ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Apr 23, 2006 0:08:03 GMT -5
I always get the feeling that they're talking to the reader, though. So I guess they can't be too mean. And would you really want to identify with a character they say is ugly?
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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 Apr 23, 2006 0:11:43 GMT -5
Yeah, having a character say negative comments about another character may make that character lose appeal. That character's books wouldn't sell as much. I dunno.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
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Post by jen on Apr 23, 2006 0:46:57 GMT -5
Was Jessi ever described as beautiful? Well, she was, but I was thought that was attributed to her long legs...
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inge
Junior Sitter
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Post by inge on Apr 23, 2006 7:30:34 GMT -5
Didn't Jessi also have super-beautiful dark eyes with long dark eyelashes or something, too? Or am I just making that up?
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Post by booboobrewer on Apr 23, 2006 17:50:52 GMT -5
^ I remember on one instance, Stacey claimed she was "almost speechless" the first time she saw Dawn. Even though MA had claimed "she wasn't exactly pretty, but she was pleasant" in MA Saves the Day. Not to veer into perv territory ;D but this made me laugh, macca, and think of the times when MA does react strongly to someone's appearance...it's when whoever it is is wearing a bikini, lol. Don't her eyes "bug out" at Stacey in Boy Crazy Stacey and she audibly gasps and says "Wow" to Alexandra Carmody the first time she sees her in her bathing suit. Geez, Mary Anne, you could be a bit more discreet!
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Apr 23, 2006 18:27:29 GMT -5
In Hello Mallory, Mal had a good ol' perv at her.
I was always surprised at those scenes too. But remember, those early books were written by Ann, and rumor has it she's partial to females.
TBH, the characters would lose their appeal if they started making bitchy comments about each other (although it would be entirely realistic for 13 yr olds). I was even slightly WTF about Jessi's description of Mallory in Jessi and the Awful Secret, when she claims there's so much goodness inside Mallory that when you've known her a while, she starts to look pretty
I mean, really. Ouch.
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Post by bscfan24 on Apr 23, 2006 18:41:20 GMT -5
^^yeah, really. If your best friend says something like that, I'd hate to see what someone who didn't like you would say.
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 23, 2006 18:58:57 GMT -5
I know when I read a book, I do so for "escape" and like to visualize myself as the character. I would much rather imagine myself as "the beautiful Stacey who looks like a model" than a plain, ordinary, somewhat unattractive girl. I'm the same way with tv - I know studies show that women's self esteem is brought down by watching beautiful women but I would so much rather watch an attractive actress than one who I find ugly. That's just me but maybe that is why the characters are so often described as good looking.
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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 Apr 23, 2006 20:53:36 GMT -5
^ I do the same thing, except I like to live through their vacations.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Apr 23, 2006 22:31:57 GMT -5
^ sigh... yeah, they had the best vacations. So jealous.
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 24, 2006 8:02:52 GMT -5
I do that too. That is why I love the Super Specials. I recently enjoyed the Freedom Trail in Boston in Dawn's Family Feud.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 24, 2006 11:56:33 GMT -5
I agree that I don't think that most people, little girls especially, want to read about homely looking 13 year olds. Even though Kristy and Mary Anne are kind of "plain" (pre-makeover Mary Anne, of course), they are still cute. When you're little and reading these books for the first time, the girls represent like, the "ideal" group of teens. They're cute, fun, responsible, exciting, etc etc.
I don't recall if anyone ever came out directly and said Jessi was super gorgeous or anything, but I think it was implied. I always thought of her as really pretty.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Apr 24, 2006 19:28:46 GMT -5
I agree that I don't think that most people, little girls especially, want to read about homely looking 13 year olds. Even though Kristy and Mary Anne are kind of "plain" (pre-makeover Mary Anne, of course), they are still cute. When you're little and reading these books for the first time, the girls represent like, the "ideal" group of teens. They're cute, fun, responsible, exciting, etc etc. Total word! I think you hit the nail on the head.
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Post by hitzpink on Apr 25, 2006 21:51:28 GMT -5
And would you really want to identify with a character they say is ugly? Yeah, totally. Even if you think that you're ugly, nobody would want to admit that they identify the most with "the ugly one"! And I feel a little bitter when Mary Anne describes Dawn as "not exactly pretty" in Mary Anne Saves the Day, so I can only imagine how people would feel if their favorite character was flat-out described as unattractive!
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Apr 25, 2006 22:55:59 GMT -5
But there's nothing wrong with identifying with the dorky one - Miss Mallory Pike - is there? ;D
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