush

Ok I have to be up for work in like 5 hours so i really need to go to sleep now but I just had to get my thoughts down. Overall was very impressed with the season. Can't wait to do a rewatch and pick up on even more things!!

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spencer white and anthony vaughn

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inside you there are two wolves

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Ok but we talk about how Heartbreak High gave us an actual true love triangle?

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Just started episode 8 of season 2, is Rowan about to JD this fucking school

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I AM SO GLAD THAT MAN GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM

i want to smash mr voss’s head in with a brick

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So I’m about to cry

I’m currently on season 2 episode 6, and everyone online keeps talking about the origin of Ca$h’s name. I’m terrified

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The way I am literally scared for Ca$h’s life and then I hear FUCKING ICE SPICE LIKE NOW IS NOT THE TIME

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I’m so fucking scared for Ca$h if anything happens to him I will riot