I’m a big Offspring fan, but it’s not Nina’s storyline that really pulls me in.
I often find myself looking past her amazing boots and scarves and awkwardness, eager to find out how Billie and Jimmy are doing. Their story lines ring true to me and to many 30-somethings who haven’t yet ticked off the big milestones, who are still figuring out who they are and what they want.
The people whose lives don’t look good on paper.
Where Nina is secure – secure in her job, secure in her finances, secure in the knowledge that some handsome leading man will come along again – Billie and Jimmy are more untethered. They’re still figuring things out.
Nina is the smart kid who lived up to everyone’s expectations. Meanwhile, Billie and Jimmy have both jumped from job to job, house to house, opportunity to opportunity.
Billie desperately wants children but hasn’t been able to fall pregnant. She’s had to watch everyone else around her welcome children into their lives and not experience it herself. And there’s been no miracle cure for this. It’s years since she and Mick started trying to conceive and they’re still waiting.
Jimmy wasn’t planning on being a dad, but became a great one by default.
And I think that’s where the writers of Offspring get things so right. They’ve brilliantly captured the unease of not having a clear path in life. Of trying to make the most of your failings and shortcomings. Of battling on.
