[Filling the Space is a flexible column where our writers could vent, deconstruct, and work their way around the emotions brought on by TV, films, books, music, and key moments in pop culture. This isn’t meant to be analytical, but instead, a way for us to explore our feelings.]
Like most millennials, I’ve been an emotional wreck since Hilary Duff announced her return to music and the decision to go on tour. And as most of us also know, buying concert tickets in this day and age is a known stressor none of us need, while the world is burning. Still, millennials who grew up with Lizzie McGuire should get dibs.
Basically, the way I’ve been coping is by rewatching Lizzie McGuire, so I’m here to say that it’s something we should all be doing. The show is still wildly hilarious and so awkward at times, yet it holds up in a way that only things from our childhoods could. Like, it’s truly so absurd what pre-teens back in the day got away with, and it simultaneously feels like the biggest deal in the world? The fact that no one got in trouble for trying to jeopardize Miranda’s outfits for picture day, or how an AIM message board can somehow send things to the whole class? Who has their entire class in their buddy list is the real question? RIP, AIM. I miss you every day, though.
Still, none of this matters because this show is, and will forever be, so special to so many of us, and I’m having an absolute blast with it. I initially did a rewatch when Disney+ first launched, so it’s not a total blast from the past, but somehow, it’s hitting even harder today, and it’s probably because we need these small glimpses of joy while the world around us is terrifying and bleak. Back then, we weren’t worried about the things we’re deeply concerned about today while we’re watching Lizzie McGuire, so streaming it now as adults is the perfect escape. It’s funny, oddly clever at times, and it also makes you rethink everything.
For instance, this one’s going to get me in trouble, but the more I rewatch the show, the more I’m convinced that Gordo and Lizzie would’ve been the worst couple. The concept of childhood best friends becoming lovers should never find these two, and I’ll always be bitter that the reboot was cancelled because I would’ve loved the chance to see her fall in love with someone who fully deserved her.
The thing is, neither Lizzie McGuire nor any show or movie from the early aughts was perfect, but they’re ours, and I think that’s where the heart lies. They kept us company when we were kids, and they can keep us company now.
And as for tour tickets, may the odds be ever in our favor.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Disney+