Belly Conklin: The Summer I Turned Pretty's Chaotic, Lovable, Unfiltered Queen
She's not the "pretty one." She's not the "smart one." She's the one who feels everything and makes you feel it too. Let's deep-dive into the glorious mess that is Belly Conklin.
If you've ever watched The Summer I Turned Pretty and thought, "Girl, what are you DOING?" congratulations, you're officially a Belly Conklin empathizer. She's the heart of the series, the eye of the storm, and the reason we all scream at our TVs. But here's the thing: Belly isn't just a love triangle pawn. She's a beautifully complicated, frustratingly real, and surprisingly relatable protagonist. Let's break down why she's so much more than "the girl who turned pretty."
1. The "Glow-Up" Trope But Make It Emotional
Every summer, Belly returns to Cousins Beach as the "little sister" the tag-along, the one in braces, the one Conrad and Jeremiah barely notice. Then, the summer she turns 16, everything shifts. Suddenly, she's seen. But here's the twist: Belly's transformation isn't just about contacts and a new wardrobe. It's about her finally demanding space in a world that always made her feel small.
The entertaining part? She handles it with all the grace of a baby deer on roller skates. One minute she's glowing at a bonfire, the next she's crying in a hoodie because Conrad looked at her weird. And honestly? Same. Belly's glow-up is less "she's all that" and more "she's all feelings" and that's why we love her.
But here's the deeper truth: Belly's entire identity has been built around Cousins Beach and the Fisher family. She's measured her life in summers at that beach house, defining herself by them. Without that house, without those boys, who is she? That's the question the show keeps asking and Belly keeps avoiding.
2. The Love Triangle: Belly Is Not the Prize She's the Player
Let's be real: the Conrad vs. Jeremiah debate has divided friendships and ruined group chats. But here's the hot take Belly isn't just a trophy being passed between two brothers. She's an active (if sometimes confused) participant in her own love life. She kisses Conrad. She dates Jeremiah. She breaks hearts. She gets her heart broken. She makes choices.
Are some of those choices questionable? Absolutely. The girl has the emotional decision-making skills of a squirrel on espresso. But that's what makes her real. She's not a saint. She's a teenager trying to figure out what she wants while two very different boys orbit her like moons. And when she finally chooses? It's messy, it's painful, and it's hers.
🔥 Hot take: Belly's indecision isn't a flaw it's the whole point. She's learning that love isn't a checklist. It's a gut punch.
But the internet has a different take. Some critics have called Belly "objectively the villain of TSITP," arguing that she's the common denominator in every heartbreak and sibling rivalry. They point out that she romanticizes pain and silences as proof of "true love," that she weaponizes her indecision like a ticking time bomb, and that she treats Taylor like an emotional sidekick only calling on her when boy problems hit DEFCON 1.
Is that fair? Maybe. But here's the thing: Conrad and Jeremiah get grace for their flaws. They get to be "traumatized" and "complicated." Belly just gets called "annoying." The double standard is real.
3. Her Relationship with Susannah: The Real Love Story
Forget the brothers for a second. The most gut-wrenching relationship in the entire series is Belly and Susannah Fisher. Susannah isn't just Conrad and Jeremiah's mom she's Belly's second mother, her confidante, her biggest cheerleader. When Susannah gets sick, Belly doesn't just lose a summer mom. She loses a piece of her soul.
The scenes between them the late-night talks, the shared looks, the way Susannah calls her "my Belly" are the emotional core of the show. Belly's grief isn't just about losing Susannah. It's about losing the version of herself that existed in Susannah's eyes: the girl who was always enough, exactly as she was.
There's a theory that explains Belly's entire romantic chaos through this lens: "Both of them see Belly as their mother's special girl, and she embodies the pillars of Susannah's personality. By holding on to both brothers, Belly is holding on to Susannah. And by holding on to Belly, both boys are trying to keep their mother alive." That's not just romantic confusion. That's grief looking for somewhere to land.
4. The Book vs. Show Belly: A Different Girl Entirely
If you've only watched the show, you might be surprised to learn that book Belly is a very different creature. The TV series made some crucial changes that fundamentally altered her character.
In the books: Belly doesn't lose her virginity to Conrad. She doesn't have sex with either Fisher brother. She doesn't study abroad in Paris. The entire "Isabelle" rebrand the bob, the lipstick, the life she builds in France is a show invention. Book Belly is more passive, more internal, and arguably less frustrating because she's less present.
