BSC/Fight Club Crossover
Long time lurker, occasional commentator, and first-time poster. For a long time, I've had this crazy idea that Kristy Thomas could be Mary-Anne's Tyler Durden. It's half-snark, half analytical writing, two-thirds delusional rambling. I was almost done with this, then my internet had problems and needed to shut down. When I opened my Livejournal up again, it only saved like the first sentence, so I had to start over. That was fun. This is just a rough outline, emphasis on rough. Feel free to add more BSC/Fight Club ideas in the comments if you're interested in having a lively discussion.
In the beginning of the series, Mary Anne's blossoming womanhood languishes under the repressive Richard's restrictions, just as Jack is emasculated by the expectations society places upon him- the perfect job, the perfect condo, the perfect furniture. Though they appear physically normal, they both exhibit symptoms resulting from their soul-crushing lives: Jack's insomnia and Mary Anne's crying fits. From what I've read in the Baby-Sitter's Club series (which was mostly the earlier books-the internet filled me in on the others.), Mary Anne's crying seemed to hit its peak in first grade, during which the teacher would yell at her class, causing Mary Anne to cry at recess. Interestingly enough, Kristy, who was in the same class, reacted to these negative emotions by fighting boys.
Fast forward to fourth grade. Mary Anne is in a different class from Kristy. Kristy tries to get Mary Anne to convince her father to call the school so that she could be transferred to her class. But, Mary Anne claims to have felt more self-confident at this point. Mental health can be deceptive. From an outsider's point of view, Jack would have been "fine" before he met Tyler Durden. And yet, he relied on visiting various support groups for every variety of ailments he didn't actually have, sitting silently, and allowing people to assume that he was grievously ill. These meetings became a large part of Jack's life. Crying was a big part of these meetings. Crying was a large part of Mary Anne's life. A part of me thinks that about ten years after BSC time (so probably about now), Jack and Mary Anne should get together and make some weepy ass babies. But then again, I'm insensitive.
As Jack says, “If I didn’t say anything, people assumed the worst.” There’s a connection to Mary Anne’s passive-aggressiveness there, I just know it.
Stacey had bitch-tits.
Anyway, back to fourth grade. Since asking Richard to drive her to support groups for testicular cancer would invite awkward questions, Mary Anne goes Munchhausen in a way that is weirdly in character. She persiverates on the sophisticated spectacles of the sassy new girl, whose name I can't be bothered to remember. Soon, Mary Anne starts pretending to have trouble seeing, so Richard takes her to the doctor to see if she needs new glasses. Although Mary Anne was merely pretending to have vision problems, she genuinely did need new glasses. While Jack was only pretending to have lost his balls to testicular cancer, he genuinely did need to regain his manhood. So, all's well that ends well, I guess.
And now we hit middle school. Ahh... middle school. Where cliques develop faster than A-cups, puberty begins, and the Cokie Masons of the world crawl out of the woodwork, possibly spawning by asexual reproduction on the strangely sticky floor of the girls' bathroom. Kristy looks around her and doesn't like what she sees: some of the strongest, smartest girls of her generation joining the cheerleading squad, hanging out at the mall, chewing gum, donning bell bottoms, and wearing heels.
The repressive society present in Fight Club caused Jack to feel as though he was losing his masculinity. The solution was for his alter ego to form a group wherein men could do stereotypically masculine things, such as assault, vandalism, and jaywalking. The perennially asshole-ish society of the average middle school caused Mary Anne's alter ego to form a club wherein stereotypically feminine things (babies!) were aggressively embraced (Kinky!). This is ironic, as Kristy herself isn't stereotypically feminine. Mary Anne had to assign her masculine traits in order to wrap her brain around the idea of a female in a position of power. Having been raised by a very strict single father and no mother, Mary Anne grew to associate taking charge and authority with males.
