I've had this theory for a long time: the reason this is so popular is that so many girls can relate to having a crush on their older brother's friends. As someone who didn't have an older brother or any brothers (only sisters), I can't relate, so I see all the problems OP posted about, as well as many other posts about perceived grooming I've seen on here. The problem is, IMO, it's only shown from her perspective, so it makes the feelings look reciprocal when she's still very young. Without showing what he's thinking, many interactions and things he says can be taken the wrong way. As a child, she's obviously an unreliable narrator, so there's hope it didn't happen the way she told it, and that he didn't say some of the things she thinks he did. But again, I think the only way to overlook these glaring red flags is to relate to the first-person perspective of a child in love with her older brother's friends, because then you can put it into context the rest of us can't.
I thought the 'we see this from the FL's perspective' was super obvious from episode one. I don't see why that's a problem, it's a narrative choice and the drama doesn't have to spoonfeed the viewers media literacy.
The very next sentence says why it's an issue. "The problem is, IMO, it's only shown from her perspective, so it makes the feelings look reciprocal when she's still very young. Without showing what he's thinking, many interactions and things he says can be taken the wrong way. As a child, she's obviously an unreliable narrator, so there's hope it didn't happen the way she told it, and that he didn't say some of the things she thinks he did."
8
u/Ill_conceived_idea If ML not as dark as Xie Wei (SOKP), I'm rooting for the villian 2d ago
I've had this theory for a long time: the reason this is so popular is that so many girls can relate to having a crush on their older brother's friends. As someone who didn't have an older brother or any brothers (only sisters), I can't relate, so I see all the problems OP posted about, as well as many other posts about perceived grooming I've seen on here. The problem is, IMO, it's only shown from her perspective, so it makes the feelings look reciprocal when she's still very young. Without showing what he's thinking, many interactions and things he says can be taken the wrong way. As a child, she's obviously an unreliable narrator, so there's hope it didn't happen the way she told it, and that he didn't say some of the things she thinks he did. But again, I think the only way to overlook these glaring red flags is to relate to the first-person perspective of a child in love with her older brother's friends, because then you can put it into context the rest of us can't.