I recently overheard someone saying that season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty was super dramatic. In my head, I thought, “Well, buckle up, because season 3 is already out and you’re in for a wild ride.” As I’m sure you’ve already heard, the just-released season had many surprises: angry love confessions, betrayals, and out-of-pity marriage proposals (oop…), but mostly several moments during which Belly Conklin cannot seem to make up her own damn mind!
In the show, Belly is portrayed as sweet, caring, and overall a ray of sunshine, but in my personal opinion, she ruined a bond between two mothers, made the death of Susannah (Conrad and Jeremiah’s mother) all about her, judged her family members for processing grief, and victimized herself every time she messed things up. So while I would initially cut her some slack for being a teenager and vulnerable, on a deeper level, I would tell you that Belly Conklin is a villain. Let’s delve into it!
- Belly doesn’t Have any Personal or Professional goals
On a surface level, Belly is volleyball, beach, and Conrad-obsessed. Like every other teenage girl, she develops a passion for certain things, which is expected and healthy. Yet, in the long run, Belly’s character doesn’t have any professional, academic, or personal goals. This season jumps to Belly’s journey as a student at Finch College, though she never discusses her major, the classes she’s taking, or anything academic-related. Though I’m aware that’s not what the show is about in the first place, it becomes problematic once viewers realize that her academic negligence stems from the time she dedicates to babying and pining over THE manchild, otherwise known as Jeremiah Fisher.
Belly spends so much time torn about whether Conrad or Jeremiah is the better choice that she fully loses herself in this dilemma, and lets it consume her and her character entirely. She wakes up and goes to bed thinking about who she should pick, instead of investing clearly needed time, effort, and energy into herself.
2. Belly is Manipulative and Wastes Everyone’s Time
As much as I don’t like talking about this, Belly is clearly manipulative. Throughout the seasons, she is seen using Susannah’s passing as a crutch every time she finds herself in a tough spot. For example, in season 2, Belly argues that her brother, Steven, is ignoring Susannah’s death and numbing the pain by partying: “I’m not sure if you remember, but Susannah just died,” Belly states. The thing is, Belly chooses to ignore that not everyone handles grief the same way. There is no “right way” to mourn. At the end of the day, grief itself is not linear, and everyone processes it the best that they can. Belly blaming Steven for handling loss in a different way than her exemplifies her double standards and just how self-absorbed she is.
Belly uses this victimization tactic in other instances throughout the series as well. After being confronted by her mother, Laurel, for running to the beach house to prevent it from being sold, Belly tells Laurel, “Susannah’s dead, I’m grieving,” and “Yes, I know you hate me, but Susannah would never forgive you for abandoning her boys [Jeremiah and Conrad].” In trying to convince everyone that she is going through a rough patch, Belly forgets that everyone else is also trying to navigate this devastating loss. She feels entitled to comment on Laurel’s relationship with Susannah, crossing a very sensitive line and undermining her mom’s feelings. She implies that by choosing what she thinks is right, Laurel is letting Conrad and Jeremiah down, and Susannah would be disappointed in her for that. This is what shocks me the most here: Belly thinks she knows Susannah well enough to assume what she would have done if she was in this situation, and she’s using that to make her mother feel bad about her (perfectly reasonable and valid, in my opinion) reaction.
However, I noticed a twist to this behavioral pattern of victimization in season 3. More specifically, Belly is now using Susannah’s passing by saying, “This is what Susannah would have wanted” every time she wants to do something for herself. To convince Laurel to come around and get her to be a part of her wedding with Jeremiah, Belly says, “We’re getting married because we’re a family. Susannah said family is the most important thing. This is what Susannah would have wanted.” By saying so, Belly implies that it was always Susannah’s wish to marry ‘one of her boys’ and that by marrying Jeremiah, she is honoring her and her wishes. Knowing that everyone has a soft spot for the late Susannah, Belly uses her passing to get what she wants and manipulate everyone into thinking that, because there is a chance Susannah would have supported this, they need to do so too.
3. Instead of facing her problems and coming to terms with reality, Belly runs away
Finally, this is the cherry on top: instead of taking accountability for her actions and apologizing when she needs to, Belly always puts the blame on everyone else and expects them to think she’s angelic and innocent. She blames Laurel for not being supportive, Steven for ‘not grieving properly’ (is that even a thing?), Conrad for being flaky (even though he is going through the most devastating time in his life) and Taylor for being a “bad” friend. The ironic thing here is that her character drops everything and everyone at the very last second and runs away to Paris, while everyone else back home is forced to deal with the mess she left behind.
After realizing she has no spot at her study-abroad program in Paris, Belly decides to stay anyway, without a job, a place to live, or any friends or support system. Though she ultimately meets some people her age who turn out to be welcoming and supportive, she has, nonetheless, left the country without a care or awareness of the tense circumstances she has left behind. While yes, a break can prove to be very much refreshing and needed from time to time, one should not just vanish, move countries, and refuse to talk things out when needed. This isn’t ‘finding and figuring things out for oneself,’ it’s denying accountability and running away when you feel like it. Going to Paris is not the issue itself, but the timing. If Belly had her life together and wanted a little time off from her responsibilities, that would have been an entirely different conversation, but that’s not the case here.
Overall, yes, people make mistakes; it’s human, normal, and inevitable, but what really matters is owning up to them when necessary. In this specific case, I feel like all TSITP’s characters are at fault, but Belly especially is deluded and might I even add, a narcissist.
But, thankfully for all of us, the story of Belly and her self-destructing tendencies is far from being over. In fact, a surprise movie is going to be released soon, announced via Jenny Han’s Instagram, where we will hopefully get to see how her relationship with the better brother (cough cough Conrad) will unfold. So no worries, we still have a lot to see….