Some teenage girls at GS are losing their minds after watching The Summer I Turned Pretty season three teaser trailer.
The trailer came out on April 24 and many want to know which brother the main character Belly will choose.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” book trilogy.
Photo Courtesy: Ava Richards
“I think it’s a big debate because usually teen romance books and shows is popular, and with things like TikTok, it makes it easier to debate things with more people to see,” senior Abegail Spaugy said.
Many fans get in heated arguments over this topic on social media.
“I am team Conrad just because the way he treats Belly in my opinion is more genuine,” Spaugy said. “I also think Conrad is better looking, so that helps his case. The scene on the beach made me a huge fan.”
Author of the books Jenny Han has made it a point to have Belly jump back and forth with both brothers.
“I’m on neither team,” junior Eden Wilson said. “Both boys have good and bad qualities to themselves making me not think either one is good for her. If I could, I would be team anti-Belly.”
According to an instagram poll, most fans tend to favor Conrad, but his brother Jeremiah also has a handful of defenders.
“I’ve had people explain to me why they’re team Conrad, that he is just simply meant to be with Belly, and I don’t see the appeal,” senior Cecilia Ecklund said. “I think a lot of people prefer a brooding character, but to me, he is often emotionally distant and honestly pretty toxic.”
In the third book, Belly chooses Conrad at the end, but Jenny Han has teased switching the plot.
The third and final book of the trilogy, published in 2011.
Photo Courtesy: Ava Richards
“I’m on team Jeremiah, not because I think he should end up with Belly, but because he is the better option,” Ecklund said. “He is emotionally available, has good communication, and has a fun personality. He offers a much healthier relationship if
Belly were to choose him.”
Spaugy, however, feels the complete opposite, saying he “sucks” and
“constantly” makes Belly feel bad.
“I usually prefer the books over show adaptations, but in this case the show is better,” Ecklund said. “There is more complexity in the storyline and the characters that the book just doesn’t cover.”
One of the biggest murder cases of the late 1980s and 1990s has become a worldwide topic again in 2024.
Erik and Lyle Menendez shot and killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez on August 20, 1989, in their Beverly Hills Mansion. But in 2024, their case has once again become very controversial.
The brothers never denied that they were the ones to kill their parents, but they have said that their reasoning for killing their parents was self-defense after years of enduring emotional, physical and sexual abuse. At the time prosecutors argued that there was no evidence of molestation, and they were simply after their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate. But after 27 years, attorneys say there is surfacing evidence that might help the brothers prove that their side of the story is true.
“They deserve to be in jail, but I think there needs to be more attention brought to their mental state,” junior Isabella Sefchock said. “They clearly weren’t mentally stable when they committed the crimes, and they need to be going through intensive therapy.”
The Menendez brothers experienced two trials. The first trial in 1994 was ruled a mistrial due to a hung jury which led to the start of a second trial in 1996. The brothers were then convicted of first-degree murder. During the trial, the judge withheld most of the evidence about the brothers being sexually abused.
They are currently seeking a retrial, claiming that they have new evidence to prove their side of the story. Their attorneys say this evidence has not been presented to a jury and that it should be due to new understandings of how abuse impacts children.
“When you go through that kind of trauma it affects you so much,” junior Braden Poole said. “You can’t understand how that person thinks, acts and talks after being abused to that extent.”
The brothers’ reason for their proclaimed “self-defense” was that they thought their parents were going to kill them after they finally started standing up to them after years of being silenced.
“There is no doubt that what they were put through was terrible, but they were adults, and they could have gotten help instead of resorting to murder,” Sefchock said.
On September 19, 2024, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story was released on Netflix. Although it quickly became popular, people have had a lot to say about whether it is necessarily true or not.
A screenshot of the Netflix series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
“In a way I feel like it went after Lyle and made him seem like a stuck-up guy out of court and villainized him, especially when talking about what he did to Eric,” Poole said.
Many people on social media have said that they feel the show made the brothers look worse than they are. But others think it showed exactly what they were like.
“I think the show captured the awfulness of their actions,” Sefchock said. “In my opinion it was what the public needed to finally realize that the abuse still wasn’t a reason to kill their parents.”
On October 7, 2024, The Menendez Brothers was released. This is a documentary in which the brothers speak out about what life was like throughout the hearings and now in prison. Others such as jury members, psychologists and lawyers also speak out in this documentary.
“I think it is good for the people who want to hear about the story but without the entertainment aspect,” Poole said.
In the documentary the case is broken down from the night of the murders to the sentencing. The brothers explain what they were thinking and feeling and give insight on their side of things.
“For me, the documentary seemed like a way for them to continue defending their horrible actions,” Sefchock said. “At the end of the day, murder is murder.”
The brothers were separated from each other for more than 20 years until they were reunited at Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where they remain incarcerated.
“I feel like separating them wasn’t fair,” Poole said. “They went through so much together and when they needed each other most they were ripped away from each other.”
The boys were separated because they were considered maximum security inmates. Prison officials also prefer to separate people who have committed crimes together.
“I think they needed to be separated,” Sefchock said. “I mean they planned murder together, so they clearly weren’t good influences on each other. They needed that time apart.”
The case has been particularly popular with younger generations. With young adults and teenagers being more active on social media, especially TikTok, they have been able to build communities of people who share their views.
Supporters of the brothers have created movements and are pushing for a retrial and for them to be released from prison.
“Going back to when this happened, abuse of all kinds wasn’t stuff that was talked about,” Poole said. “Gen Z has more of a broad knowledge and understanding on abuse and they sympathize with them because they were not heard.”
Now the brothers are 53 and 56 and although they are still in prison, they have found ways to pass time.
Erik has worked with terminally ill inmates, has become interested in studying medicine and has led classes about religion. Lyle has become interested in prison reform.
Both brothers have become interested in painting and have set up a plan to paint a mural on walls in their prison. They have also offered support and guidance to other victims of childhood abuse.
“They deserve a chance to be happy,” Poole said. “They should be able to live a life that isn’t a constant reminder of their past and parents. That can only happen if we set them free.”
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