I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the strange take the series had, but I was disappointed by the sudden left turn it took at the chance possible. In Hindsight, it was kinda obvious with the pacing they took with the opening.
So, as much as I did like it, I feel like the makers of the Netflix series misunderstood the main work.
Go Watch It Now, especially if you've already watched it, because spoilers after this.
So firstest off, the Evil Exs were never trying to get back with Ramona. They wanted to control her love life because they were hurt by her. Romana was a user, not an abuser, she was a user, she used people for her own goals.
Matthew Patel was the most obvious. She literally dated him just to tick off the white jock majority of her school. Literally dumping him a week later with only a single kiss to remember her by. A single kiss used to tick off the white jocks.
Turning him into someone wanting to hook up with Ramona, only for him to drop that and be... I'm not sure how to describe it. He just takes control of the G-pire, and then just stops that too???
Lucas Lee was just a dude and honestly Ramona first real boyfriend, but she cheated on him with Todd. She dated him until something better came along. I can't even find a flashback to them dating in the comic(I own the comic IRL).
No Notes!!! Lucas Lee has always been perfect across every version. I Love Lucas Lee. And I Know Lucas Lee Loves Me. Though they did drop the cheating subplot. So...
Todd Ingram was a dick, and proud of it. In fact, the whole third book was more about Scott and Envy Adams. Scott didn't even beat Todd. Because there was nothing to overcome in that part of Ramona's past. At least that how I read it.
They did that boy dirty. So dirty. Downright filthy. Making Todd gay, no that's wrong. Making Todd SuPer GaY! was a dumb move and broke the canon of the story, but it was funny, so... yeah. My only note is that Todd should have been bisexual and Envy Adams "let's him have a boyfriend"
Roxie Richter... is where a major flaw in the series. In the comic Roxy was "half-ninja" and a lesbian. She was ramona's first, and only, lesbian experience, and the comic kind of mishandles it. Like I said, Ramona is a user, and she used Roxy to explore her sexuality, and when she came out as straight she dumped Roxy, but the comic never explored that. Not in detail at least. The comic just had lesbian fetishization. Also, apparently, woman on woman misogyny? But I learned that from a YouTuber so...
In the series... Oh My God... They fumble. They fumble so hard. I just don't know. Like, I'm a cis white het male, but I blatantly noticed they took the one female ex, fronted her to the second fight, had a really cool fight scene, and then dropped her until the finale. They also made her a horn dog, which yes, let women be sexually forward, but also lesbian fetishization. Literally bookending her last pre-finale scene with kissing Kim Pine.
Oh God, Kim Pine. Oh God, Knives Chau! Oh GOD! Young Neil! Niel!!! My Boy! They did him SO Dirty! They did him NASTY! But moving along...
The Twins, I don't remember their names, and neither does... anyone. The Twins are two Asian boys that Ramona dated at the same time for no reason other than to have fun cheating on two boys at the same time. They build some mean robots though.
Ken and Kyle Katayanagi(thank you Google) are barely in the series. The two Asian boys literally are token characters. Though they do have an important part in the story, they ultimately are little more than plot convenience. I literally have told you everything there is to say about them. Wait, I lied, they apparently were Romana's teacher's assistants. Which just completely undoes their place in the story. That being Romana was just straight up the bad buy in their story.
Lastly, Gideon Graves. Gman was business man on the rise and was the only one who wanted to have Ramona. The man literally had all his ex-girlfriends frozen in time for no reason other than he wanted to control "His Women" which... okay... fair... if that's your thing then that's your thing, but consent is important! Gideon was literally the only one of the evil exs to be just evil. Because Gideon was an actual abuser.
Gordon Goose(yes... really...) is... a guy? Who is evil? Apparently? He gets defeated in the second episode and just kind of mopes about, then he just gets everything back? He was a loser in high school, but then changed his name to Gideon Graves. He then dated Romana, and then formed the League, and then... ??? I Do Not Know.
Oh! He Starts Dating Julie Powers! They Are So Good Together! 10 Out Of 10!
That's a single round of thoughts I had during and after watching it. I've only watched one time, but honestly, I could probably write a novel on themes between the comic, the movie, the game, and now the series. And maybe one day I will.
My main point is that the series is incredibly flawed, which is fine, such is art, but it wasted a lot potential. The comic had its flaws, but so did the characters, and that was kind of a major point of Scott Pilgrim, and I think the makers of the series didn't vibe the right way with that. I don't know.
I don't think Scott Pilgrim ruined an entire generation of men, but the makers of the series thought that.
Thank you for reading.