Promotional Poster for ‘Girl from Nowhere’ by Netflix
Before proceeding with the article, please note that this article contains heavy spoilers for the series ‘Girl from Nowhere’.
According to IMDB, ‘Girl from Nowhere’ is a popular Thai series airing on Netflix. The plot follows a mysterious but smart girl named Nanno who transfers to different schools in each episode and exposes the lies and misdeeds of the students and faculty at every school she attends. Each episode revolves around a different storyline and different characters. As someone who is an avid fan of the series, ‘Girl from Nowhere’ is definitely one of my top picks as underneath the layer of the main content lies some extremely important life lessons. Throughout this article, I will be sharing some life lessons that I personally have depicted from this show.
Let’s start off with the 5th episode of ‘Girl from Nowhere’ Season 1, Social Love.
This episode starts off looking like a story about a mere love triangle. However, as the episode progresses, it becomes more sinister as well. After Nanno and the most popular boy in school, Hann becomes the school’s ‘It Couple’, Yui, who was Hann’s actual girlfriend at the time starts getting concerned about their relationship. This also leads to Yui getting jealous as Hann was not willing to give up the show as he enjoyed the attention that the fake relationship was getting. Apart from Hann loving the attention, the whole school gradually became obsessed with ‘Hanno’s relationship and would not let them break up, and this put Yui and Hann’s relationship in a rough spot.
So, what life lesson did this episode actually teach us? It portrays the toxicity of modern-day ‘Stan’ culture on social media. Some fans are overly obsessed with their celebrity crushes, always ‘claiming’ that their celebrities are some sort of property they own. This obsession sometimes gets to the point that some fans would go to extreme lengths just to protect the integrity of their idols, and it also shows how some fans would be willing to do just about anything in order to send backlash to those who send hate to their idol, or even those who get into dating scandals with their idols, whether it be verbally or physically.
Season 1 Episode 6, Wonderwall.
The 6th episode of the first season of ‘Girl from Nowhere’ revolves around Bam, a girl who harbors a major crush on the school’s top soccer player, O. As Nanno transfers to the school and becomes the co-manager for the school’s soccer team, Bam starts feeling jealous and despises Nanno as she felt that Nanno was trying to meddle with her attempt to get together with O. Due to her fueled anger towards Nanno, Bam decides to unleash her emotions by writing hateful words and curses towards Nanno on the bathroom wall. To her surprise, whatever she wrote actually came to life. Since then, Bam would use this newly found power to crush those who angered her.
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
This episode actually touches a lot about power. This can be depicted from when Bam first found out that whatever she wrote on the bathroom walls would come true. She uses this to her advantage and would curse Nanno or whoever that blocks her way in getting together with O. Bam only realizes the severity of the power when she sees someone wishing for O’s legs to never work again, and whoever dared to erase any of the writings would suffer an instant death. This whole fiasco resulted in Bam ultimately wishing for everyone to disappear. This is where the life lesson plays in, with great power comes great responsibility. Bam could’ve stopped writing curses on the walls after realizing how powerful the curses could eventually become, but she instead decided to take it to her own advantage, which ultimately led to her downfall and she had lost all the people around her including her family members. She must now live with the consequences of her own actions.
Season 2 Episode 3, Minnie and the Four Bodies.
The 3rd episode of the second season revolves around a rich student, Minnie. Due to the influence and power her family holds, Minnie often gets to escape punishments for her faults, while getting whatever she wants in return. One day while Minnie was driving while texting, she crashes into Ploen along with three other victims. However, due to how strong her family’s influence is, as well as how rich she is, she was ultimately only punished with only doing 3000 hours of community service and paying a small fine.
Rich Privilege
Minnie and the Four Bodies actually touches a lot about the reality of the poor versus the rich. This theme can be seen throughout the whole episode as Minnie gets to escape heavy punishment, from acts that range from cheating on exams to killing people with her reckless driving. While Minnie gets to roam around freely after committing such crimes, the family of the victims can do nothing but grief for their deceased children while crying for justice to be served. Sadly, this is also what happens in reality as well. The rich stay living in comfort without having to worry about how to provide for their next meal or how to provide for their family, while the poor and less privileged ones have to work endless hours just to be able to provide decent meals, clothes and shelter for their children.
There is always something to learn from, whether it be from a book or even a picture as long as we pay attention and ponder more in life. Treat things as if it was an onion, there are always other layers of new meanings as we look underneath the first layer. So be sure to be attentive when watching a series or reading a book. Who knows? You might learn something new each time!
By: Loong Leyi