I say this with no malice really and this is mostly about what I've seen on TikTok. but, as an Australian, sometimes listening to Americans talk about H20 Just Add Water makes me a little crazy because it's so apparent how little youse know about Australia and how little you're exposed to media made about and for Australians compared to how much the average Australian is exposed in media made for Americans by Americans. Like. For example, I've never seen any American who loves the show, even diehard fans, talk about the environmentalist themes of the series and how its set specifically in Murri lands/Queensland because off the coast is the Great Barrier Reef, which is the most visible natural site where climate change is doing the most obvious damage in Australia. In the 00s when the show was made this was and still is a huge national issue and the show directly deals with it A LOT. i.e. Apart from their class differences, the biggest source of conflict between Rikki and Zane was that she is literally a mermaid drawing her power from nature, and Zane's family's wealth comes from developing the coast into resorts, directly on the reef. I'm sure there are equivalents for these issues in the US, but it really does bother me sometimes seeing non-Australians who have not the slightest idea about Australia, talk about H20 just add water like it's just a funny girlie Australian show about mermaids where everyone talks with broad accents, instead of a really groundbreaking show for Australian young people (especially girls) that was dealing with issues primarily affecting young people and took those issues seriously. It was a really special drama television series and it was in many ways the last hurrah of its kind for youth Australian tv, and it just irks me a little when I see non-Australians calling it stupid and corny and parody fodder because they don't have media literacy for Australian storytelling. Like a lot of youse can't even fully grasp why H20 just add water was so good. and if you wanna appreciate it more you should consider that maybe not all the cultural oddities in a thing you're watching are there to make you laugh and maybe they're trying to say something about the place they were made in.
