The Summer I Turned Pretty is a show created by Jenny Han, a groundbreaking figure in Asian representation in media. Its lead character is portrayed by Lola Tung, a politically engaged and progressive young Chinese American woman. Meanwhile its supporting cast consists of her predominantly Asian family, a non binary cousin, and diverse love interests for the characters – Sean Kaufman definitely deserves a mention: an Asian man portrayed as a desirable and swoon worthy love interest. While the show’s representation and diversity are imperfect, with some criticising Jenny Han of how her Asian female characters have historically ended up with mediocre white men – a similar criticism levied at Mindy Kaling – it is unquestionably a progressive series.
The show is enjoyed worldwide by a host of politically engaged young women, and yet somehow, a white man, i.e. Conrad Fisher, has wormed his way into the hearts and minds of a multitude of women across the world. And I shockingly don’t think that this is inherently a bad thing.
In 2025, modern dating, love and romance are kind of dead, especially in straight spaces. The gender divide has never been larger, in part due to the manosphere, incel culture, and toxic masculinity. When it comes to young men in America in 2024, 26% identified as Republican, compared with 17% of young women —which has grown significantly since 2013, when 18% of young men and 14% of young women identified as Republican.
At a time when some men are determining if women are “high value” enough to be considered for a partner, some young women are adopting celibacy and feminist movements like the 4B movement. It seems increasingly harder to find a man who not only sees you as a human being, likes you, and treats you well.
That is where Conrad Fisher portrayed by Chris Briney comes into play.
He is a man who goes to therapy, he bakes your favourite dessert, he does the dishes after baking, he wants you to be fed, he is studying to be a doctor, he fixes his family’s house for the love of his life’s wedding to his brother, he takes accountability for his actions, he YEARNS!!!
Despite – I must admit – his complete and utter lack of communication skills in earlier seasons, and professing his love to Belly three days out from her wedding to his own brother, he is overall the ultimate female fantasy. And women recognising this is actually a good thing when you compare him to the other member of the love triangle and his brother, Jeremiah ‘Cacao is the bean’ Fisher.
Portrayed by Gavin Casalegno, Jeremiah comparatively is a character that in some ways seems very much tailored to the female gaze. He is an Ariana Grande stan, communicates his emotions (at least more than Conrad), is openly loving to his partner, is queer, and is your best friend. He has all of the makings of being swoon worthy. And yet a bulk of the audience immediately saw him as a red flag. He is also manipulative, lazy, selfish, a cheater, and has an inferiority complex, and in the wise words of Taylor Jenkins Reid in her book The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, “be wary of men with something to prove”.
Women recognising the red flags in a man(child) like Jeremiah and being besotted with a man like Conrad says so much about where our culture is at with dating. Women are more able to identify red flags than ever before. Let’s compare the men of The Summer I Turned Pretty to the ones from another teen drama, One Tree Hill. Leading brooding bad boy Lucas Scott portrayed by Chad Michael Murray was a certified heartthrob in the 2000s, and now in retrospect we realise that his character was emotionally manipulative, treats women poorly, is a cheater, and has a hero complex. In 2025, women have the vocabulary and knowledge to be able to call out these behaviours, but this has not always been the case.
The actors’ personal brands unquestionably play into the perception of these characters, with Briney being seen as an introverted, chronically offline guy who has got the stamp of approval from (and is good friends with) the misandrist icon Renee Rapp. He has had a long-term girlfriend for years, and from the outside seems like a pretty good dude.
Compare this to Gavin Casalegno, who holds conservative views, is a self proclaimed “golden retriever” (the ultimate red flag), and was in an ad for Dunkin Doughnuts similar to Sydney Sweeney’s infamous jeans/genes one, where he discusses his good genetics. Public image plays a large part in how we view both of these characters, especially in this sociopolitical climate where it is impossible to separate the art from the artist because these things are intrinsically tied.
It is a positive reflection of our society that Conrad Fisher is as beloved as he is. He is indicative of a large shift online towards celebrating “men who yearn”, with fellow yearners Role Model and Sombr growing significant female fan bases, largely through yearning.
But another major factor to consider is how Belly fits into all of this. She in a lot of ways acts as an audience surrogate, a way for the predominantly female audience to experience this fantasy of having two men fight over you. But when Belly doesn’t immediately break things off with Jeremiah, the audience turns on her because they cannot fathom choosing a guy who says he majored in beerology, over a sweet and kind doctor. Men like Conrad are a unicorn, and the concept of Belly choosing the kind of man that women see hundreds of on dating apps a day, over the rarest type of man (a good person), well… it is infuriating for modern audiences to witness.
The media that we consume, and our opinions on it are such a reflection of ourselves, and I am endlessly thankful that the people who are team Conrad have media literacy skills, common sense, an ability to identify toxic behaviors, and taste. Conrad Fisher is the ultimate man written by a woman, a product of a romantically starved society who yearns for a man who yearns. And despite being an asexual woman with no interest in ever dating, even I understand the fantasy.