I'd like to further explore Kristy Thomas. I believe there's a snark about the TV version of "Kristy's Great Idea" wherein Kristy is assigned a 100-word essay on decorum because she had made too much noise in class. The snarker asked what that had to do with the overall plot of the episode, which was about Kristy starting the Baby Sitters' Cult Club. Well, now we know. That essay on decorum represented the invasion of the repressive school institution in Kristy's normally (compared to Mary Anne's, anyway) laisez-faire home. It was more than just homework, which was usually given to learn things like reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was given solely to punish and brainwash Mary Anne's alter ego. In short, it was the straw that broke the bitch's back. Big mistake, SMS.
Notice that Mary Anne created for Kristy the opposite family situation than the one she grew up with. Instead of being raised by a stern dad and no mom, Kristy got to be raised by a more easygoing mom and no dad. Now, obviously Mary Anne wants a mom and perhaps some siblings (if the presence of three biological brothers are any indication). Kristy has the freedom to wear the same turtleneck and jeans 5, 862 days in a row and to put her hair up in a ponytail. Richard insists on braids, schoolgirl outfits, and personal hygiene. It's like he's her pimp or something!
Richard Spier, Attorney at Law
However, what not many people realize is that some dark, secret part of Mary Anne wants her dad gone, which is why Kristy never got to grow close to her biological father. It's as if Mary Anne realizes the need to cut the cord between herself and her dad. That only when she loses both of her parents will she be free to grow up. It is only when we've lost everything that we are free to do anything.
Along with instituting order upon Stoneybrook, it gave Kristy, and by extension, Mary Anne, a chance to be in charge. True Kristy had two older brothers, but she was the babysitter, dammit!
Kristy wonders if another man is really the answer they need.
At some point, Kristy and Mary Anne have a falling out. Without Kristy's charisma and authority to guide her, Mary Anne is left terribly, terribly alone. So, she sits by herself for lunch, which is probably social suicide in middle school or something. Stacey and Claudia are probably gazing at her from the other end of the cafeteria, whispering about what a BAMF she is (remember, they see her as Kristy Thomas, leader of the BSC because of the plot twist I'm totally spoiling) before going back to doing whatever sophisticated preteens do (Origami?).
This is how Dawn from California finds her when she arrives at SMS from California. Dawn's from California, you see. So, she assumes that Mary Anne is new like her (possibly also from California) and decides they could become friends. Which is actually a great idea. They were probably teaching the students these advanced social skills in California while Connecticut kids shivered their way to the zoo to look at otters. They probably did that zoo thing when it was warm out, but Dawn's from California, where it's infinitely warmer. Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have social skills classes in school, but I'm getting off topic.
Mary Anne feeds her some lie about how her friends were all sick. Well... I guess you don't want to bore someone you just met with how you're fighting with your friends and all. Anyway, Jack never even gave Marla his real name, so whatever works for you. I'm sure neither of these two things negatively affected either character in any way. Moving on...
I'm sure Dawn will be pleased to know that I consider her.... er... individualistic enough to be the BSC's answer for Marla Singer.
Smoking is California casual. Also, that outfit is freakin dibble.
Neither Mary Anne nor her alter ego are old enough to do anything sexual with Dawn/Marla, but was there any other character in the books who has the potential to drive a rift between Mary Anne and Kristy? Besides, Dawn's so hippie-ish. She'd make the best Marla Singer. (Mallory comes in second, since she would have the "My life is worthless without pierced ears" thing. Also, I could see Mallory going through a Goth phase.) All right! This calls for a poll!
Poll Marla Singer BSC
Things seem to be looking up for Richard. Mary Anne's growing close to someone in the real world, and his high school sweetheart is back in town. Maybe it's time for him to think of his own happiness. He finds it in Sharon (and I mean balls deep in Sharon- hey-O!) Even though Mary Ann seemed to make up with the BSC and led Dawn to join the club, Richard had to believe things would get better. He and Sharon had put their heads together. He had been hesitant, not liking to deceive his daughter, but their happiness depended on it. It was either this or make her quit the BSC. And Richard hadn't wanted to do that, feeling that babysitting could teach Mary Anne responsibility. Besides, it made her happy. Crazy-happy, but happy, nonetheless.
