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Post by greer on May 17, 2011 16:30:49 GMT -5
How do you think the series would have been different if it were being written now instead of 25 years ago?
Three major things jump out at me:
1) Age. My sister is 11, and there is NO WAY that she or any of her friends would be allowed to baby-sit. Last summer, I still had to walk her to the library and stuff, and they live in a safe area with lots of families, etc. I don't really think the world IS more dangerous than it used to be--my mom says that strangers driving by and offering her candy, etc. was basically an everyday occurence when she was a kid--but parents in America are certainly more protective. In Russia I see elementary school-aged kids going around by themselves all the time, and no one thinks anything of it. In America? I bet someone would tell the police or protective services or whatever.
Jessi's parents totally would have had a visit from CPS after they left Jessi, Becca, and Squirt without an adult.
2) Interracial dating/marriage. There are no interracial relationships in Stoneybrook that I know of. They had to make up Curtis Shaller just so Jessi would have someone to go to the dance with. Amalia dates white guys in California Diaries though, and I think that this issue was handled well there in the book where she gets attacked.
3) Homosexuality. I think that there would have been some gay characters in Stoneybrook and Ducky's sexuality would have been explored more openly. I don't think they would have made Kristy or Abby or anyone like that gay; I just think that there would have been some sort of non-het adult presence, maybe a teacher at SMS or a client that was a family with two moms or two dads. I think it would have been a great story, actually, if Maureen Spencer went all Meredith Baxter-Birney on us.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
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Post by oldhickory on May 17, 2011 16:56:20 GMT -5
i think in general, the whole series would have a more mature feel. you make lots of good points because all of those issues are really current, and they couldn't have addressed those issues without taking away some of the girls' innocence. but it would be interesting to read because all those issues are real and people do have to deal with them in real life. the closest the series ever got to interracial dating was claudia/janine with their boyfriends, but for me that wasn't such a big deal because i am half asian/half white.
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Post by greer on May 17, 2011 17:18:59 GMT -5
i think in general, the whole series would have a more mature feel. you make lots of good points because all of those issues are really current, and they couldn't have addressed those issues without taking away some of the girls' innocence. but it would be interesting to read because all those issues are real and people do have to deal with them in real life. the closest the series ever got to interracial dating was claudia/janine with their boyfriends, but for me that wasn't such a big deal because i am half asian/half white. I liked the way they handled it when Claud came across a guy with an Asian fetish. I don't really think that things like interracial dating or same-sex couples are seen as "loss of innocence" anymore. There are some lesbians in Main Street, for instance. My brother and sister get what "gay" means and their attitude seems to be, "Some people like the opposite sex and some people the same" and that's more or less what I've seen from their peers, too. I am sure it is different in families with a very conservative or religious bent, but I think homosexuality is more or less mainstream now.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,234
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Post by oldhickory on May 17, 2011 18:06:43 GMT -5
^ i agree. i meant in comparison to the series as is.
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Post by sparklymouse on May 17, 2011 18:07:17 GMT -5
Russ and Peaches were an interracial couple and nobody blinked an eye over it.
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Post by booboobrewer on May 17, 2011 18:19:39 GMT -5
The Stanton-Chas in Abby and the Secret Society were as well.
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Post by zoar3 on May 17, 2011 19:29:53 GMT -5
I don't think the Series could have happened as it was written today. Who would hire 11 and 13 year olds to baby-sit? At times the client didn't even know or the girl or the BSC members would sit for multiple kids by themselves, I don't see that going over too well today. Most of all the Mal/Jessi sitting for the triplets and even 9 year old Haley Braddock probably would have been met with many more protests.
Lol, Jessi's parents should have had a visit from CPS. I really wish we had gotten to read Aunt Cecelia's phone and later in person conversation with her brother and his wife.
Lastly, the vacations where the Sitter either explored with a new-found boyfriend on their own or alone, would not happen. No Sea City romances or meeting Quint in NY.
