When the Netflix Original TV show Ginny and Georgia debuted on February 24th, no one had any reason to believe that the show would surpass its position of fourth place on the “America’s Most Watched” list. Often, shows on Netflix reach their peak popularity the first day of being added to the platform. However, Ginny and Georgia was different. On March 25th, Ginny and Georgia became the first Netflix show to hold a first place position on its popularity ranking for 28 days. Its duration surpassed popular shows including Bridgerton, The Crown, and even quarantine comfort show Tiger King.

Now that many people have experienced the show, it’s important to reflect on the impact Ginny and Georgia made and how it was received by viewers. 

Ginny and Georgia is a TV show about the life of Georgia Miller, single mom to Virginia (Ginny) and Austin Miller. The show features teenhood, single parenting, biracial relationships, romance, and crime. 

Many who watched Ginny and Georgia found parts of the show to be controversial and offensive, critiquing the ways Netflix chose to portray certain issues. Shortly after the show’s release, it received a large amount of backlash from Taylor Swift and her fans towards a comment made by one of the characters. Ginny Miller says “you go through men faster than Taylor Swift,” which the singer responded to by saying the comment was “deeply sexist and degrading.” While the show’s comment is offensive, the controversy involving Swift delivered a large amount of publicity in the media and likely increased viewership.  

The shady comment about Taylor Swift was not the only part of the show audiences had a problem with. The way the show portrays race is also contentious. Viewers are calling out the show runners for the ways they approached discussing racism in society and their portrayal of a biracial family. 

To start, many people are upset about the fact that besides the main character, Ginny, there is only one other recurring character who is a person of color. The lack of diversity within the cast has been disappointing to many. People have even argued that this is an instance of tokenism: the only reason the character is on the show is because producers and writers needed at least one more person of color to appear regularly. 

The show is also being called out for the decision to have Georgia call the police when she thinks that Ginny has escaped from home. Police brutality towards people of color is a massive issue in this country, which many more Americans have become aware of in the last year. Additionally, Ginny makes comments earlier in the show about her disapproval towards police officers. Given this, it seems like Georgia’s 911 call was an insensitive decision for the show to feature.

That being said, Ginny and Georgia has not only received negative backlash, the show has also been praised for the way it portrays the challenges of single motherhood and its element of female empowerment. Every show is going to receive a different array of opinions.  Ginny and Georgia is one of the most popular shows on Netflix, but with any popularity, there is going to come controversy. It is important to keep your eyes open and your ears wide to this.