Pretty Little Liars

            After watching Pretty Little Liars it is apparent how relatable it is to other millennial shows we have watched. Between the digital social networks and the physical networks in the girls’ every day lives, the show clearly delves into themes of the millennial generation. One of the things that I found interesting about Pretty Little Liars was how the tools of our generation were a kind of double-edged sword. These tools are what are helping Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily to find out what happened to their friend, Allison, but they are also being utilized to work against them. Between the videos, e-mails, texts, and other technological elements they are little by little gaining more information about who A is, but these mediums are also the reason that their worlds are crashing down around them.

 

I also think it is interesting to look at the proximity of A to the main characters. In Pretty Little Liars, the enemy or the person who is tormenting the teen girls is someone within the social networks that these girls have built and rely on. The modes of communication that A uses to contact the girls pervade their worlds so it is almost as if they have direct contact with their enemy. Through the social networking tools, the show has created a character that is understood by the viewers solely from these forms of media. A is a part of the girls' social worlds, which is different from other shows. As Louisa Stein notes in her article "From Veronica Mars to Pretty Little Liars," "those in power are no longer pulling strings from behind the walls of corporate business, but rather reside in the family, in the network, using the same millennial tools as the main characters to punish and control." The girls' enemy is not foreign or removed, but someone that is a part of their everyday life and connected to them.