Irish Youth, Materialism and Postfeminism: The Critique behind the Romance in "Normal People"

María Amor Barros Del Río

doi:10.37668/oceanide.v15i.98

Abstract

Normal People, the TV series, aired in Ireland during the pandemic lockdown in spring 2020 and became an instant hit. This romantic drama, based on Sally Rooney’s acclaimed novel, offers an updated representation of the tensions inherent in the process of growing up for Irish youth, a context extensive to other Western countries. The aim of this article is to explore the critique behind the romance through an in-depth interpretation of the protagonists’ problematic process of coming-of-age. For this purpose, the dramatic aspects of this cinematic narrative are explored in terms of composition, narration and focalization. Under the critical lens of postfeminism, this article analyses how psychological violence and explicit and rough sex are used in the series as forms of (mis)communication, with a particular interest in the combination of camera work, dialogues and silences. Finally, this article assesses to what extent Normal People naturalizes mundane life and succeeds in adhering to the romantic plot within the frame of neoliberal and postfeminist values.

Highlights

Normal People, the TV series, aired in Ireland during the pandemic lockdown in spring 2020 and became an instant hit
Oung Irish writer Sally Rooney, labelled as “Ireland’s most successful millennial novelist” (Cameron 2020, 409), belongs to a generation of Irish writers who have been breaking new ground since the crash of the Celtic Tiger. These “post-crash stars of fiction”, in Justin Jordan’s words (2015),1 have been able to reshape traditional articulations of identity formation in the present recessionary context, eliciting in their works innovative forms of expression that resonate with readers
Development processes dominate the slow pace of the plot

Summary

Introduction

Normal People, the TV series, aired in Ireland during the pandemic lockdown in spring 2020 and became an instant hit. These episodes give the audience an insight into the protagonists’ complex inner worlds and their struggles for social and self-inclusion, with a marked emphasis on the bruises left by class and gender bias.

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Conclusion