"You're Always Better Off With A Very Good Lie" - Alison DiLaurentis, Pretty Little Li

Intrigues? Lies? Mystery? This is what one of my favorite TV-Shows Pretty Little Liars written by Marlene King is all about. The show mainly tells the story of 6 characters: Alison DiLaurentis, Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery and the show’s villain, the mysterious A. One year after the disappearance of the Queen Bee of Rosewood, Alison DiLaurentis, her friends find themselves back together at Rosewood High reunited for the first time after the incident. Suddenly they all start getting messages blackmailing and pressuring them from an anonymous person signed simply with the letter A. That’s the start of a ‘game’ that is continued throughout currently six seasons which completely hooks the audience and includes some surprising reveals, deaths and more. *Be aware that this post might contain spoilers*

On the first glimpse the show might seem like it was primarily made simply for enjoyment but I think that it does actually teach girls in their teens and young adults a few very important lessons which are also represented in the key themes raised by the show. I found that the different characters in the show expressed different issues that the audience is being asked to consider. Emily for example stands for not being ashamed of who you are and Aria on the other hand stands for fighting for what you love. However, I find Hanna’s and Spencer’s messages the most important and will be analyzing those in depth below.

Hanna Marin. Hanna is the liar that is most concerned about her looks and the one that loves fashion the most out of the 4 girls. However there is a very important idea behind her character. Throughout the show she has always struggled with her image and what other people thought of her but she overcame that which teaches young girls that exact lesson: don’t care about what other people think of you.

Spencer Hastings. She is the smart one of the group, very ambitious and cares about her grades and achievements a lot. Through her character King wants the audience to consider if we always have to be perfect. Throughout the show she also gives a clear answer to that which is no. Marlene King does this by making Spencer extremely good at everything at the beginning: sports, school, relationships. She was presented as perfect and as having no problems. However, as the show progresses the audience finds out more about her struggles and problems; Spencer starts getting less “perfect” and lastly ends up taking drugs and having to see medical attention due to a mental breakdown. Click the video or this link: http://youtu.be/e5REQat2Tfs ,if you want to see for yourself. This issue of being perfect that is often evident in young girls these days is a very significant one and through Spencer girls learn that you don’t always have to be perfect.

Lastly, I would highly suggest this show to anyone who relates to these problems but also to those people who love mystery, solving puzzles and a bit of scariness. I am definitely very excited for the coming episodes! After reading this what do you think about the show? If you have watched it before, does this make you think differently about the characters or the show itself?

Reference List:

Life_iscaps. (2012, January 27). Pretty Little Liars 2x17 Blond Leading the Blind[Photograph].

Peralta, J. (2013, April 7). Pretty Little Liars: Season 3 (Television Soundtrack) [Fanmade Cover] (EK) [Photograph].

Duckysurfer47. (2013, February 26). Pretty Little Liars 3x21 "Out of sight, out of mind" Spencer gets put in Radley. Retrieved June 09, 2016, from http://youtu.be/e5REQat2Tfs