In Defense of Kristy Thomas
Sep. 6th, 2012 05:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impy There's a post over on the bsc comm that is basically someone venting the numerous reasons they hate Kristy Thomas. You might recall her as the president of the BSC. You might not. We will assume you do, but if not you can totally fake it out along with the rest of us.
Kristy was never my favorite character growing up. She was outspoken and sporty. She also had a habit of creating situations that would mean my secondhand embarrassment meter would be forced to kick in at any moment. Thing is, Kristy is one of the two characters to suffer the most under the rule of the ghostwriters. (Dawn would be the other, if you wondered.) This means my more grown up self feels the need to look deeper than my childish self did most of the time. Curse you, maturity!
She began the series as the girl most likely to say it before thinking it through but also the girl who would meticulously (for a twelve/thirteen year old) plan out her big idea before even sharing it with her best friend. She was unapologetically a tomboy who also looked forward to a one-off occasion to wear something dressy since it was a special occasion. She had to learn and relearn that just because someone's actions hurt you, it doesn't give you the right to hurt them in return, even if it's unintentional. She strives to learn to better control her mouth while still retaining that honest quality that is truly rare in reality. (If you ask Kristy if that dress makes your butt look big, she's going to tell you the truth one way or another, k?)
And that's all before you get to the sympathy card that is played and overplayed throughout the series. When we meet her, Kristy's just managed to find her footing in her personal life after her father abandoned her family, causing her mother to have to go back to work full time, which caused the older kids in the family to have to step up and lose a bit of their childhood in an effort to keep David Michael's childhood as intact as possible.
Then her mother goes and throws her world into upheaval with her agreeing to marry Watson Brewer, a man Kristy barely knows (by choice and also, if you count The Summer Before, because Watson/Elizabeth haven't been dating all that long). Kristy's not stupid and she knows that millionaire Watson's mansion is far more likely as their home than their small house on Bradford Court, so she'll be leaving behind the house she grew up in. She'll be leaving her best friend and by the time Kristy DOES move, she's started to lose her best friend to another girl (whether you choose to read more into that than originally intended, it still sucks when you feel replaced in someone else's life) who has things Kristy herself would dearly love. (Namely, Dawn's father actually wants her around.)
So they're shuffled off to a new neighborhood where Kristy feels completely out of place and isn't exactly welcomed with open arms. To be fair, she reacts in a fairly normal way in that she's not thrilled at the move or the prospect of meeting new people so far out of her comfort zone, so she rejects them before they can reject her. But! But she learns not to do that! Growth, people!
And then her dog dies. Which, with the time warp, happens the same year that most of the rest of the events of the series happens. Losing a pet at that age, especially one who meant so much to Kristy is traumatic. Hell, it's traumatic at any age.
So yeah, she goes into a bit of a hyper-controlling tailspin. But it makes sense, given how much her life has been changed without her having a say in much of any of it. I gather some of the other sitters feel the same way as they're forever mentioning the changes in the oft-skipped chapter 2s of the series.
Still, she attempts to correct the super bossy behavior when called on it. It's fairly believable that someone with bossy tendencies coupled with the extreme changes going on behind the scenes would have to be reminded not to overstep her bounds every so often. She's still a kid and if adults have to be reminded, I really think a thirteen year old girl is allowed to be cut some slack.
But then... things shift, and for the life of me I can't figure out where the dividing line is. I want to say it's before Dawn leaves the 'Brook permanently but that might just be my line for where the BSC ended for my actual enjoyment of the series in any form. (Sorry, Abbers.) If you've got a suggestion, I'm all ears.
Kristy goes from being very structured in how the BSC is run to being tyrannical. What starts as a bit of a joke is then turned into Very Serious Business. (The Look, guys. The LOOK.) She's obsessive about the club and possibly it's Stacey's first defection from the group that sets things off for Kristy.
Again, she's not stupid; everyone else in the club is interested in dating to one degree or another, and if Stacey's going to dump them all for new friends (and she does before even quitting/getting fired) it's not hard to imagine that many of the others would as well. Kristy's left holding on to what little bit of control she feels she has, only since it's never presented as this in the books themselves, she tends to come across as insane. (See: Abby's takeover and the breakup of theband club)
I'm a little torn on the whole overly inclusive of the kids thing. I think Kristy genuinely likes children and likes to organize events for them. The 'Brook doesn't seem to have a shitton of things for kids to do, and these kids are frequently left in the care of people they aren't related to... so maybe they do need some consistency in the form of Kristy's scheme of the month. Some kids probably don't really care all that much, but others seem to enjoy the various fairs, parades, and other things cooked up for them by the club.
I'm going to see this as less of a "Kristy's obsessed with small children! Weirdo!" and more of a Kristy's a kid friendly type who occasionally needs to be brought back to reality.
Anyway, Kristy's negative traits were amplified to such a degree that it was very hard to find her likable when certain ghosties were at the helm. Especially when her positive traits were pretty much obliterated by the loss of subtlety in the writing. When everything seemed to switch to "Kristy is bossy and sporty! Claudia can't spell and likes art! Stacey is mathematically inclined in a Sophisticated way! Dawn is an eco-terrorist in training!" stereotypes, Kristy got shafted.
She's more than the later books allow her to be and I think you're cheating yourself if you judge her solely on her missteps rather than the whole picture.
Btw, I'm not even going to start on the general fandom's characterization of Kristy. It's about as fabulous as the ghostwriter's depiction of her after Kristy's Worst Idea. Which is to say do not want. Also, her sporty side is mostly ignored in this because I don't care all that much.
