With any teen show, there's going to be drama and heartache.

Hear the words of Lili Reinhart, who once declared with simple clarity: “With any teen show, there’s going to be drama and heartache.” Though she speaks of television, her words strike deeper, for they reflect not only the art of storytelling but the essence of adolescence itself. For what is youth if not a crucible of emotions, a time when joy and sorrow arrive with equal swiftness, when love burns brightly and pain cuts deeply? Her statement is not about entertainment alone, but about the universal truth of growing up.

To portray the life of a teen without drama would be to carve a statue without form, to paint a canvas without color. The years of adolescence are defined by transformation, and transformation is never without turbulence. Friendships form and dissolve, love awakens and shatters, identity blossoms and falters. These moments are as necessary as they are painful, for they shape the soul into its adult form. Thus, Reinhart’s words remind us that the drama of youth is not an invention of screenwriters, but a mirror of life’s most formative years.

Consider the story of Romeo and Juliet, the eternal emblem of youthful passion and despair. Their tale is not told in whispers of peace, but in the cries of heartache. Shakespeare understood what Reinhart names: that the hearts of the young beat with an intensity that the old have forgotten, and that their dramas, though dismissed by some as trivial, are in fact the sparks that ignite the fire of human experience. It is for this reason that stories of youth endure—because they carry the raw truths that all men and women once lived, though time has dulled their memory.

In her words there is also a gentle acknowledgment of inevitability. To be a teen is to stumble, to ache, to wrestle with shadows as much as light. One cannot pass through those years unscathed, nor should one wish to. For just as the smith uses heat and hammer to forge the sword, so too are the young tempered by conflict and sorrow. The heartache that seems unbearable in the moment becomes, with time, the foundation of resilience, empathy, and strength. Reinhart’s recognition of this truth elevates her words from observation to wisdom.

The history of nations, too, mirrors this pattern. The American Revolution, born of youthful ideals, was marked by the drama of betrayal, defeat, and suffering, yet also by the passion of vision. Without those trials, the nation could not have matured. Just as a country must endure its adolescence of strife, so too must each individual. Reinhart’s words hold this same lesson: do not fear the storms of youth, for they are the path to becoming.

The lesson for us, then, is not to shun the drama or curse the heartache, but to embrace them as teachers. For the parent, it is a reminder to be patient, knowing that the turmoil of their children is the shaping of their souls. For the young, it is a call to endure, to know that the pain is not endless, but purposeful, that from these trials comes wisdom. For the artist, it is a guide: to tell the story of youth truthfully, one must include its struggles as well as its joys.

And so, let the words of Lili Reinhart echo as a teaching: the drama and heartache of youth are not flaws, but the essence of growth. Do not despise them, but walk through them with courage. For though the wounds of adolescence may sting, they are also the markings of transformation. And when the storms pass, the soul that remains will be stronger, deeper, and more beautiful for having endured them.