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Post by greer on May 17, 2011 19:36:26 GMT -5
I honestly forgot about the Kishis when I was talking about interracial couples. I guess because Claudia's race was handled as something that made her beautiful, whereas Jessi was the Other.
I suppose what I really meant was black/white couplings, specifically.
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Post by wiggir13 on May 17, 2011 20:28:36 GMT -5
I honestly don't think the series could be written today. Kids these days just don't seem as innocent anymore. I mean 11 and 13 year olds are having babies instead of being babysitters. It's funny though, I see the parents as being the same nonexistent types as they are now. That seems to be a running trend in this society.
I also think that middle school is different now than it was then with bullies etc.
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u4me
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,655
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Post by u4me on May 17, 2011 20:38:47 GMT -5
I completely agree that I would never hire an 11 year old to babysit! I've come across a few, very few, 13 year olds that seemed mature enough, but I would never leave them with anything younger than 4 or 5 year old (depending on how the 4 or 5 year old acted too).
That cracks me up about Jessi's family getting a visit from CPS over being left along! You're SO right.
There would definitely have to be someone pregnant at SHS - heck, nowadays there would be someone pregnant at SMS or even SES! Kids drive me crazy these days.
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Post by zoar3 on May 17, 2011 22:44:35 GMT -5
I agree that someone would most likely be pregnant. Now that would have been an interesting (and probably very sad) storyline. A BSC Member being hired to baby-sit for the baby (or very young child) of a former charge.
I wonder if Mimi might have lasted longer because of the increasing number of older parents as well as households headed by or including Grandparents. That leads me to (a wish in general) that maybe one of the various elderly female relatives who moved in with her family ahd done so with her husband. Surely one "Grandpa" could have not been killed off.
I know, the chances of Emily's magical arrival would decrease! And Stacey's diabetes (probably) would not be as dire or difficult to treat.
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u4me
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,655
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Post by u4me on May 18, 2011 7:27:28 GMT -5
Mallory's grandpa wasn't killed off. He just preferred the nursing home.
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Post by sparklymouse on May 18, 2011 10:00:26 GMT -5
Some families would have to move in with the grandparents rather than have the grandparents move in with them. There is a difference.
You guys are trying to make them all Gossip Girl or Clique-y, lol. The series would not go all dark and mature if it was a children's series. It would stay the equivalent level of a Disney or Nick show where people kiss and the crowd goes ''ooooh''.
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Post by greer on May 18, 2011 10:24:59 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't think that the series would be darker. And I also don't believe that 11 and 13 year olds are less innocent than they were 10 or 20 years ago; in my experience, it's the opposite and kids are MORE sheltered than they were before. Sure, there are the outliers of kids who have sex in middle school, but that has been around for a long time. Certain things, like child predators, middle schoolers having sex, etc. SEEM more prevalent because of the overall increase in media and the need to fill a 24-hour news cycle, rather than just the nightly news. I have plenty of friends my age and older who lost their virginity when they were middle school age. When I was eleven, I was much more independent and wordly and knew much more about the world than my sister does at that age. I think there is actually a lot more emphasis on keeping kids innocent and "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?!" than there used to be.
I do think that society has changed in significant ways since my childhood and the BSC childhood era and definitely Ann's era, which a lot of times is the context in which the way things happen in Stoneybrook make more sense, but not necessarily in the ways that politicians, activists of a certain stripe, etc. would have the public believe. But I think that attitudes toward certain things like homosexuality and race have changed a lot over the past 20 years.
I definitely don't think that the vacation boyfriend-thing would have been as prevalent. Oh, you met a boy, at a ballet performance you went to, by yourself, in Manhattan? Have fun!!
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Post by zoar3 on May 18, 2011 11:24:14 GMT -5
Wasn't Uncle Joe, Mal's Uncle? Although it sounded like (if he was) Mr. Pike's older brother, he was much older so maybe it was his dad....
I would hope the overall tone and feel of the books would remain the same. I'm not a darkness or gossip fan.
^LOL
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