Stargirl Season 3 Review: Befriending Your Enemies
The moral case for allowing your enemies the space to stop hurting you.
Some people simply aren't going to like you.
Yes, that seems like a strange thing to consider, but it's true. No matter how nice you are or helpful you try to be, some people might feel as though all your effort is some sort of game. An attempt to undermine them or take advantage of them. It might even get to the point where they are likely to try and harm you first to avoid whatever you're going to do to them. Naturally, something like this tends to end badly for everyone involved. If it's not dealt with it can become a perpetuating cycle which you can't get out of. In general, people call someone who doesn't like them to such a potentially violent extent an enemy. Almost by definition, the idea of having an enemy assumes that the one who is being attacked by an enemy is the hero.
Maybe at the very least someone worthy of sympathy since they're being attacked. It can even make the one on the receiving end a victim. However it is possible to break out of the terrible cycle if you're truly open to the idea. The problem is that when you have a history with someone who considers you an enemy or you consider them an enemy, it's hard to forgive them. They have shown themselves to be the type of person who is willing to harm you and in some cases the people around you. If you were opening yourself up to this person, you run the risk of them trying to hurt you again. You also run the same risk if you don't open yourself up. If this person has expressed a willingness to forgive and forget or put the past behind them, not allowing them that can make them want to continue the cycle.
It's a hard balance to strike, but doing so can be incredibly rewarding if you can do it. Having an enemy isn't the most fun experience. So if you can move beyond it, you have to try. You have to be willing to embrace them fully and accept that what they want is to genuinely move past what you've done to each other. To be willing to risk being hurt again while hoping that you won't. When it comes right down to it, most people aren't willing to do such a thing. They'd rather allow the cycle to continue. At least under those circumstances, you know where you stand with them. There's very little ambiguity when you have clear dividing lines.
Stargirl's third season seems to be trying to make the case for opening yourself up and embracing those who have hurt you in the past. Allowing the cycle to end so they can move to a better place. Courtney, as played brilliantly by Brec Bassinger, doesn't want to live in a world where she's constantly looking over her shoulder for the next attack. She wants to live in a world of peace and find some kind of happiness, and she's willing to embrace those who have hurt her and the people she loves to get it.
It's a fascinating process and I encourage you to check it out as soon as you can.
Watch Stargirl’s third season, Frenemies, is available on the CW app, HBO Max and Amazon.
Well said!