Max is Valid: How Ginny and Georgia Failed Her

Spoilers for Seasons 1-3 of Ginny and Georgia

Maxine "Max" Baker burst onto our screens in the first season of Ginny and Georgia. She was portrayed as the bubbly, outgoing girl who befriended Ginny and welcomed her into the friendship group, MANG. Max as a character was dramatic, emotional, over-the-top and used for comedic relief, often obsessing over her love life with her friends. But the bubbly, outgoing nature that she was initially revered for has resulted in her being sidelined unfairly in the Season 3 arc. Max is viewed as a 'bad friend', but really, she is the true friend for calling out what is wrong and making amends to fix it.

Max is given her narration in S3 Ep9, "It's Time for My Solo". Up until this point, the audience sees Max as what the writers have displayed: too much. Max is constantly told that she needs to be less self-centered and focus on her friends as much as she does on herself. Season 3 is supposed to show Max willing to reconnect with Ginny, Abby and Norah. But, the girls repeatedly exclude her - and the writers condone it.

As a Max-lover, it feels like a horrible play of her personality. Max is punished for wanting to rebuild her friendships and taking accountability for her actions in the past. The writers use the guise of 'protecting your peace' to condone Abby and Ginny's behaviour towards her. Max has proven to be in Ginny's corner consistently, even when Georgia was accused of murder and Norah believed it. Yet, Ginny turns to everyone BUT Max, seeking comfort with Bracia, Marcus, and Wolfe. Ginny, Abby, and Norah egg Abby's dad's house in response to a new girlfriend moving in. They do not invite Max or tell her about their trauma-bonding session. Max later sees an 'ANG' thread on Norah's phone, who explains it was just for photos of the egging, but there are other messages on it. They post these images on social media later showing their fairy cosplay for the egging, demonstrating the time taken to plan it. And, Abby begins dating a girl, Tris, and Max finds out from someone else despite being her best friend.

The issue is the way Max's pain is portrayed as invalid. Starting with Abby. Max arrives late to Ginny's poem reading, and Abby and Norah do not notice. She mentions her breakup with her girlfriend Silver. Abby and Norah show sympathy for one second and move swiftly on. Max asks Abby about her love life and Abby notes that Max is aware of her relationship with Tris. Max asks why she wasn't told, and Abby bitterly tells her that not everyone wants to have a big speech on coming out like in third grade, like Max did. Abby says she wanted this to be normal and not a big deal like everything Max did. Max is upset at this rejection and says she wants to talk about her feelings, which were hurt. Abby dismisses this and says Max's feelings are sometimes too much, causing her to leave the poem reading. The writers show Abby's choice as her right, but completely disregard WHY Max is hurt. This isn't about Max being queer and upset that Abby did not tell her, but that she found out from others when Abby is her best friend. To top it, Norah and Ginny knew.

And now Ginny. Max sees the friends at a houseparty to celebrate the end of the school year. Abby is unnecessarily mean to her efforts to show up for her friends. Max notes how everyone wants to brush past their issues and not talk about them in detail. She pulls Ginny aside and apologises for missing her poem reading, which Ginny says is completely ok. Max says it is not, as Ginny did not come to her performance and she was hurt. Ginny apologised (not with effort). Max states she is not mad, that they both have had a lot going on, and that Ginny has chosen others over her but is entitled to be friends with whoever, which Ginny coldly affirms. The issue is that Ginny says they may have drifted, which is ok, but Max says that she does not want this to be ok or for them to grow apart. Ginny responds with 'I don't know what to tell you. Sorry."

Ginny does not see Max skipping the poem reading as a big deal because it affirms what we have seen all season: her prioritising others over Max. She genuinely no longer sees Max as a close friend and when Max has the guts to confront her, against her mother's advice, Ginny is detached and cold about it, not caring about Max's feelings.

I was so frustrated with Max's story. Abby and Ginny (and to an extent, Marcus) are allowed to protect their peace in silence against Max because it is for their personal growth. Max is expected to suck it up and not be so 'dramatic' as she is labelled. Yes, she is flawed, and made mistakes, but when she tried to rectify them, her closest friends shut her out, created a separate group chat, and purposefully kept secrets from her. Max made the brave choice of speaking about her feelings to Abby and Ginny, who could not care less.

I really resonated with Max's story because we have seen three seasons of her as high-energy, funny, outgoing. And because of this, no-one sees what she is going through alone. She reaches out to Ginny in the final episode, wanting to fight for her friendship, but Ginny doesn't care. It's so ironic to me, how Max is portrayed as the self-centered one, when the finale shows that her friends can't see what she is going through. She spent all season worrying about Marcus' drink problem which no-one took seriously. She went through a breakup and no-one really cared. There are hints that she may have some mental struggles like her twin Marcus, but masks it much better due to her sociable personality. She even says in the season 'I present differently to how I feel', which really hit home.

Max welcomed Ginny into the group and was there for her when Georgia was accused of murder. Even Norah believed it. And Max is left in the finale to deal with her feelings alone, with no resolution, and no apology for how she had been treated by those she poured so much into.

Ginny and Georgia fails Max, because it sends the message that it is ok to protect your peace unless you are a loud, emotional, messy girl like Max. Because Max is expected to shrink to fit in with her friends, to not question why she was excluded, to be 'less' because Abby can't handle her. Max's energy and choice of loud love is what makes friendship. Her bravery in calling out underlying issues despite advice saying otherwise highlights her willingness to give all and work on her friendships, because she is genuine.

Max may be displayed as a bad friend but really, she is the truest friend on the show. Her crime that she is punished for is caring too much - and this says more about the show's values than her own.

Max Baker

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