andi mack blog

Goodbye 2018... Start of Something New... 2019 🤩

joshuatbassett Ay nice caption 🏀😏

Contract renegotiations after season 3 and the budget for the show isn’t exactly cheap

Two new Disney shows are possibly shooting in Utah

Bunk’d season 4 renewal (spin-off with cheaper new actors) and the two executive producers are Andi Mack staff writers (main reason i’m concerned tbh)

Another writer on the show tweeted about being at Freeform for meetings (tweet was deleted after so that was kind of interesting)

Josh’s recent tweet about being concerned about the nature of an outcome (to me it read like a season 3 finale situation but that’s up in the air)

Weirdly sentimental Instagram posts from the cast (again this could be me reading too much into it)

Shooting ends mid December so the cast/writers will probably know soon if they don’t already

“So we’re mixed race Asian American girls able to watch a show starring mixed race Asian American girls and a diverse cast that doesn’t shy away from talking about identity and difference in different ways. Our dad like to tell us that this is a really big deal and this wasn’t the case when he was a kid. How do you see your show fitting into the larger discussion about diversity and representation in Hollywood and what do you think that means for our generation?”

I recently watched Bo Burnham’s feature Eighth Grade (highly recommend) and that got me thinking about the way we talk about the Andi Mack characters, specifically the kids. 

It’s so tempting to dismiss young characters for their flaws and decisions, especially as someone older than said characters. We reward the most critical discourse and commentary. It’s cool to be derisive and edgy and I’d argue that we’re socialized to actively engage that way on this website. 

We’re all complicit because it’s so easy that I think we forget the cruel reality of middle school and not the nostalgic version we remember to cope with it. We say we want realistic storylines but quickly jump to conclusions if they don’t live up to our own expectations of how thirteen year old kids should act.   

Going forward, I want to view the show with more kindness towards all the characters, no matter how painstaking it may be. For me, this show is a privilege to get to watch and I know I am not entitled to any outcome. I’m just along for the ride with a show that’s paving the way for future children’s media that strives to be something substantial given the constraints of the platform. 

Can you give us any insight or inklings to the finale?

“The storyline I am most proud of is Andi’s self-awareness about how much she doesn’t enjoy her relationship with Jonah [...] I got to put words in Andi’s mouth that I wish I had said decades ago, and I really hope I helped some teenager somewhere to end that crappy relationship which was making them miserable.” --Terri Minsky

Looking at the storylines, it’s clearly beyond romantic ships. We’ve seen her standing up to Amber, Dr. Metcalf, Cece, Bex, Bowie, Miranda etc. Yet it’s telling that people continue to characterize her as selfish and demanding. 

It’ll be interesting to see how the next few episodes play out when she has to negotiate the relationship with Jonah and surely there will be those people who fault her for leading him on, as if she hasn’t been struggling with how she’s supposed to react. I think it’s realistic that even though she’s walked away three times (to the same optimistic music btw), when you’re thirteen and constantly told, “he likes you though!!,” “he’s so nice,” “he changed his mind” that she feels like she has to say yes to avoid hurting anyone. 

Andi’s been disappointed by Jonah several times yet everyone including her own parents are enabling the relationship. It’s pretty easy to see that she’s already internalized it through her fight with Bex with how she thinks Bex needs to marry Bowie because she needs the ideal family. And let’s not forget how Buffy and Cyrus are sending puppy dogs and fireworks texts to her about Jandi even when she’s starting to question it.