A Chachi (brat) Summer

Charli XCX’s brat summer. We lived it. We danced it. We wore it. The “brat” green neon color, described by the singer as “unfriendly and uncool” to match the vibe of the album, took the media by storm this past summer, most significantly on social media. The viral dance trend, “Apple,” the blurred Helvetica font, and the green popping up everywhere online, abrasively and mesmerizingly latched onto our minds. The genius of Charli’s marketing and the suspiciously viral impact of “brat” begs the question: How did Charli’s team come up with this idea? The answer: They didn’t.
Patrick “Chachi” Boesen is a current junior and an active member of the student council and fine arts community of Sacred Heart Prep. Many of you may recognize him as the one who wears a horse head occasionally, or for his most famous look, the human highlighter. On trips down the hall, across courtyards, or entering classrooms, Chachi’s common full-neon outfit is striking and hard to miss–one might say, he is truly iconic. Chachi has always possessed a deep-rooted love and admiration for neon and has been avidly purchasing neon clothes since late middle school. With this passion, he’s made an impactful statement in our small microcosm of Sacred Heart, Atherton, with his ever-vibrant array of neon garments. So, imagine how Chachi must have felt when his look, his neon simplicity, became the talk of the entire world, without any rightful credit.
When asked about his opinions on brat, Mr. Boesen claimed he wasn’t aware of what it entailed, who Charli XCX was, nor had he ever even seen the album cover. When shown the album cover, the “Apple” dance, and a song from the record that matched his zodiac sign according to a sketchy website, Chachi responded, “Nooo, why is it ugly?” relaying painful anguish and expelling remarks such as, “It’s like someone took neon green and sucked the life out of it,” “That ain’t even pea-green,” and “ugh” (with disgust in his voice). Even more disheartening was his reaction to the dance and music; his disappointment with the lack of neon worn, his general disapproval for the bizarre nature of the trends, and his confusion with “epilepsy” personified as a song in the track Club Classics. Needless to say, Chachi’s love of neon has been done wrong.
When I initially began this dive into the origins of Charli XCX’s brat, I never stopped to think of the disgrace she might bring to neon. Chachi, evidently a master of the hue, opened my eyes to the true value of the color, so dirtily done after a shameful brat summer. Neon is a tool for expression, which Chachi uses to be “unabashedly [himself],” and Charli’s portrayal of the color is a watered-down disgrace to the true nature of neon. The fact is, no matter how much you want it back, brat summer is over. However, with a new perspective on what brat should have been, neon is now ours to reclaim for every season of the year, through Chachi, an icon, nay, the savior of self-expression forevermore.