In one of the best teen rom-coms, She’s the Man, we see Olivia fall in love with “Sebastian” without realizing that it’s actually Viola disguised as her twin brother so she can play on his school’s soccer team. So, how do you know that the person Olivia is falling for isn’t genuinely Viola without realizing it? After rewatching the 2006 teen sports flick, I can’t stop thinking about why Viola and Olivia should have been endgame.
Olivia And Viola Had A Stronger Emotional Connection
You can tell throughout She’s the Man that Olivia didn’t care about dating the handsome jock or she would have fallen for “Sebastian’s” roommate, Duke. When she met “Sebastian,” Olivia instantly felt a spark and felt validated hearing “him” say that men are afraid to treat women as equals.
based on the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, it’s supposed to be funny to see Olivia falling for Cesario without realizing he’s a disguised woman. However, what if, through living in disguise, Viola could have discovered her hidden feelings for women she didn’t realize she had?
After all, Viola, as Sebastian, told Olivia that she’s one of the few people in school whom she felt comfortable around. Not to mention, she did look flattered hearing Olivia compliment “Sebastian’s” smile. So, it would have been nice for a little twist to come with Viola discovering through living as her twin brother that she could like women, too.
great rom-com on Paramount+ leaned into this, it would show that love can be about attraction after discovering the person they are, regardless of gender.
best friends-to-lover rom-coms in terms of Viola and Duke. They started off as roommates, became soccer buddies, then confused ties when Viola kissed Duke as herself in a kissing booth.
However, Duke didn’t really know Viola. After he first kissed her, he already wanted to ask her out without knowing her personality. Plus, it would be complicated if Duke always had feelings for Viola as “Sebastian,” since he clearly wasn’t attracted to men, and it never looked like he had confused feelings for his roommate. I feel they were better off as friends.
As for Olivia and the real Sebastian, you can make the argument that Olivia liked Sebastian’s lyrics when she found them. But that’s about it. Sebastian called Olivia “the girl of my dreams” after she kissed him. Olivia only kissed him thinking she was kissing the “Sebastian” she met, who was really Viola. I doubt a smart girl like Olivia would be happy with a slacker like Sebastian, who ditched school constantly to play with his band. In the end, the pair looked more like a convenient wrap-up than a true love match.
movie about young love between Viola and Duke, I truly believe that a better romantic twist would have been if Viola and Olivia discovered their feelings for each other. If there was a moment where they realized that gender doesn’t always define our feelings, the movie could have been a celebration of connection without labels. Not to mention, you can’t spell Olivia without Viola, right? You can see what I mean by watching She’s the Man with your Paramount+ subscription.