Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2007 18:03:28 GMT -5
First of all, hi, I'm Liz, new to the boards, although I've been lurking for quite a while. I've always been a fan, and when I was younger I always seemed to related to Mallory (yeah...), despite being an only child!
Anyways, this was on my mind today. Which of the characters does everyone think had the most "family" plots, as opposed to "babysitting" plots, or "friendship" plots. Although the books had a lot of formula writing, I always felt that Dawn's books included her family a lot, probably because there was a lot of drama with the moving and the marriages. I thought that Kristy's were very balanced in terms of Family and Babysitting, not so much friendship. Stacey's focused a lot on friends. I think that Mary Anne had a good family/friends balance, not so much babysitting. I'm not sure about the others. What does everybody else think?
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Lauren
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,026
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Post by Lauren on Jul 7, 2007 18:06:52 GMT -5
Welcome to the boards! I would say Dawn as well.
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Post by Karen Brewer on Jul 7, 2007 18:30:20 GMT -5
Welcome! I have to agree with the both of you that the books about Mary Anne, Dawn, and Kristy were the most family oriented. (Then again I've read more of their books than any of the other sitters.) I would maybe add Mallory? The Pike kids were involved in a lot of plots.
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Lauren
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,026
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Post by Lauren on Jul 7, 2007 19:06:03 GMT -5
I forgot about them. They were featured pretty prominently.
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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 Jul 7, 2007 22:28:20 GMT -5
I agree with the rest of you on the Dawn, Kristy, and MA having the most "family" plots. I've just noticed that, in my opinion, the sitters that have fathers named John have the least amount of family-oriented plots. That may just be some kind of short-sighted thinking on my part though.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 7, 2007 23:30:33 GMT -5
^ ;D I think the John thing is mentioned in favorite names threads. This always really bothers me, too. The books often seem to really overuse some names and ignore others that they could use at least once in a while. (For example: My dad is "Tom" and works with 4 Toms and I know 6 others so know that is a very popular name but don't remember it ever being used in a BSC book) Anyway, I think the girls' plots center around what is most important in their lives. I'm really generalizing but for MA and Dawn that is family, Claud is art and school, Stacey is boys and friends and sometimes her disease, Abby is her sister and family, Kristy is sports and various changes and issues that come up (her familiy a lot of times) and babysitting and great ideas ;D, Mal is dealing with family responsibilities and her insecurities, Jessi's are dance and sometimes family. That's jus how I see it, though, and that may not really make any sense what I'm trying to say. It's been one of those days.... ;D
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Post by liss31d on Jul 8, 2007 12:07:24 GMT -5
Excluding babysitting (as that takes place in all of the books obviously ), for Stacey, Mary Anne and Claudia (too tired to do the rest at the moment), roughly up to the mid 50s of the books, I wrote down what the prominent themes are in the books - Truth About Stacey - Disease, Friends and FamilyBoy Crazy Stacey - Boys and BSC Fights (well MA and Stacey)Goodbye Stacey Goodbye - FriendsStacey's Mistake - Friends and BSC FightsWelcome Back Stacey - FamilyStacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook - MysteryStacey's Emergency - Disease and FamilyStacey's Ex Best Friend - FriendsStacey's Choice - FamilyMary Anne Saves the Day - Friends, BSC Fights and FamilyLogan Likes Mary Anne - BoysMary Anne and the Bad Luck Mystery - MysteryMary Anne and the Search for Tigger - can't remember this book very well... didn't MA have a fight with Logan? So that would be Boys Mary Anne and the Great Romance - Family and BSC Fights (MA and Dawn)Mary Anne and Too Many Boys - Boys ad FriendsMary Anne Vs Logan - BoysMary Anne Misses Logan - Boys and SchoolMary Anne and Too Many Babies - Boys and SchoolClaudia and the Phantom Phone Calls - MysteryClaudia and Mean Janine - FamilyClaudia and the New Girl - Friends, School, BSC Fights and ArtClaudia and the Bad Joke - FriendsClaudia and the Sad Goodbye - FamilyClaudia and the Great Search - FamilyClaudia and the Middle School Mystery - SchoolClaudia and the Genius on Elm Street - ArtIronically Mary Anne's books seem to be more about boys than Stacey's! ;D
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Post by maddieruns on Jul 8, 2007 19:24:51 GMT -5
Mary Anne and the Boys.... who would've thought?! I think it's interesting that Claudia has so many family themed books too... especially since her family is so much smaller than some of the other BSC members, say like, Kristy's or the Pike's.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 8, 2007 19:27:10 GMT -5
^ MA does seem to get around when you think of it. She's the only one in Stoneybrook with a steady boyfriend through the whole series and always seems to find someone else on every vacation. ;D
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mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
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Post by mckay on Jul 8, 2007 20:12:43 GMT -5
I've never been too interested in the family plots unless they involve the Pike kids. Mary Anne and Dawn's drama annoys me endlessly.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 8, 2007 23:15:42 GMT -5
^ The constant fighting between MA and Dawn - though it is probably realistic - does annoy me, too, or at least gets old. They get in fights in so many books it seems that it's like "okay, what petty little thing are they going to blow up over this time?." ;D
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magentanation
Sitter-In-Training
The girl with colitis goes by
Posts: 424
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Post by magentanation on Jul 9, 2007 0:06:15 GMT -5
^Tell me about it. And usually it's Mary Anne who will get all pissy over some stupid little thing, which is ironic when you consider how much time is spent in the series telling us she's, like, the most patient person to ever walk the planet. Girl's got claws when she really wants to be nasty.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jul 9, 2007 14:47:32 GMT -5
^I love how AMM has said she has the most in common with MA. Really, Ann? You have a raging inner b*tch whom you cover up by crying all the time?
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Post by liss31d on Jul 10, 2007 4:47:02 GMT -5
^ Haha Lila I like your profile pic ;D
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Jul 10, 2007 13:40:08 GMT -5
^Tell me about it. And usually it's Mary Anne who will get all pissy over some stupid little thing, which is ironic when you consider how much time is spent in the series telling us she's, like, the most patient person to ever walk the planet. Girl's got claws when she really wants to be nasty. I think a lot of people tend to assume that if someone is quiet and generally sympathetic, or easily moved by the emotions of others, that they are also patient and tolerant, which in my experience is not true at all. I'm very quiet and reserved (49/50 on Meyers-Briggs intoversion!), and I definitely get over-emotionally involved in some situations because my empathy meter goes haywire. But I also have to fight against a tendency to hold grudges and to be passive-aggressive because those same qualities make me extremely non-confrontational and hypersensitive (well, and the fact that my mother can say basically anything she wants to me, but it upsets the delicate balance if I say anything, even a therapy-approved "It hurts me when you X; I would really appreciate it if you could try to do Y, instead, and I will make an effort to do Z in response--but that's a whole nother message board). So while I don't think Mary Anne's perfect at all, I've never found her to be emotionally inconsistent. (Although I do think the BSCers have her mostly as wrong as everyone else). But then, I totally do have a raging inner b*tch--I've just learned to cover her up with more snark than crying these days. Oh, topic? I've never thought of grouping the books by those themes and looking at how they reflect the priorities, sort of, of each sitter, but it does really kind of work!
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