By Amalia Theocharidou,
As Turkish series take over Netflix by storm, and as someone with a past with them, I could not skip on mentioning my personal favorite, which, let me claim, differs from all the other traditional ones. This is Love 101. I’ve always loved series that travel us back to the past, to times that, even though I wasn’t alive for, I feel nostalgic about. Love 101 is set in Constantinople in the 1990s, at a famous private school, which struggles every day to keep its high profile image.
The protagonists are a group of kids, who are characterized as delinquents by their teachers and headmasters. Eda, a girl passionate about art and popular with boys, who doesn’t hesitate to use her charm to get her way around. Sinan, a quiet boy, abandoned by his parents and living only with his grandfather, who has given up on every hope of an academic path and, whenever he’s not sleeping in class or failing a test, he often skips school. Kerem, a rich boy with anger problems, who lashes out at everyone and everything, and lastly, Osman, an intelligent student, who also takes the role of a conman, in order to gain some more money.
These kids have been on the verge of getting expelled many times, as their shenanigans always get them in the spotlight and in the head of their headmaster, who has as his ultimate goal to expel them permanently. The kids seem careless though, as, in order to get their expulsion granted, the Teachers’ Board must come to a unanimous agreement. On their side, they have their kind, young, teacher, Burcu, who believes in them and strongly supports that, in order for the kids to learn better, the oppressing teaching method needs to change, so they won’t feel the constant need to break the rules. But things start to get more complicated when, one day, Burcu claims she wants to quit her job in order to devote herself to her soon-to-be husband and prepare to start a family in his hometown, as her fiancé is a traditional man, who believes in the patriarchal standards of women staying at home, while the husband provides.
Scared, Eda lets the others of the group know, and all together come up with a plan in order to keep Burcu in their school. The only solution: get Burcu to fall in love with someone else, so she doesn’t quit and move away. And who’s more appropriate for that than their new gymnastics teacher, the rock-ish and alternative modern Kemal, a former basketball player, who denies love at all costs. From that point on, the kids set their sights on getting the two of them to fall in love, indulging themselves in many funny incidents. Also, while they are on that, they get to know Isik, the school’s model student, who seems eager to help them. But love is all around, as the series doesn’t miss on focusing on the students’ personal lives as well, reminding us of the youthful and exciting crushes we all have experienced in High School.
Love 101 is not just a funny romantic series, but also an insight into many different fields, from the Turkish tradition of the 90s, to problems that are, even now, in the spotlight, such as gender inequality, family oppression, and high societal standards. Perfect for binge-watching, the show is promising a nostalgic time where everyone can reminisce about their youth.
