I like that Diane Lane, the actress who plays Cherry in the movie sees Cherry as flawed. She says of her that she stands up to bullies but allows herself to be claimed by the meanest of all. That she is defined by the toxic socio- economical limitations of of her class and gender, and yet she carves out a little niche of her own and maybe even getting a little rush of adrenaline by playing messenger and spy for the testosterone-driven pecking order of her narrow teenage experience. What drives Cherry? Is she only virtue-signaling? She doesn't seem to be an inherently a bad person. She is limited by her own experiences and perceptions. She steps up to the line. But she doesn't cross it.

Cherrycola au where they’re dating secretly during the events of the book, so when she meets Ponyboy at the drive-in and he starts talking about Soda, she’s giggling and kicking her feet on the inside the entire time.