lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jun 13, 2006 13:08:59 GMT -5
I LOVED the acknowledgement that Claudia's outfits may not be as cool as the BSC always said they were.
Spandex bell-bottoms. Hahaha.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 13, 2006 21:45:02 GMT -5
^ I thought it was about time someone acknowledged that, too.
Stacey had a real problem with bell bottoms, didn't she? She certainly didn't like Ashley's in Claudia and the New Girl!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2006 23:31:16 GMT -5
This made me laugh out loud. I was just in a show (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which is pretty racially-specific, casting-wise) and one actor kept going out of his way to comment on the "African-American" audiene members... and one of our black castmates was like, "African-American? I'm not from Africa! I'm black, dammit!"
As far as the Christianity thing goes... It always irks me that it's PC to go into detail about the minority but the majority MUST be overlooked or else it's discrimination of some sort. Granted, it's hard to have a Jewish 12/13-year-old character without mentioning her Bat Mitzvah, but would it have killed AMM or the ghostwriters to mention a Catholic or Lutheran (or otherwise Christian) character making her confirmation? I think the only nod to Catholicism is in Keep Out, Claudia! when one of the Lowell girls (Caitlin?) hears how many children are in Mallory's family and says, "She must be Catholic." Say, isn't it odd for an 8-year-old to be familiar with the "rhythm method," anyway?
/soapbox
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Jun 13, 2006 23:49:41 GMT -5
^ Someone should write a fanfic about one of the characters finding Christianity!
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Jun 13, 2006 23:53:49 GMT -5
What? But going to church would interfere with babysitting time! Maybe a Sunday school program...they might find new clients!
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 14, 2006 0:53:58 GMT -5
To be fair, I've known ever since early childhood that Catholic families are stereotyped as having lots of kids. This was well before I knew the first thing about contraception and the rhythm method.
Maybe the Lowell family would mutter sarcastically "what a good Catholic boy" whenever they referred to a man with heaps of kids or whatever?
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Post by lovelylemontree on Jun 14, 2006 10:32:35 GMT -5
I thought it was hilarious when I read that part of the book because when I was a kid, I always thought, "Oh, the Pikes must be Mormon."
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Post by aln1982 on Jun 20, 2006 7:54:39 GMT -5
[quote author=imxlennysxmom board=bsc thread=1141195710 post=1150259476 As far as the Christianity thing goes... It always irks me that it's PC to go into detail about the minority but the majority MUST be overlooked or else it's discrimination of some sort. Granted, it's hard to have a Jewish 12/13-year-old character without mentioning her Bat Mitzvah, but would it have killed AMM or the ghostwriters to mention a Catholic or Lutheran (or otherwise Christian) character making her confirmation? /soapbox[/quote] This is exactly what I was talking about. I know Lutheran kids are confirmed at the end of 8th grade and think many other Protestants are at about this age as well. Like Starrynight, I'm a dedicated Christian and notice the lack of mention of Christianity more as I become older. I also think that many people can be judgmental of Christians as being hypocrites or strange zealots, which might be a reason that Ann kept the issue out of the books. The whole overlooking the majority thing bothers me more and more as I get older too - reverse discrimination. I am sorry to have gotten things so off topic with this religion thing. As for a question about Stacey and the Cheerleaders, is this the book where she starts going out with Robert? For some reason, I never liked him.
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Post by greer on Jun 20, 2006 11:22:23 GMT -5
This is indeed the book where she starts going out with Robert.
I honestly think it's about religion v. culture, and I think Abby's Jewish heritage was about culture rather than religion. Again, in Christianity what matters is that you have faith and BELIEVE that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, and in Judaism it is that you follow the law and traditions. Maybe they don't go into the whole Christ is Born stuff, but they also don't go any deeper into passover or Hannukah either than you would find in a kindergarten class. Abby never says, "Oh, well, we don't think that Jesus is the messiah and we have a seder because we are waiting for him." The BSC never went deep into ANY religion, and in my mind secularity if the way to in a kids' series that is intended for all children. There are plenty of religious children's books if that's what you want. *shrug*
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 20, 2006 19:06:34 GMT -5
Ha, but aln1982, you don't seem particularly impressed with any of the girls' and their boyfriends. I can understand why. They were only 13 yrs old, but already their lives seemed pretty dominated by their "relationships". The Friends Forever series was worse in that regard, though.
None of the relationships other than MA and Logan really bothered me though. They were all pretty casual and relaxed, pretty much suited to an eighth grade girl. But MA and Logan were like a middle aged married couple.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2006 19:41:52 GMT -5
Its been a long time since I read stacey and the cheerleaders.
However I remember my middle school years (1996-1999 in the southeastern US) and cheerleading really was that cutthroat and competitive. Even the cheerleaders where the popular girls and cheerleader try-outs were big stuff. If you weren't a cheerleader in middle school you didn't stand a chance at being one in highschool. middle school football and basketball and baseball was just as bad!
As for religion, it would have been nice to see a christian BSC member. I can understand why Ann didn't want to go there though. I do remember in the little sister books at times it was heavily suggested that Karen and her family were Christian. I remember the one where they were in new york and a big deal was made over going to church on vacation just like every other sunday. Also in karen's wedding I believe there were hints at it, when talking about Andrew's behaviour in church
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Jun 20, 2006 20:06:00 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure all (or at least most) of them, except for Abby, were Christian. Mallory and Jessi helped their church's Christmas pageant, and all their brothers and sisters were in it. The rest of the BSC attended it, and only Abby didn't know what was going on. They don't really talk about it, but that doesn't mean they aren't. It's just not what the books are about.
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Post by fairy3lf2 on Jun 20, 2006 22:47:49 GMT -5
I live in Canada and my high school wasn't like that (obsessed with football and cheerleaders) and I used to wonder if it was an American thing. The school was pretty obsessed with hockey though but it was a community sport rather than a school one so it was easier to ignore (if that's the right word). Some hockey players were the stereotypical arrogant jocks but many were nice.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Jul 6, 2006 13:01:27 GMT -5
This book was all right. I really liked that Stacey was interested in The Group AND the BSC. I hate when she gets all snobby and ditches the BSC, I like seeing her remain loyal to her friends I loved how Jessi helped choreograph her routine. And I loved that her and Robert went on a double date with Mary Anne and Logan I agree with whoever said it's nice to see the BSC hanging out in twos other than the best friend groups. I really didn't like when Robert was bitching about getting special treatment and stuff... no 13 year old boy would have a problem with that. So unrealistic. I also thought it was kinda weird that after like, 2 days of dating, he was sitting at the BSC table at lunch. Kristy blowing her whistle and yelling about the sleepover was CLASSIC!
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Post by fairy3lf2 on Aug 5, 2006 0:45:26 GMT -5
Did anybody else think it was dumb when Stacey was talking about basketball and explained that dribbling isn't what a baby does? I've never been a basketball fan but I knew what dribbling was when I was about eight.
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