The BEST part of this book is the illustration of Karen bending down on one knee and flapping her little pathetic turkey wings in a "OMG LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" gesture. Just the memory of this moment in bookdom can make me laugh in the middle of doing something else. That's how much the BSC has scarred me for life. XD
And I vaguely remember Watson telling Karen she can't spend Mother's Day with Lisa in one book because it was HIS month. These two are overgrown children who use their own kids as battle pawns in their divorce. You know what's really twisted? When I was reading that book in particular (the mother's day one) as a seven year old, it really never occurred to me that Lisa and Watson were feeling... anything. I didn't consider it from the point of view of a person who met someone, married them, reproduced with them twice, and, you know, had an entire life outside of just Karen. I just thought of things in terms of "the rules because Mommy and Daddy say so" and Lisa's pick-up of Karen in that book as "Mommy's mad because Karen's not supposed to fib
( ... )
I think she acts like a dictator brat now because she feels so little control, but because everyone around her praises her for what she does. It's not like she ever really gets in trouble or has consequences. The closest was her prank phone calls and being ordered to repay part of the bill only to win some prize money that not only covered it, but left enough for the socks she wanted. So she didn't feel any consequence.
Andrew is kind of shoved aside. He's the one with no control.
That's true. The worst part of it is how there are no consequences for her actions.
Karen for pulling off these things, her guardians and older people for rewarding them. I was trying to think of things more fairly, but then you mentioned Andrew and I realized that Karen's actions will/do have an impact on other children around her, too. So even going the "she's just a kid, she doesn't know any better" route, she should have the basic human decency to at least see how her actions affect others. Karen's Kite is the example that comes to mind in that case, and her behavior didn't sit well with me even reading it at seven.
I love your Little Sister snarks!!! I could have sworn I've never read a LS book in my life, but the synopsis of this is scarily ringing bells in my memory... the turkey, the giant pea, the double dinner. I googled it to find it was published in 1990 when I was 8 - in the thick of my BSC obsession - so it's feasible I picked this up in the school library and read it. It makes me wonder how many other Karen books I have suppressed as a painfull memory.
This book is proof that Karen is going to grow up into Regina George. And yes, I absolutely support your theory that Karen has turned into such a bratty little twit because she has such poor role models. My parents weren't exactly angels after their divorce (I had to ask both of them to stop bad-mouthing the other in front of me) but they NEVER would have pulled some shit like this. They actually did more than pay lip service to the idea that "the divorce isn't your fault."
Watson refusing to let Karen spent Mother's Day with her mother was cruel and made me go from not liking him to downright despising him. If he get's Mother's Day, which is in May, that means Lina gets Father's Day in June, and you just know Watson would make a huge fuss about how it's not fair.
I have such a strong feeling that Watson was mean to Lisa. Elizabeth is old enough to not take crap, at least in her early 40's because of course she was a "good girl" who finished high school and graduated college before getting serious and getting married and having her first son who is now 17. Lisa, on the other hand, won't be a first-time mom in her 30's or later since it just plain goes against Stoneybrook where the older the first child, the older the parents, and vice versa. Watson's pretty controlling and whiney, and Lisa has a vitriolic dislike of the guy. Coincidence? I don't think so.
It's fun imagining in ten years Lisa and Elizabeth becoming friends and bonding over what a controlling jerk he is. For some reason I imagine them laughing and gossiping over his "E. Edward Grey" complex, kinda mocking it. And of course he's so happy to see how "his girls" are smiling and getting along, never knowing the joke's on him.
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Andrew is kind of shoved aside. He's the one with no control.
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Karen for pulling off these things, her guardians and older people for rewarding them. I was trying to think of things more fairly, but then you mentioned Andrew and I realized that Karen's actions will/do have an impact on other children around her, too. So even going the "she's just a kid, she doesn't know any better" route, she should have the basic human decency to at least see how her actions affect others. Karen's Kite is the example that comes to mind in that case, and her behavior didn't sit well with me even reading it at seven.
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I could have sworn I've never read a LS book in my life, but the synopsis of this is scarily ringing bells in my memory... the turkey, the giant pea, the double dinner. I googled it to find it was published in 1990 when I was 8 - in the thick of my BSC obsession - so it's feasible I picked this up in the school library and read it. It makes me wonder how many other Karen books I have suppressed as a painfull memory.
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I have such a strong feeling that Watson was mean to Lisa. Elizabeth is old enough to not take crap, at least in her early 40's because of course she was a "good girl" who finished high school and graduated college before getting serious and getting married and having her first son who is now 17. Lisa, on the other hand, won't be a first-time mom in her 30's or later since it just plain goes against Stoneybrook where the older the first child, the older the parents, and vice versa. Watson's pretty controlling and whiney, and Lisa has a vitriolic dislike of the guy. Coincidence? I don't think so.
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