“a dramatic post about why ej caswell is my favorite hsmtmts character (and yes, i mean in season one as well) and why i am irritated at the show as a whole”
i think a lot of ej hate comes down to people not understanding the use of ej’s character in season one. ej is, for lack of a better term, the anti-ricky. where ricky is the likable underdog, ej is the popular jock. where ricky is the guy we are supposed to root for, ej is the guy in the way.
but something hsmtmts did really well in season one was develop ej outside of nini. when ej and nini eventually broke up, he was no longer the anti-ricky, but now just another character. so, in order to keep viewers interested in ej, he needed to grow, they needed to give people a reason to like him. so, they had him try to become a better guy.
i also find it shallow to look at ej (from the perspective of season one) and call him a “bad boyfriend” or an asshole. was he both of those things at one point in the show, yes. but was ricky, yes. was nini a bad partner at times, yes. remember that this is a show about teenagers. they’re only learning how to be in relationships so give them the room to mess up. nini breaking up with ej was completely justified, but ej had solid reasoning behind the things that he did. and we are starting to see that the jealousy and anxiety aspect of ej were not just toward nini (because he clearly has some level of fear of abandonment), as he is starting to display those characteristics again in season 3.
so let’s not hate on ej because he’s annoying but rather dig into the complex character that he could be if the writers did him justice. ej, in my opinion is the epitome of a mess of contradictions. he is popular, but disliked by a lot of people. he’s confident, but severely anxious. he’s a COMPLEX CHARACTER. and to be honest, hsmtmts tends to lack those.
i think that i can understand how ej’s arc can feel a little cheesy and forced, with him practically doing a personality 180 between season one and two, but i’m interested to see what they do with his character this season, blending together both the 1.0 and 2.0 version of him (similarly to gina).
1.0 ej was confident, driven, hard-working, romantic, loving, clever
…but he was also selfish, untrusting, overbearing, blunt, short tempered
2.0 ej is happy, friendly, open-minded, more trusting, supportive
…but he is also anxious, unsure of his future, sometimes clingy, jealous,
everyone loves to say that gina needs to find ‘balance’ between the old her and new her. give ej that chance.
ej has issues that go far beyond just a girl. his father is practically forcing a life that he doesn’t want down his throat, he was forced to direct a musical at the summer camp that he just wanted to experience one last time, his girlfriend is flirting with an old fling (no hate to my girl gina, but she is kinda flirting), and literally NO ONE is listening to anything he has to say.
ej is not an asshole. ej is not a bad boyfriend. ej is not a loser. ej is not a villain.
ej is the most complex, most interesting, and most fleshed out (debatably, besides gina) character that hsmtmts has given us. and not only are the fans of the show doing him dirty but the creators are.
i am irritated as a fan of ej and hsmtmts. this season has been so frustratingly repetitive and childish.
(i might be the only person who cares about this, but i could talk about this for hours)
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
prguitarman
jacobvanloon
kianamaiart
