EDITORIAL STATEMENT
A recurring theme in Netflix originals is the main female character being deeply traumatized and having how ‘sad’ she is romanticized throughout the serial. This sad girl is always conventionally attractive and sought after by the male characters, with her trauma and possible mental illnesses playing a significant role in the allure. The heavy glorification of this trope is aided by the significant media representation, specifically Netflix originals such as Firefly Lane, Sex Education, and Cable Girls. Her portrayal is an attempt of deviating from the norm of female characters lacking depth and having their narratives revolve around a man. However, this approach is still quite harmful as it perpetuates the idea that trauma creates an added allure, which may lead impressionable audience members to subconsciously romanticize their trauma responses and delay healing, seeing as they would not want to lose what they believe is their “it” factor. That said, the aim of our zine is not only to bring awareness to the harm that the representation of the 'It' girl and other harmful representations on television brings but also to start forcing our audiences to consume media criticism. By bringing their awareness to such issues, we hope to slowly reduce mindfulness watching and replace it with critical assessments of television tropes to avoid the harmful implications that such tropes can bring. Furthermore, we hope to put out an array of content, varying from essays, to photography, to different forms of art, to ensure that all different types of audiences have something to enjoy in our zine.
