Helle Schunesson has seen “Edit: How do you survive a broken heart”
No one has as much pain as a 22-year-old who has had his heart broken, Perla Malmberg shows in the new “SVT Edit”.
But the documentary gives us corny romcom references instead of talking about what it really feels like.
The sadness that makes Perla not want to live anymore.
When the boyfriend cheats and the relationship ends drops Perla Malmberg the footing completely. I lol’d a little smugly, what a bummer that the dude she made out with at the prom didn’t turn out to be the man of her life.
Like I wasn’t 22 and dumped and completely sure that now life is ending.
“Edit: How do you survive a broken heart” works hard to establish Perla as Generation Z’s very own Carrie Bradshaw. She dreams of Mr Big and even sits on the window sill typing on his laptop in true “Sex and the city” fashion.
The documentary is chock full of popular cultural references that feel a bit tacked on. Maybe Perla saw and loved “When Harry Met Sally” (which came fifteen years before she was born), but it feels more like “Edit” decided on the angle and then chose who would front it.
But the images from American romcoms justify Perla going to New York and drinking cosmopolitans to get over her broken heart, so I guess they serve a function.
The series’ two episodes take us through the different phases of a breakup, but strangely quickly skip past the biggest shock: That Perla was so devastated after the breakup that she took an overdose.
Perla herself is aware of the unreasonable weight of placing on someone you love and giving them responsibility for your life and happiness.
She says the overdose isn’t his fault, but she didn’t want to live without him.
Later, she giggles about how in her anger phase she demanded money from her ex, texted him every day and wanted 50,000 kroner. To finance her consolation shopping – or perhaps more as a punishment for the betrayal.
It feels more Maria Pol than “Sex and the city”.
But all of this is presented as standard phases in the breakup logic of the romantic comedy.
Break up, cry on mom’s shoulder, take an overdose, wax your legs, drink drinks that will make your dick taste sweet (pineapple and cranberry for those wondering) and then hit the market again.
It’s a pity. Because this is where the documentary actually has something to say. About a person who makes someone else responsible for their will to live – and a pain that we never really get to the bottom of.
After about 50 minutes, Perla has moved on, using platitudes about loving yourself before you can love someone else and getting over someone by getting under someone.
I wish the documentary wasn’t so busy making Perla into Carrie when the real story is much more interesting. How did she end up in such a dark place? How did she get out of there? And what happens the next time she falls in love – and if it ends?
It feels much more interesting than another romcom ending where time heals all wounds.
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