Tomorrow we finally share something we love. I'd originally planned on that being today's post, but photobucket was finally up (woo!) and then I got bitten by the desire to defend Kristy. Go figure.
Kristy was never my favorite character growing up. She was outspoken and sporty. She also had a habit of creating situations that would mean my secondhand embarrassment meter would be forced to kick in at any moment. Thing is, Kristy is one of the two characters to suffer the most under the rule of the ghostwriters. (Dawn would be the other, if you wondered.) This means my more grown up self feels the need to look deeper than my childish self did most of the time. Curse you, maturity!
She began the series as the girl most likely to say it before thinking it through but also the girl who would meticulously (for a twelve/thirteen year old) plan out her big idea before even sharing it with her best friend. She was unapologetically a tomboy who also looked forward to a one-off occasion to wear something dressy since it was a special occasion. She had to learn and relearn that just because someone's actions hurt you, it doesn't give you the right to hurt them in return, even if it's unintentional. She strives to learn to better control her mouth while still retaining that honest quality that is truly rare in reality. (If you ask Kristy if that dress makes your butt look big, she's going to tell you the truth one way or another, k?)
And that's all before you get to the sympathy card that is played and overplayed throughout the series. When we meet her, Kristy's just managed to find her footing in her personal life after her father abandoned her family, causing her mother to have to go back to work full time, which caused the older kids in the family to have to step up and lose a bit of their childhood in an effort to keep David Michael's childhood as intact as possible.
Then her mother goes and throws her world into upheaval with her agreeing to marry Watson Brewer, a man Kristy barely knows (by choice and also, if you count The Summer Before, because Watson/Elizabeth haven't been dating all that long). Kristy's not stupid and she knows that millionaire Watson's mansion is far more likely as their home than their small house on Bradford Court, so she'll be leaving behind the house she grew up in. She'll be leaving her best friend and by the time Kristy DOES move, she's started to lose her best friend to another girl (whether you choose to read more into that than originally intended, it still sucks when you feel replaced in someone else's life) who has things Kristy herself would dearly love. (Namely, Dawn's father actually wants her around.)
So they're shuffled off to a new neighborhood where Kristy feels completely out of place and isn't exactly welcomed with open arms. To be fair, she reacts in a fairly normal way in that she's not thrilled at the move or the prospect of meeting new people so far out of her comfort zone, so she rejects them before they can reject her. But! But she learns not to do that! Growth, people!
And then her dog dies. Which, with the time warp, happens the same year that most of the rest of the events of the series happens. Losing a pet at that age, especially one who meant so much to Kristy is traumatic. Hell, it's traumatic at any age.
So yeah, she goes into a bit of a hyper-controlling tailspin. But it makes sense, given how much her life has been changed without her having a say in much of any of it. I gather some of the other sitters feel the same way as they're forever mentioning the changes in the oft-skipped chapter 2s of the series.
Still, she attempts to correct the super bossy behavior when called on it. It's fairly believable that someone with bossy tendencies coupled with the extreme changes going on behind the scenes would have to be reminded not to overstep her bounds every so often. She's still a kid and if adults have to be reminded, I really think a thirteen year old girl is allowed to be cut some slack.
But then... things shift, and for the life of me I can't figure out where the dividing line is. I want to say it's before Dawn leaves the 'Brook permanently but that might just be my line for where the BSC ended for my actual enjoyment of the series in any form. (Sorry, Abbers.) If you've got a suggestion, I'm all ears.
Kristy goes from being very structured in how the BSC is run to being tyrannical. What starts as a bit of a joke is then turned into Very Serious Business. (The Look, guys. The LOOK.) She's obsessive about the club and possibly it's Stacey's first defection from the group that sets things off for Kristy.
Again, she's not stupid; everyone else in the club is interested in dating to one degree or another, and if Stacey's going to dump them all for new friends (and she does before even quitting/getting fired) it's not hard to imagine that many of the others would as well. Kristy's left holding on to what little bit of control she feels she has, only since it's never presented as this in the books themselves, she tends to come across as insane. (See: Abby's takeover and the breakup of the
I'm a little torn on the whole overly inclusive of the kids thing. I think Kristy genuinely likes children and likes to organize events for them. The 'Brook doesn't seem to have a shitton of things for kids to do, and these kids are frequently left in the care of people they aren't related to... so maybe they do need some consistency in the form of Kristy's scheme of the month. Some kids probably don't really care all that much, but others seem to enjoy the various fairs, parades, and other things cooked up for them by the club.
I'm going to see this as less of a "Kristy's obsessed with small children! Weirdo!" and more of a Kristy's a kid friendly type who occasionally needs to be brought back to reality.
Anyway, Kristy's negative traits were amplified to such a degree that it was very hard to find her likable when certain ghosties were at the helm. Especially when her positive traits were pretty much obliterated by the loss of subtlety in the writing. When everything seemed to switch to "Kristy is bossy and sporty! Claudia can't spell and likes art! Stacey is mathematically inclined in a Sophisticated way! Dawn is an eco-terrorist in training!" stereotypes, Kristy got shafted.
She's more than the later books allow her to be and I think you're cheating yourself if you judge her solely on her missteps rather than the whole picture.
Btw, I'm not even going to start on the general fandom's characterization of Kristy. It's about as fabulous as the ghostwriter's depiction of her after Kristy's Worst Idea. Which is to say do not want. Also, her sporty side is mostly ignored in this because I don't care all that much.
Tomorrow we finally share something we love. I'd originally planned on that being today's post, but photobucket was finally up (woo!) and then I got bitten by the desire to defend Kristy. Go figure.