wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Mar 13, 2020 17:15:34 GMT -5
I like the changes. I don't think Mary Anne's features were a big part of the books, and a biracial Mary Anne still seems like Mary Anne to me. I don't think Dawn's blue eyes were a big part of the books, but her loooong, white-blonde hair was. I like that they've made her Latina, but since her hair isn't white-blonde anymore I am glad that it's still really long. A Dawn with short hair would just be wrong. And then I'd get mad at her and stop speaking to her for a month because she cut her hair without discussing it with me first, of course.
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Post by sparklymouse on Apr 15, 2020 23:04:46 GMT -5
Charlotte is now listed and appears to be Asian.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Apr 15, 2020 23:41:42 GMT -5
Charlotte is now listed and appears to be Asian. I'm probably still going to picture Charlotte with my hair lol. She's pretty cute! I really wish she had an acting reel on imdb. I think she'll do pretty well! I flipped through my copy of the complete guide recently and saw a lot of people that would be I think Hispanic. There's this Stoneybrook High School student that is rumored to like Mary Anne after her make over, Carlos Mendez.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jul 10, 2021 15:11:37 GMT -5
I actually think that there are lots of people "of color" in Stoneybrook.
There are a sizeable number of Asians and part Asians in Stoneybrook as well as a large number of people from Greek, Italian...although some people wouldn't count that as "of color"...and Middle Eastern descent.
And I suspect that there are quite a few Hispanic characters in the books also.
And re-reading the books now, I do strongly suspect that Mary Anne is part Asian in the books on her mum's side.
And I think Kristy is part Italian and could even possibly be part Hispanic going way back.
I think it's largely because the books mostly do not rely on stereotypes...save for a couple of the snobs by Mallory's table at SMS who made rude remarks about Jessi and the small "welcome" group who left out the Ramseys in the early books...of the characters of Greek, Hispanic, Italian, Asian and Middle Eastern descent that some people erroneously assume that "everyone" in Stoneybrook is Anglo Protestant.
I like that the non-Anglo characters are not treated as "curiosities" and are not stereotyped as "aliens" the way too many other books and book series did, even in the 1990s.
I like that it was not made a huge deal that Hannie, Linny and Sarish Papadakis are of Greek descent and that Claudia's family is Japanese-American and that the Hsu family are Asian-American and possibly Mary Anne's mum's family and that Jenny Prezzioso's and possibly Kristy's families are of Italian descent.
Contrary to some misconception, Stoneybrook actually has quite a lot of ethnic diversity.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Jul 10, 2021 21:58:33 GMT -5
I only noticed this when I was watching the old series but the teacher in the first book, (Mr. Redmont?) was black in the episode Baby-sitters Remember, but changed to white in the new series.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jul 11, 2021 10:25:23 GMT -5
I always pictured Mr. Redmont as black even if the Netflix series has him as white.
And I think there were more blacks in Stoneybrook than the series originally let on.
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Post by fairy3lf2 on Jul 11, 2021 17:32:27 GMT -5
Has somebody mentioned Stephen Staton-Cha (I think that’s his name)? He appeared when I was losing interest in the series but I liked the fact that his father was Korean and his mother white. Usually it’s the opposite. I think Stephen continued to be featured but his father worked out of town a lot so he wasn’t seen much. I had basically stopped reading the series by that point though.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jul 11, 2021 18:18:12 GMT -5
Has somebody mentioned Stephen Staton-Cha - I think that's his name? He appeared when I was losing interest in the series but I liked the fact that his father was Korean and his mother white. Usually it's the opposite. I think Stephen continued to be featured but his father worked out of town a lot so he wasn't seen much. I had basically stopped reading the series by that point though. I never noticed a predominance of white dads with non-white mums. I used to see lots of other series in the 1980s and 1990s where non-white men/boys are paired with Anglo women/girls. I vaguely remember Stephen being mentioned and yes, his dad is Korean. I think Stoneybrook has a sizeable part-Asian community as well as a sizeable community of full-blooded Asians.
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Post by fairy3lf2 on Jul 11, 2021 19:01:17 GMT -5
Has somebody mentioned Stephen Staton-Cha - I think that's his name? He appeared when I was losing interest in the series but I liked the fact that his father was Korean and his mother white. Usually it's the opposite. I think Stephen continued to be featured but his father worked out of town a lot so he wasn't seen much. I had basically stopped reading the series by that point though. I never noticed a predominance of white dads with non-white mums. I used to see lots of other series in the 1980s and 1990s where non-white men/boys are paired with Anglo women/girls. I vaguely remember Stephen being mentioned and yes, his dad is Korean. I think Stoneybrook has a sizeable part-Asian community as well as a sizeable community of full-blooded Asians. I meant specifically Asian guy/white woman pairings being a lot less common than white guy/Asian woman. It is the case in real life but even more so in western fiction.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jul 11, 2021 19:06:11 GMT -5
I never noticed a predominance of white dads with non-white mums. I used to see lots of other series in the 1980s and 1990s where non-white men/boys are paired with Anglo women/girls. I vaguely remember Stephen being mentioned and yes, his dad is Korean. I think Stoneybrook has a sizeable part-Asian community as well as a sizeable community of full-blooded Asians. I meant specifically Asian guy/white woman pairings being a lot less common than white guy/Asian woman. It is the case in real life but even more so in western fiction. I see...true there.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Jul 11, 2021 19:31:05 GMT -5
Has somebody mentioned Stephen Staton-Cha (I think that’s his name)? He appeared when I was losing interest in the series but I liked the fact that his father was Korean and his mother white. Usually it’s the opposite. I think Stephen continued to be featured but his father worked out of town a lot so he wasn’t seen much. I had basically stopped reading the series by that point though. I remember him! He was only in two mystery books but he sounded like a cute kid (minus the rat tail lol).
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jul 11, 2021 19:36:15 GMT -5
I'll never forget Mary Anne saving Timmy Hsu from drowning in Mary Anne to the Rescue.
Timmy was cute also...Mary Anne and Timmy even have the same straight dark hair and brown eyes.
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lydifarr
New To Stoneybrook
Tutoring Emily Michelle
Posts: 14
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Post by lydifarr on Aug 7, 2023 4:59:22 GMT -5
I said this before ages ago and most people didn't agree, but I think of Mrs. Perkins and the girls as Hispanic. They have dark hair and their names are pretty popular within the Hispanic/Latino communities, especially if you pronounce Myriah like Maria. They were introduced with blonde hair in The Ghost at Dawn's House. I'm Hispanic and have never known a Maria spelled any differently! I've always pronounced Myriah's name as Muh-rye-uh. Am I the only one?
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