In the show: Belly is given agency. She chooses to have sex with Conrad. She chooses to move to Paris. She chooses to stay in Paris when the program falls through. The show took a character who was largely reactive in the books and made her active for better and for worse.
This is why show Belly is so polarizing. Book Belly was a blank slate you could project onto. Show Belly makes decisions you have to reckon with. And sometimes, those decisions are terrible.
5. Belly's Flaws Are Her Superpower
Let's list them, shall we? Belly is:
- Impulsive She kisses people she shouldn't. She says things she can't take back. She runs when she should stay. In season 3, she tells Conrad their relationship "was never anything" a lie so cruel it made viewers gasp.
- Self-absorbed Sometimes she forgets that other people have feelings too. Taylor called her out on it: "You just only care about one story the one where you're the main character."
- Dramatic Every emotion is a 10/10. There is no chill. Chill does not exist in Cousins Beach.
- Insecure She spends half the series wondering if she's pretty enough, smart enough, enough enough. Even as Isabelle in Paris, she admits she hasn't "changed enough" to go home.
- Codependent Her entire personality revolves around whether Conrad or Jeremiah has texted her back. Her mom warned her about this: she needs to learn to be herself without having a Fisher brother to lean on.
But here's the magic: her flaws make her human. She's not a manic pixie dream girl. She's not a perfect YA heroine. She's a girl who makes mistakes, learns from some of them, repeats others, and keeps growing. And that's why millions of viewers see themselves in her.
6. The Paris Arc: Belly Finally Chooses Herself
After the wedding falls apart, after Jeremiah lets her go, Belly does something she's never done before: she leaves. Not for a boy. Not for a summer. For herself.
She flies to Paris. The study abroad program doesn't have room for her, but she stays anyway. She gets a job at a movie theater. She works at a bar. She takes online classes. She builds a life that has nothing to do with Conrad or Jeremiah or Cousins Beach.
She starts going by Isabelle. She gets a bob. She wears lipstick. She dates a French boy named Benito. And for the first time in her life, she's not defined by who she's with or which summer it is.
As one critic put it: "Belly choosing herself and choosing Paris was the best thing she's done in the entire series." The showrunner, Jenny Han, told Entertainment Weekly that this arc was essential: "It's not just an epilogue. There's just so much to living on your own, for the first time, in a foreign place, and that's important for Belly as she's growing up."
7. The Iconic Belly Moments That Live Rent-Free in Our Heads
- 🎤 The karaoke scene "I'm not a princess, I'm a queen." (Okay, she didn't say that, but she should have.)
- 💔 The "I choose me" moment Finally, a protagonist who realizes she doesn't need a boy to be whole. (Even if it takes her three seasons.)
- 🏖️ The beach confession to Conrad "I've loved you since I was ten." Cue the sobbing.
- 👗 The debutante ball dress She walked so every other YA heroine could run.
- 😭 The Susannah goodbye If you didn't cry, you're made of stone.
- 🇫🇷 The Paris apartment reveal Belly standing in her own space, her own life, her own future. Finally free.
8. Why Belly Conklin Will Always Be That Girl
Belly isn't perfect. She's not always likable. She makes you want to shake her and hug her in equal measure. But that's exactly why she's one of the most memorable YA protagonists of the decade. She represents the messy, glorious, heartbreaking process of growing up of realizing that the summer you turn pretty isn't about how others see you. It's about how you finally start to see yourself.
Is she a villain? No. Is she a hero? Also no. She's something more interesting: a real girl. A girl who grieves and loves and makes mistakes and sometimes hurts people and sometimes gets hurt and keeps going anyway.
Lola Tung's performance brings a depth and nuance that characters of color often don't get on teen shows. As one critic noted, Tung and her TV family "brought a dynamic that felt deeply real and aggressively normal" and that representation matters. Belly means something to people. Even when she's frustrating.
So here's to Belly. The crier. The lover. The fighter. The girl who turned pretty and then turned into a whole damn person.
💬 What's your favorite Belly moment? Is she the most relatable protagonist on TV right now? Or is she the villain the internet says she is? Drop your thoughts and yes, we're still Team Belly, even when she's being a disaster.
Comments
Post a Comment