Since debuting on Netflix a week ago, the film To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before has become an immediate smash hit, breathing new life into the teen rom-com.
In the film, 16-year-old, half-Korean high school junior Lara Jean copes with her crushes on boys by writing them sealed love letters, which she keeps hidden away in a teal hatbox her late mother gave her. The strategy works until the letters “accidentally” get mailed and wacky hijinks ensue.
Eventually, Lara Jean (spoiler alert!) ends up making a real connection with one of the boys from her letters and (ostensibly) they live happily ever after—or whatever the expiration date is on a teen relationship, anyway.
Jenny Han, the author of the 2014 New York Times best-seller that the movie was inspired by, used her own experiences of writing secret letters to boys she had crushes on as a teenager.
Like most films in the genre, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before paints a dewy, innocent look at teen love through rose-colored glasses. Of course, that’s unfortunately not how real life romance always works. As a result, a sardonic backlash to the film has been growing on Twitter in the form of a meme riffing off the partial title of the movie.
You can see a few examples below:
https://twitter.com/kaysarahsera/status/1033203270993424384
https://twitter.com/SophiaCK/status/1033156953986326530
https://twitter.com/TheGabbieShow/status/1033181251518136322
To All The Boys I’ve Realized I Had Real Feelings For Only After I’d Already Crushed Our Relationship Into Tiny Bite-Sized Pieces
— ellie schnitt! (@holy_schnitt) August 25, 2018
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before they couldn’t pronounce my name correctly.
— Elinam Vanessa Agbo (@evagbo) August 24, 2018
💞 to all the boys i’ve thought i was in love with after talking to for approximately 4 minutes 💞
— James Charles (@jamescharles) August 24, 2018
to all the boys i’ve ever loved until they expressed their views on social and political issues
— tasmi (@tasmiimlak) August 25, 2018
At least one person used the meme to make a statement about gender and sexuality:
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Because I Lived In A Heteronormative Society And Didn’t Know I Could Love Girls Too
— bhavi / moved (@polychromesoul) August 25, 2018
And I’m backing away slowly from this one:
https://twitter.com/celestrogen/status/1033204409034006528
Even Netflix Canada got in on the action with this far too relatable example:
To All The Boys I've Loved Before but instead of my sister leaking letters, it's me drunk texting 5 guys that were nice to me once
— Netflix Canada (@Netflix_CA) August 24, 2018
If only we could all be so lucky to have a hunky dreamboat like Peter Kavinsky in our lives. Oh well. A girl (or guy) can always hope.
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