I came from a high school of freaks :)
A while back I had written a long journal entry about how high school stereotypes are wrongly portrayed in movies, especially those on the Disney Channel. Since then, I had come up with two conclusions. First, is that those stereotypes were rampant in the 60s when those producers, directors and screenwriters were in high school, so they were bringing only what they knew about high school into movies. Second, is that those stereotypes are still around, but Lake Braddock is just weird.
Today, my second conclusion was further justified when I had heard something startling at Lake Braddock's senior awards ceremony. This year, there were 68 valedictorians! Yes, 68 students who have a 4.0 GPA or higher! No, it's not a typo. All 68 names were read and 68 students stood up in their seats to be acknowledged as valedictorians, and not one of them carried a physical trait of the movie geek.
68!!!
Now my brother argued with me that a lot of those 68 students didn't fairly deserve their 4.0 GPAs because Fairfax County had recently changed the grading system so that all those taking AP classes got an extra 1pt to their GPA instead of 0.5pt. He said before the grading scale change, there were only about 20-some expected valedictorians. Still, that's a lot considering there were 9 in my class, and I'm pretty sure the average/normal high school produces only about 1 or 2 per year.
Then to add on to that was this remarkable kid who received the Principal's award. He had a 4.14 GPA, had taken 8 AP classes in 4 different subjects, studied 2 different languages at LB, was president of one honor society or another, and had received numerous scholarships. The silver screen would give you an image of a scrawny boy with tussled hair wearing thick-rimmed glasses, a collared shirt with a pocket protector tucked into a pair of pants too short for his long bony legs, a couple of books in hand, and carrying a backpack twice his size. But here's the real clincher: this 4.14 genius was also a member of the varsity football team!
Now what do the silver screens say a football player should look like?
He would be large, muscular, not very bright, and constantly sporting his football jersey or letter jacket which makes up most of his wardrobe. This kid wasn't exactly buff, but if he's on varsity football, it means he's good at sports which puts him in the "jock" category. This kid is also not "not very bright" considering his crazy GPA and his immense class load. How many football players do you see excelling in academics?! And no, in case you were thinking it, Lake Braddock football isn't made up of a geek squad because they were the only ones out of a nerd school who were brave enough to show up at try outs. Last I checked, LB had a somewhat decent football team.
So two opposite ends of the stereotypical high school social ladder have collided and smooshed together into this one kid. He's geek and jock at the same time. Oh my gawd Disney, why haven't you thought of this?!
Though I must give them some credit in trying. High School Musical aaaalmooooost did it with a geek/theater kid and jock/theater kid falling for each other. Maybe in High School Musical 25 Gabriela and Troy have a super kid who's a geek, a jock, an acclaimed thespian, and a skilled linguist!
Today, my second conclusion was further justified when I had heard something startling at Lake Braddock's senior awards ceremony. This year, there were 68 valedictorians! Yes, 68 students who have a 4.0 GPA or higher! No, it's not a typo. All 68 names were read and 68 students stood up in their seats to be acknowledged as valedictorians, and not one of them carried a physical trait of the movie geek.
68!!!
Now my brother argued with me that a lot of those 68 students didn't fairly deserve their 4.0 GPAs because Fairfax County had recently changed the grading system so that all those taking AP classes got an extra 1pt to their GPA instead of 0.5pt. He said before the grading scale change, there were only about 20-some expected valedictorians. Still, that's a lot considering there were 9 in my class, and I'm pretty sure the average/normal high school produces only about 1 or 2 per year.
Then to add on to that was this remarkable kid who received the Principal's award. He had a 4.14 GPA, had taken 8 AP classes in 4 different subjects, studied 2 different languages at LB, was president of one honor society or another, and had received numerous scholarships. The silver screen would give you an image of a scrawny boy with tussled hair wearing thick-rimmed glasses, a collared shirt with a pocket protector tucked into a pair of pants too short for his long bony legs, a couple of books in hand, and carrying a backpack twice his size. But here's the real clincher: this 4.14 genius was also a member of the varsity football team!
Now what do the silver screens say a football player should look like?
He would be large, muscular, not very bright, and constantly sporting his football jersey or letter jacket which makes up most of his wardrobe. This kid wasn't exactly buff, but if he's on varsity football, it means he's good at sports which puts him in the "jock" category. This kid is also not "not very bright" considering his crazy GPA and his immense class load. How many football players do you see excelling in academics?! And no, in case you were thinking it, Lake Braddock football isn't made up of a geek squad because they were the only ones out of a nerd school who were brave enough to show up at try outs. Last I checked, LB had a somewhat decent football team.
So two opposite ends of the stereotypical high school social ladder have collided and smooshed together into this one kid. He's geek and jock at the same time. Oh my gawd Disney, why haven't you thought of this?!
Though I must give them some credit in trying. High School Musical aaaalmooooost did it with a geek/theater kid and jock/theater kid falling for each other. Maybe in High School Musical 25 Gabriela and Troy have a super kid who's a geek, a jock, an acclaimed thespian, and a skilled linguist!