Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘I Am Not Okay with This’ follows the story of a girl named Sydney who discovers that she exhibits telekinesis. She can move things with her mind and she can hurt people. All of this happens when her emotions get out of control, and she loses control a lot. This puts her in a dangerous position and she tries to find a way around it.
Sydney might not admit it, but having superpowers automatically puts her in the category of superheroes, and we associate every superhero with their city. Batman has to protect Gotham and Spider-Man has to protect New York City. The city plays an important role in a hero’s life. This is the place where they grow up, the place that they are attached to so much and will go to any lengths to save it. This is the place where they experiment with their powers and fight with their enemies. If you haven’t already noticed, the shade of the city also reflects on the mood of the superhero. This is why Gotham seems so dark all the time!
Because Sydney, too, is a superhero, the place that she lives in also plays a pivotal role in her story. To bring her story to the screen, picking a suitable town that is in sync with her emotions and struggles is very important. If you’ve been wondering which town became the home for this Netflix series, here’s the answer. Here are the locations where ‘I Am Not Okay with This’ was filmed.
Where Was ‘I Am Not Okay With This’ Filmed?
The aesthetic of the show gives it a timeless feel. It also tones down the grandeur of superhero stories and grounds the story to connect it better with the issues that teenagers face. This is also in sync with the soul of the story which is more about not being in agreement with the superpowers that do more harm than good.
To capture this rustic vibe of Sydney’s world, the crew of ‘I Am Not Okay with This’ turned towards western Pennsylvania. The primary filming location for the series is Pittsburgh and its neighbouring towns. Brownsville, which is the name of the town that Syd lives in, is an actual town near Pittsburgh and has been extensively used to film various scenes of the show.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
To film ‘I Am Not Okay with This’, the crew turned towards Pittsburgh and its surrounding towns. The overall look of the show depended on the locale that would serve as the background for Syd’s story. The location scouts finally settled on Brownsville, the ambience of which also led them to finalise the colour palette for the show. The filming took place on a lot of exterior locations around the town. Pittsburgh served as the primary location, but Brownsville and the surrounding areas also came into play.
The crew was spotted filming at places like a house on Bank Street in Beaver and outside the Beaver Valley Bowl in Rochester. It is not difficult to deduce that these are the locations for Syd’s house and the bowling alley where Stan takes the mantle of her mentor figure, respectively.
The most important location for the show is its school. This is where Syd spends most of her day and a lot of action regarding her superpowers also takes place here. The Westinghouse Arts Academy served as the high school. The exteriors and interiors of the place were extensively used for the major portion of the show. The rest of the neighbourhood, the streets and houses and grocery shops also fall into the locales of Brownsville and the surrounding areas.
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