One of the best things that happened in 1995 was the The Baby Sitters Club being released as a full fledged feature film. Okay, okay. It was one of the best things that could happen to a 9 year old girl. A movie starring some of the greatest actresses ever. I mean: Larisa Oleynik, Rachel Leigh Cook and Marla Sokoloff (you know her as mean girl, Cokie Mason)? They were basically royalty in the landscape of pre-teen america at the time. Anyway, after re-watching this movie recently I realized that it contains some kind of important life lessons.
1. Being a Tomboy is Awesome
I was totally a tomboy growing up. Give me a day of catching salamanders in muddy creek water up to my knees over a Barbie any day. And let me just say; Kristy Thomas knew what was up, y’all. Backwards baseball hat, Chuck Taylors, plaid overalls? A dream wardrobe to a mid 90’s tomboy. I can’t say mine was much different, except when my mom got her hands on me. Kristy was killin’ it.
2. Entrepreneurship is Hard, but so Worth it
Wow. These girls were smart. I didn’t realize this as a kid but you have to give Kristy props! I mean they ran a successful business in a small town at the ages of 12 and 13? I’m pretty sure I couldn’t even tie my shoes correctly at 13. Setting up a day camp and taking care of 30 kids, 5 days a week? No easy task. Even with a time-out station and a really awesome sling shot. Also, their $7500 profit doesn’t sound like much to an adult (especially split 7 ways), but may as well have been a million dollars to a 13 year old.
3. The Nerdy Boys are the Keepers
Oh, come on. Don’t tell me your heart didn’t skip a beat when Alan Gray asks Dawn to go to the movies with him and she finally sees that all his goofy attempts to impress her all summer were actually based on genuine feelings. When she says yes, you can tell his whole life got better. Relive this moment here. As for Logan, helping his girlfriend with a baby-sitting summer camp all year? Girl hall of fame. Guys, well, they will think you’re a major dork. What a sweetheart, though. This is where it’s at ladies.
4. Mean girls will always get what’s coming to them
Well, not always, but Cokie Mason sure did. Baseball right to the head. And I’m sorry, but why was she so obsessed with spying on the BSC? I know she had a thing for Logan, but really? Hanging out in trees and bushes, keeping tabs on her crush’s girlfriend and her closest friends? Weird. Borderline creepy. No. No ‘borderline’. It’s creepy. If you want my opinion, Cokie needed a hobby.
5. Best friends will do anything for you
Including sitting awkwardly with you while you have a conversation with your estranged father, making up an awesome song about science that magically has all the answers to your summer school final, or tricking the girl whose trying to steal your boyfriend into thinking there is an awesome shindig happening in a field full of sprinklers about to go off. They also throw the best make-shift birthday parties.
So, clearly a classic. What classic movie have you learned from?
-Leah