LadyDru
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 373
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Post by LadyDru on Jan 5, 2018 12:41:49 GMT -5
Another one of mine: I am actually more annoyed by Claudia's tendency to be explosive for no good reason and how hypocritical she was in the earlier books than her junk food habit, hatred of school and sense of style.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Jan 5, 2018 16:57:55 GMT -5
I wonder if the difference between Claudia's experience with racism differs so much from Jessi's experience because of the stereotypes. (I feel terrible saying any of this - obviously I don't think this way!) But a lot of the stereotypes about Asian people are positive (they are always smart, hard workers, overachievers, etc) and stereotypes of African-American or black people are often negative.
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Post by Kylie90210 on Jan 7, 2018 21:56:40 GMT -5
^ That similar to what I was just thinking as I read these posts and re-thought about that book. It's like there's a sliding scale of ethnicities, and African Americans are at the bottom?! At least, that's how it seems when she allows Claudia in and not Jessi. Or maybe it's the darker the skin? Either way, what a horrible message, as though the racism in the book wasn't bad enough!! I mean, I'm not American, but I can only assume/hope this was overplayed like a lot of things in the BSC.
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Post by Crocodile on Feb 13, 2018 19:04:18 GMT -5
Unpopular opinion: I love Claudia but her entitled bratty school attitude is pretty grating at times. I don't think she's any sort of disorder other than just being spoiled and bratty
I DO LOVE HER THOUGH!
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Post by Crocodile on Feb 13, 2018 19:05:57 GMT -5
I also do not think Stacey is a sl*t.None of the BSC girls is. same! Being boy crazy doesn't make someone a sl*t. And neither does flirting or dating a few at a time.
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Post by booklover85 on Jun 20, 2018 1:46:24 GMT -5
I think the older sitters are also too young to babysit alone. They should have had someone guiding them.
Don't get me wrong, I love the books. I just think that Kristy and Company shouldn't be babysitting alone until they are around fourteen.
New York and California are too overglorified in the books.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Jun 20, 2018 8:25:14 GMT -5
That's interesting. I've heard that about Jessi and Mallory, but never the older sitters. 13 always seemed like a reasonable age to me. There are some 13-year-olds in my life that I wouldn't trust with a baby though, so I can't say I disagree
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Aug 29, 2018 6:39:29 GMT -5
I never thought MA deserved the 'sensitive member of the group' label. Crying every time someone dares call you out on something is just annoying, not sensitive. I do think that in some of the books (especially the earlier ones), she was pretty considerate of her friends and people's feelings, but most of the time, she was just a really passive-aggressive person. She had no more real 'sensitive' moments than everyone else. In saying that, I think Claudia or Jessi (or Mal) should have been labelled sensitive. How many times did Claudia ease tensions in the club with a well-timed offer of junk food? And Jessi and Mal were often considerate of their friends' feelings, too (I remember 'Jessi and the Awful Secret' as being one good example of Jessi's... niceness?) Mary Anne didn't cry EVERY time somebody criticized her and no, she was NOT 'passive-aggressive,' especially in later books. Did you read The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier? In that book, although Mary Anne is quietly stressed about paying off a credit card bill and it's the holiday season, she does feel and show deep concern over a homeless girl that she meets and at one point, cries quietly for the girl. And Mary Anne also feels deep compassion for little Princess Victoria in Mary Anne and the Little Princess when most of the other kids have written Victoria off as a spoiled brat. But it is true that actually, all of the BSC have a higher-than-average degree of sensitivity toward others; I know Mary Anne wasn't the only sensitive one. Actually Stacey is also sometimes described as sensitive as well. It gets tiresome when some Mary Anne-haters trash Mary Anne and claim that she was secretly 'mean' or 'passive-aggressive' when most of us know that she wasn't.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Aug 29, 2018 6:47:42 GMT -5
I think the older sitters are also too young to babysit alone. They should have had someone guiding them. Don't get me wrong, I love the books. I just think that Kristy and Company shouldn't be babysitting alone until they are around fourteen. It depends, though...three of my nieces were babysitting at thirteen...but just not late at night, though. I think it was perfectly realistic for the older girls to babysit. I'm glad that they didn't have this 'helicopter parent' mentality that some people have today of feeling as if kids are 'too young' to do much of anything until after eighteen. New York and California are too overglorified in the books. True, especially California. Not all of California is this tropical paradise year-round. Ann did tone it down with the New York City books, especially since in later books, the girls visit more often. In my timeline, I have Kristy and Mary Anne go to university there and Mary Anne live in NYC as an adult.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Aug 29, 2018 6:55:17 GMT -5
I wonder if the difference between Claudia's experience with racism differs so much from Jessi's experience because of the stereotypes. (I feel terrible saying any of this - obviously I don't think this way!) But a lot of the stereotypes about Asian people are positive (they are always smart, hard workers, overachievers, etc) and stereotypes of African-American or black people are often negative. Disagree. And actually, Claudia was sometimes an underachiver. Also, none of the BSC members were racist. The older BSC were hesitant to let either Jessi or Mallory in because they seemed so young... NOT because of anyone's race. Stoneybrook is not Sweet Valley and the BSC is not the Pi Beta Alphas.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Aug 29, 2018 7:00:19 GMT -5
I didn't like Mary Anne's short hair on the covers (with the exceptions of 66, 67 and Mary Anne's Book. I was real happy when her hair grew back in the Friends Forever series. Whenever I reread post-Mary Anne's Makeover, I imagine MA's hair looking like the way Rachel Leigh Cook's hair did in the movie. But in the movie, they forgot her bangs. I always imagine Mary Anne with bangs whether her hair is long or short.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Aug 29, 2018 7:04:39 GMT -5
My unpopular opinion: I don't think it was weird that Charlie was always the one to bring Kristy to and from the BSC meetings. That is what you get stuck with when you have a license, a car, and younger siblings. I'm sure he missed some days the same way people missed meetings due to sittings jobs. It had to have happened but wasn't ever mentioned. Me either. And let's not forget that Kristy and Abby were PAYING Charlie for the rides out of their OWN EARNED baby-sitting money...they were not getting those rides for free, so Charlie was also getting compensated.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Aug 29, 2018 7:12:08 GMT -5
My unpopular opinion: I definitely do not think Stacey is a sl*t. I always thought that generally she is one of the smartest, most level headed and responsible of the girls. Sure she has her moments, such as making a fool of herself falling in LUV with Wes and Scott for example but then again, don't we all have those moments? The only reason she has lots of BFs is because she's been 13 for years ;D If we had to narrow down her BFs to a realistic standard (excluding Super Specials and Mysteries), she had 3 - Sam, Robert and Ethan. Still not incredibly realistic (I didn't get my first BF until i was 15), but considering the BSC seem older than they are it seems ok. Also, in comparison with the 'bad girls,' Stacey is quite innocent, clean-cut, Sandra-Dee-esque and (as they say in the book) 'girl-next-door.' I also do not think that Kristy is a lesbian. Agreed 1000000%! It gets tiresome when the fanfictions depict Stacey as a one-dimensional, empty-headed bimbo or a 'mean-girl' hooker or vain. Too many people forget that Stacey is a smart girl who is gifted in math and science and yes, is very level-headed, responsible, caring and sweet.
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Post by booklover85 on Nov 20, 2018 23:35:04 GMT -5
I'm not sure if that's an unpopular opinion or not, but I never liked Logan Bruno. It didn't help matters that Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger helped turn me off him completely when I first read that book.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Nov 22, 2018 20:43:39 GMT -5
I don’t know if this is unpopular or not, but I don’t really like the movie. Some of the actresses aren’t very good and they don’t fit this image I gave in my head.
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