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Why y'all should watch Julie and The Phantoms:

POC LEAD: the female protagonist, Julie Molina, is played by a Puerto Rican actress named Madison Reyes. Julie is adorable, lovable and finds her love for life through music, her family and her friends. Her strength shines through her interactions with her family and friends and her relationship with her deceased mother. We also get to see the home life of Julie's family, her dad, Ray, her little brother, Carlos, and her tia.

BLACK REPRESENTATION: Julie's best friend, Flynn, is not a background character or part of Julie's entourage; she is her own person. She has layers and she has a personality and not to mention, the greatest fashion sense. She has goals and dreams, she's a go-getter and musically inclined, a DJ, a trumpet player and she is honestly the greatest friend. She is independent.

OPENLY GAY LEAD DRUMMER: Alex is one of Julie's ghost band mates. He is real and complex and deals with ANXIETY but most importantly, he doesn't fit any boxes that entertainment has created for what a gay man should be. He is a dork and the cutest dancer and most importantly, he has a story. He forms a friendship with another boy, Willie, and they don't immediately fall into a relationship which I love because it is so important to show the slow development of any relationship, especially one that is so important to so many people (but please willex canon in s2). Anyways, it is incredibly beautiful to see their slow and sweet relationship dynamic.

FRESH PLOT: even though it is a remake of the Brazilian show by the same name, Julie and The Phantoms still has its own quirks and the creators took many many creative liberties to make it unique and a one of a kind show about a girl and her ghost band.

THE ERADICTION OF TOXIC MASCULINITY: Alex and the other two phantoms, Luke Patterson and Reggie are so distinctly layered. They are sensitive and not afraid of emotions. They each have deeply intricate stories dealing with their families and their experiences.

DEALING WITH GRIEF: All four protagonists deal with grief in their own ways: Julie trying to deal with the pain of her mother passing, Luke running out on his parents, Alex with coming out and recieving a lack of acceptance from his family and Reggie's parents going through a divorce before he died.

KICKASS MUSIC/SOUNDTRACK: the show revolves around a band so, of course, they have fire music. I've been listening to the show's music on repeat for the past week (especially see: "Unsaid Emily", "Flying Solo", "Wake Up", "Edge of Great" and "Bright"). One thing that I find badass on another level: every band performance is live- non of the pre-recored, lip syncing stuff.