It's time for Kristy to move away. Mary Anne had been under the delusion that Kristy lived next door to them for her entire childhood. Actually, the Perkins girls had lived there for years. Gabbie and Myriah shared the bedroom Mary Anne had always claimed was Kristy's. Mary Anne and the BSC also seemed to be under the shared delusion that Gabbie and Myriah were precocious young children. Actually, they're lesbian PHD-holders, one of whom (Gabbie) is Mary Anne's psychologist. Small world. The couple recently adopted a baby girl, Laura Perkins. So far, they have remained strong against the BSC's attempts to babysit Laura- or them.
The Perkins girls in real life. From left to right: Myriah, Laura, and Gabbie.
Richard and Sharon broke the news to Mary Anne as gently as possible. They assured her that Kristy would be happy, that her new stepfather was a real, live millionaire. They had hoped that Kristy going away would break her hold over Mary-Anne.
It didn't work out as well as they had hoped. Mary Anne still occasionally bikes over to Millionaire's Row and knocks on the door of the most sophisticated-looking mansion she could find. Then she explains to a puzzled Shannon Kilbourne that she is looking for Kristy Thomas to talk to her about important club business. At Shannon's blank look, Mary Anne launches into a ten-page info-dump about herself, the BSC, and her friends, both real and imaginary. After the third time this happened, Shannon knew the speech by heart and still had no interest in joining the BSC. She now remembered to use the peephole every time someone rang the doorbell. Mary Anne still saw Kristy at BSC meetings, and Kristy decided to make Shannon an "Honorary Member." However, when Mary Anne went to Shannon's house to tell her the good news, nobody was home.
To the delight of Mary Anne and Dawn, Richard and Sharon decided to get married. They wanted to truly put the past behind them: both Richard's past of not being good enough for Sharon and Mary Anne's past of being... psychotic. So, they moved into a colonial farmhouse with a barn and a secret passageway. It's still in Stoneybrook, but it's a change of scene. True, Mary Anne still saw Kristy at various BSC functions, but she was growing closer to Dawn and was maturing into a responsible babysitter. Things were truly getting better.
Then, their house burned down. Mary Anne and her family are invited to stay with Kristy. God help us all.
I had fun writing this up. Feel free to add more to the Fight Club/BSC discussion in comments. I didn't really go into detail about how the BSC is a cult and the girls are lesbians, since that's been discussed very thoroughly by the lesbian blogger community at this board. Wanted to keep it fresh. I hope you all enjoyed the fresh perspective.
In the beginning of the series, Mary Anne's blossoming womanhood languishes under the repressive Richard's restrictions, just as Jack is emasculated by the expectations society places upon him- the perfect job, the perfect condo, the perfect furniture. Though they appear physically normal, they both exhibit symptoms resulting from their soul-crushing lives: Jack's insomnia and Mary Anne's crying fits. From what I've read in the Baby-Sitter's Club series (which was mostly the earlier books-the internet filled me in on the others.), Mary Anne's crying seemed to hit its peak in first grade, during which the teacher would yell at her class, causing Mary Anne to cry at recess. Interestingly enough, Kristy, who was in the same class, reacted to these negative emotions by fighting boys.
Fast forward to fourth grade. Mary Anne is in a different class from Kristy. Kristy tries to get Mary Anne to convince her father to call the school so that she could be transferred to her class. But, Mary Anne claims to have felt more self-confident at this point. Mental health can be deceptive. From an outsider's point of view, Jack would have been "fine" before he met Tyler Durden. And yet, he relied on visiting various support groups for every variety of ailments he didn't actually have, sitting silently, and allowing people to assume that he was grievously ill. These meetings became a large part of Jack's life. Crying was a big part of these meetings. Crying was a large part of Mary Anne's life. A part of me thinks that about ten years after BSC time (so probably about now), Jack and Mary Anne should get together and make some weepy ass babies. But then again, I'm insensitive.
As Jack says, “If I didn’t say anything, people assumed the worst.” There’s a connection to Mary Anne’s passive-aggressiveness there, I just know it.
Stacey had bitch-tits.
