![]() So I turned to David Levithan and Rachel Cohn’s Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares, the first of a trilogy, and the young adult novel that the Netflix series was based on. I wanted more than just a dreamy montage of their courtship, with Gracie Abrams crooning in the background. I was instantly reminded of how being enamored with the idea of someone is one of the pitfalls of online dating - how the buildup and anticipation in preparation of the eventual meet-up can easily lead to disappointment - and made me realize what I enjoyed most about Dash & Lily was catching a glimpse of the complex interiority of the protagonists. It was fun for a while, but the thing about playing a game is that someone has to lose. There’s no such thing as a Christmas miracle and it’s not your fault, it’s mine for believing. The fantasy was never going to live up to the reality. I was never going to be the guy in your head and you were never going to be the girl in mine. “Dear Lily, we set ourselves up for this disappointment. Yet, I was struck by how the most realistic part of the entire story was the cause of their fallout. The central conflict and resolution of the story are fairly predictable - things will fall apart when they finally meet because they will inevitably fail to live up to each other’s expectations, but they will eventually overcome their hurt feelings after Dash makes a grand gesture to win back Lily’s heart. Lily, scarred from being ostracized in her childhood, is ridden with social anxiety and stays under the cloak of her overprotective but close-knit family. Since his parents are divorced, Dash enjoys his freedom and solitude but struggles with building a relationship with his father. Dash is broody, cynical, and bookish Lily is sweet, guileless, and sees the world through rose-tinted glasses. ![]() Dash has an unconcealed distaste for the festive season Lily believes in the magic of Christmas. Our titular protagonists are hardly two peas in a pod. They communicate solely through the notebook, taking turns to leave it in safe places. This sparks the beginning of their epistolary flirtation, which takes them across different spots in New York City, and nudges them outside of their comfort zone - physically and emotionally - as they complete dares set by the other party. He goes on a scavenger hunt, singing Joni Mitchell’s River in the process, and decodes a message: “Are you going to be lonely on Christmas?” Intrigued by the prompt, he keeps the notebook so that no one else can find it and leaves instructions for the owner, Lily (Midori Francis), to retrieve his response. The story begins at the Strand bookstore in late December, when Dash (Austin Abrams), stumbles upon a red Moleskine with the words “Do you dare?” plastered on the cover. As consumers who were accustomed to instant gratification, we pressed on to enjoy the satisfaction of watching the story arrive at its conclusion in one seating, our fatigue hardly a deterrence. Before we knew it, it was close to six in the morning and we only had two more episodes to go. The trailer had caught my eye because it appeared to be a teenage rom-com that would certainly indulge our escapist fantasies and invoke nostalgia for the world before the pandemic. In mid-November, my friend and I watched Dash & Lily at a staycation, a day or two after the series was released in Singapore.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |