macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Mar 1, 2006 1:48:30 GMT -5
What did you guys think of this one? While I'm not usually a huge fan of Stacey, she appealed to me in this book, because unlike Stacey vs. the BSC and Stacey and the Bad Girls, Stacey still valued her friendship with the baby-sitters even though she seemed to be moving in a different direction. The scene where Kristy shrieked "HEY STACE, ARE YOU COMING TO THE SLEEPOVER OR NOT?!" was freaking hilarious, too.
I was interested in the fact that cheerleading was frowned on at Stacey's old school. I always assumed cheerleading was a major part of US sporting culture and while I can definitely see the anti-feminist side, I found Stacey's initial opposition to it surprising.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Mar 1, 2006 4:28:38 GMT -5
I loved Robert in the book! I liked Stacey too... This was before she became super snobby b*tch. And she had help from Jessi! It was nice to see friendships grow closer beyond the best-friends pairs all the time.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Mar 1, 2006 16:42:42 GMT -5
I agree, especially about the best-friends thing. That's why I love the occasional Kristy/Dawn interaction in the earlier books when Dawn's having a hard time dealing with family dynamics.
Speaking of the best friend pairs, did they seem particularly close to you? Mary Anne and Kristy didn't really, their friendship seemed to be based more on history. In the later books, they didn't seem to hang out other than with club-related stuff. Stacey and Claudia didn't seem to have much of a bond other than OMGZ we love shopping and fashion! Jessi and Mallory did seem close, although Jessi was quite bitchy and seemed irritated with Mal from time to time.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Mar 1, 2006 21:03:54 GMT -5
*shrugs* To be honest, most of thestuff about the BSC seems very superficial, "told not shown", or just quite bizarre when you analyse them the way that we do.
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Post by buffykay70 on Mar 4, 2006 9:35:34 GMT -5
haha, i loved when kristy embarassed her, AGAIN. she had a whistle, hahahah. and what was up with that corinne girl?? what a cow.
and i hated how they chose that other girl, kathleen or somone over stacey cos stacey was too good.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Mar 5, 2006 16:35:14 GMT -5
^ Ugh yeah, that pissed me off too. Heaven forbid those BSC girls don't excel at absolutely everything they do
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Jun 9, 2006 23:24:35 GMT -5
You know, Stacey doesn't really strike me as the cheerleader type anyway. More so than the other BSCers, but it sort of came out of nowhere, like all those girls and guys who were apparently so, so acute.
I didn't think Robert really needed to quit, since in real life it wouldn't have done anything. Of course, in BSC land it changes the world. But seriously, they didn't have a minimum GPA rule before?
It was so odd how the entire first chapter was Stacey denying that she was boy-crazy. Huh? Since when? That's her thing! Sophisticated New Yorker boy-crazy Stacey. It rhymes and everything.
Why did Kristy keep saying her "parents" and "they" when she was telling Tiffany about getting in trouble in 5th grade? Her dad was long gone by then.
This was after Starring the BSC, right? I guess drama's not as cool as sports and cheerleading. No wonder Jessi still felt the need to prove herself. No one thinks she's talented...not because she's black but because she's a sixth grader. Oh, I'm sorry, I can't say black anymore. She's African-American in 1993.
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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 10, 2006 1:08:54 GMT -5
What bugged me, of course, was that Stacey didn't even have a background in those kinds of acrobatics needed for cheerleading, and yet she was good at it all of a sudden.
I don't know if it has already been mentioned, but my favorite part of the book was when that girl asked the BSC table if any of them was going to try out for cheerleading, and a you-got-to-be-kidding-me look whipped through everybody's faces. I dunno. I thought it was pretty funny.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jun 10, 2006 2:21:15 GMT -5
I always thought it was weird that cheerleading had never been mentioned in a BSC book prior to this one. I always thought it was a HUGE BIG deal in the US. But then, I also thought religion was a fairly big issue and that subject is also never really touched in the BSC books. There are no ultra-conservative Christians or anything like that (although they do have their token Jewish character - eventually).
These issues never struck me as odd when I was a kid as cheerleading is virtually non-existant here and most people here aren't particularly religious, but I thought things were different in the US.
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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 10, 2006 2:26:11 GMT -5
^ Well, I think that in certain parts of the U.S. religion is a big thing, but maybe Ann wasn't religoius? I think MA said something like she goes to a presbyterian church or something with her dad once in a while but I don't remember any other references.
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Post by greer on Jun 10, 2006 2:37:22 GMT -5
^I feel like it's regional, maybe? The US varies WIDELY from one part to the next. Both cheerleading and religion are things that have never been popular where i've lived, which is the philadelphia area and new york city.The stereotype of America's supposed love for cheerleading, I think, is a result of teen movies like Bring It On.
I think that lack of ultra-religious conservative Christians is Ann's own deal sort of shining through, too.
I love Stacey and the Cheerleaders. It's so fun. Stacey's lack of experience was supposedly made up for with Jessi's dance genius. *eyeroll* you can't just absorb someone's talent like that!
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on Jun 10, 2006 3:43:36 GMT -5
I always figured the books didn't deal with religion much because...well, they just didn't want to deal with it. Like, the wanted to be nondenominational or something. It's such a touchy subject, they probably just wanted to stay away from it.
And cheerleading...I guess the books aren't supposed to be about 'those girls.' The whole "cheerleading was frowned upon in my New York private school" was probably Ann's ideal fantasy world.
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Post by aln1982 on Jun 10, 2006 9:51:40 GMT -5
I've never wanted to bring it up, but why does Ann always seem willing to go into Judisim and things like explaing the Bat Mitzvah and almost Jewish religous customs but almost refuses to mention Christianity or even have any of the characters be very religous? She makes it out like Christmas is all Santa and Easter is all the Easter Bunny but talks about Jewish traditions that almost seem religous. I know this is a controversial subject so I better not say too much more about it but this is something that always bugged me. Is Ann Jewish or just trying to be very politically correct?
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Post by sugarmonkey on Jun 10, 2006 10:08:34 GMT -5
I've noticed the jewish traditions also. It never bothered me, but it did make me wonder the same things as you.
Also, I think the reason the media makes cheerleading out to be such a big deal in the U.S. is because the men that run the media think cheerleaders are sexy. The fulfill fantasies.
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Jun 10, 2006 13:37:59 GMT -5
I liked this book, but I thought it was strange that sports and cheerleading was such a big deal in middle school. Where I live, we don't even HAVE cheerleaders until high school, and soprts are just sort of there.
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