Anyway, back to fourth grade. Since asking Richard to drive her to support groups for testicular cancer would invite awkward questions, Mary Anne goes Munchhausen in a way that is weirdly in character. She persiverates on the sophisticated spectacles of the sassy new girl, whose name I can't be bothered to remember. Soon, Mary Anne starts pretending to have trouble seeing, so Richard takes her to the doctor to see if she needs new glasses. Although Mary Anne was merely pretending to have vision problems, she genuinely did need new glasses. While Jack was only pretending to have lost his balls to testicular cancer, he genuinely did need to regain his manhood. So, all's well that ends well, I guess.
And now we hit middle school. Ahh... middle school. Where cliques develop faster than A-cups, puberty begins, and the Cokie Masons of the world crawl out of the woodwork, possibly spawning by asexual reproduction on the strangely sticky floor of the girls' bathroom. Kristy looks around her and doesn't like what she sees: some of the strongest, smartest girls of her generation joining the cheerleading squad, hanging out at the mall, chewing gum, donning bell bottoms, and wearing heels.
The repressive society present in Fight Club caused Jack to feel as though he was losing his masculinity. The solution was for his alter ego to form a group wherein men could do stereotypically masculine things, such as assault, vandalism, and jaywalking. The perennially asshole-ish society of the average middle school caused Mary Anne's alter ego to form a club wherein stereotypically feminine things (babies!) were aggressively embraced (Kinky!). This is ironic, as Kristy herself isn't stereotypically feminine. Mary Anne had to assign her masculine traits in order to wrap her brain around the idea of a female in a position of power. Having been raised by a very strict single father and no mother, Mary Anne grew to associate taking charge and authority with males.
I'd like to further explore Kristy Thomas. I believe there's a snark about the TV version of "Kristy's Great Idea" wherein Kristy is assigned a 100-word essay on decorum because she had made too much noise in class. The snarker asked what that had to do with the overall plot of the episode, which was about Kristy starting the Baby Sitters' Cult Club. Well, now we know. That essay on decorum represented the invasion of the repressive school institution in Kristy's normally (compared to Mary Anne's, anyway) laisez-faire home. It was more than just homework, which was usually given to learn things like reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was given solely to punish and brainwash Mary Anne's alter ego. In short, it was the straw that broke the bitch's back. Big mistake, SMS.
Notice that Mary Anne created for Kristy the opposite family situation than the one she grew up with. Instead of being raised by a stern dad and no mom, Kristy got to be raised by a more easygoing mom and no dad. Now, obviously Mary Anne wants a mom and perhaps some siblings (if the presence of three biological brothers are any indication). Kristy has the freedom to wear the same turtleneck and jeans 5, 862 days in a row and to put her hair up in a ponytail. Richard insists on braids, schoolgirl outfits, and personal hygiene. It's like he's her pimp or something!
Richard Spier, Attorney at Law
However, what not many people realize is that some dark, secret part of Mary Anne wants her dad gone, which is why Kristy never got to grow close to her biological father. It's as if Mary Anne realizes the need to cut the cord between herself and her dad. That only when she loses both of her parents will she be free to grow up. It is only when we've lost everything that we are free to do anything.
Along with instituting order upon Stoneybrook, it gave Kristy, and by extension, Mary Anne, a chance to be in charge. True Kristy had two older brothers, but she was the babysitter, dammit!
Kristy wonders if another man is really the answer they need.
At some point, Kristy and Mary Anne have a falling out. Without Kristy's charisma and authority to guide her, Mary Anne is left terribly, terribly alone. So, she sits by herself for lunch, which is probably social suicide in middle school or something. Stacey and Claudia are probably gazing at her from the other end of the cafeteria, whispering about what a BAMF she is (remember, they see her as Kristy Thomas, leader of the BSC because of the plot twist I'm totally spoiling) before going back to doing whatever sophisticated preteens do (Origami?).
This is how Dawn from California finds her when she arrives at SMS from California. Dawn's from California, you see. So, she assumes that Mary Anne is new like her (possibly also from California) and decides they could become friends. Which is actually a great idea. They were probably teaching the students these advanced social skills in California while Connecticut kids shivered their way to the zoo to look at otters. They probably did that zoo thing when it was warm out, but Dawn's from California, where it's infinitely warmer. Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have social skills classes in school, but I'm getting off topic.
