SPOILER ALERT
In the series “The Summer I Turned Pretty” there is a classic love triangle between a girl and two brothers. The girl, Belly, has known the two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah, since she was little, and practically grew up with them. Due to the love triangle society has become very divided on which brother is the “better brother”. In my opinion, Conrad is the clear superior option for Belly.
Throughout the entire series it is clear that Conrad is much more mature than Jeremiah. This is shown in things such as him breaking into debutante rehearsal and only referring to Belly as “hot” instead of a more intimate term like “beautiful” or “pretty”. Later, in season three, Jeremiah shows even more immaturity when he demands a $700 cake for their wedding when they are on an extreme budget. He also repeatedly convinces Belly to give in to his wants by playing the victim and acting like a baby. Not only this but Jeremiah fully cheated on Belly TWICE when they had been dating for 3 years and were on a break for less than a week. He then decided it was not necessary to inform Belly of this and left her to find out through other girls months later.
Conrad has never done anything wrong or with ill intention. At the start of the show Conrad appeared to be a moody insensitive guy who wanted nothing to do with Belly. However, in reality he was holding in the secret that his mom had cancer again. As the seasons went on his true character is revealed even further and it is clear he is a misunderstood guy that is constantly putting others above himself. Belly’s main concern with Conrad is when they were dating he began to act distant and ultimately like a bad boyfriend. What Belly didn’t know was that Conrad was only doing so because he was dealing with his moms death, and knew he wasn’t in the right place to be in a relationship. This “wrong” that Conrad did to Belly was nothing compared to the wrong that Jeremiah did.
The connection that Belly and Conrad have is also much stronger and real than Jeremiah and Belly’s. Conrad and Belly show deep love and longing for one another, while Jeremaih and Belly just have a fun, surface level love.
My final point is that Conrad has loved Belly since he was just a child. He used to always look out for her, and was intentional about including her and making sure everything was okay for her. On the other hand, Jeremiah only seemed to spark interest in Belly when she had her glow up. Before this he had always ignored her and wasn’t necessarily nice to her. His desire for her only when she turned pretty reveals his immaturity and lust based love for her.
Conrd’s love is deep, true, and eternal. Jeremiah’s love it surfacelevel, childish, and temporary.