Mary Anne feeds her some lie about how her friends were all sick. Well... I guess you don't want to bore someone you just met with how you're fighting with your friends and all. Anyway, Jack never even gave Marla his real name, so whatever works for you. I'm sure neither of these two things negatively affected either character in any way. Moving on...
I'm sure Dawn will be pleased to know that I consider her.... er... individualistic enough to be the BSC's answer for Marla Singer.
Smoking is California casual. Also, that outfit is freakin dibble.
Neither Mary Anne nor her alter ego are old enough to do anything sexual with Dawn/Marla, but was there any other character in the books who has the potential to drive a rift between Mary Anne and Kristy? Besides, Dawn's so hippie-ish. She'd make the best Marla Singer. (Mallory comes in second, since she would have the "My life is worthless without pierced ears" thing. Also, I could see Mallory going through a Goth phase.) All right! This calls for a poll!
Poll Marla Singer BSC
Things seem to be looking up for Richard. Mary Anne's growing close to someone in the real world, and his high school sweetheart is back in town. Maybe it's time for him to think of his own happiness. He finds it in Sharon (and I mean balls deep in Sharon- hey-O!) Even though Mary Ann seemed to make up with the BSC and led Dawn to join the club, Richard had to believe things would get better. He and Sharon had put their heads together. He had been hesitant, not liking to deceive his daughter, but their happiness depended on it. It was either this or make her quit the BSC. And Richard hadn't wanted to do that, feeling that babysitting could teach Mary Anne responsibility. Besides, it made her happy. Crazy-happy, but happy, nonetheless.
It's time for Kristy to move away. Mary Anne had been under the delusion that Kristy lived next door to them for her entire childhood. Actually, the Perkins girls had lived there for years. Gabbie and Myriah shared the bedroom Mary Anne had always claimed was Kristy's. Mary Anne and the BSC also seemed to be under the shared delusion that Gabbie and Myriah were precocious young children. Actually, they're lesbian PHD-holders, one of whom (Gabbie) is Mary Anne's psychologist. Small world. The couple recently adopted a baby girl, Laura Perkins. So far, they have remained strong against the BSC's attempts to babysit Laura- or them.
The Perkins girls in real life. From left to right: Myriah, Laura, and Gabbie.
Richard and Sharon broke the news to Mary Anne as gently as possible. They assured her that Kristy would be happy, that her new stepfather was a real, live millionaire. They had hoped that Kristy going away would break her hold over Mary-Anne.
It didn't work out as well as they had hoped. Mary Anne still occasionally bikes over to Millionaire's Row and knocks on the door of the most sophisticated-looking mansion she could find. Then she explains to a puzzled Shannon Kilbourne that she is looking for Kristy Thomas to talk to her about important club business. At Shannon's blank look, Mary Anne launches into a ten-page info-dump about herself, the BSC, and her friends, both real and imaginary. After the third time this happened, Shannon knew the speech by heart and still had no interest in joining the BSC. She now remembered to use the peephole every time someone rang the doorbell. Mary Anne still saw Kristy at BSC meetings, and Kristy decided to make Shannon an "Honorary Member." However, when Mary Anne went to Shannon's house to tell her the good news, nobody was home.
To the delight of Mary Anne and Dawn, Richard and Sharon decided to get married. They wanted to truly put the past behind them: both Richard's past of not being good enough for Sharon and Mary Anne's past of being... psychotic. So, they moved into a colonial farmhouse with a barn and a secret passageway. It's still in Stoneybrook, but it's a change of scene. True, Mary Anne still saw Kristy at various BSC functions, but she was growing closer to Dawn and was maturing into a responsible babysitter. Things were truly getting better.
Then, their house burned down. Mary Anne and her family are invited to stay with Kristy. God help us all.
I had fun writing this up. Feel free to add more to the Fight Club/BSC discussion in comments. I didn't really go into detail about how the BSC is a cult and the girls are lesbians, since that's been discussed very thoroughly by the lesbian blogger community at this board. Wanted to keep it fresh. I hope you all enjoyed the fresh perspective.