#different sides

I’m saying this now, none of the characters were good people at all. The Plastics were bullies pure and simple. Cady was a jealous/lovesick girl who didn’t know how to interact with her social peers on account of being homeschooled by scientists with no interaction with others of her age group. Janis was a revenge seeker who hated the Plastics and Damian was really just a side character.

There was one set of scenes that really hit me. When Cady was slipping Regina the “Swedish nutrition bars” under the guise that she would lose weight but in reality it made her gain weight.

Regina most likely prided herself on her beauty and saw that as the only thing that kept her at the top of the social pyramid. That sort of reliance, one in which you believe that your value is solely determined by your physical appearance, creates a very unhealthy relationship with your body. And her mother didn’t help with her obsession with staying youthful and cool, so she did everything including plastic surgery and refusing to set boundaries to stay that way. We saw part of the fallout from the bars in the dress scene and that just made me continue thinking.

Regina almost definitely struggles with body image issues and possibly more depending on how far down the rabbit hole you dare to go. So look at this from Regina’s POV, she’s the queen of school, has the jock boyfriend and an exclusive clique that everyone wishes to be in. She’s getting ready from prom only to be told that she has moved up multiple dress sizes in mere months, about 3 if I have the timeline right, despite eating “weight loss” bars.

As someone who packed on about 20 pounds of muscle(not fat) in about 6 months through walking everywhere, horseback riding, and working in a restaurant(you get in shape quick at a restaurant from running orders and food or you get fired for not being productive enough) while retaining my general body shape, it still took a toll on my mind when I realized how much I gained because I’ve been bombarded with the idea that as an AFAB I need to remain under a certain weight to be considered “attractive” to society. This was definitely prevalent in 2004 which is when the movie is set.

So if Regina gained fat which changed her body shape, she probably had more of a reaction than just blaming Cady for the Burn Book. She probably had some self-loathing/self-hatred, disgust, anger, sadness and more all wrapped up in a tight ball under her rib cage. Especially when it sank in that one of the only people that she considered close to her level (she was at the top of the pyramid and only interacted with maybe 3-4 students on the regular) was the one that did this to her. So let’s add in betrayal and regret to the ball, along with some desire for revenge and probably should some disappointment in herself for ever trusting Cady in the first place.

Slightly long!

For context: In Austria right now so everything in this story was in German.

I was buying some flowers for a birthday present today. I wanted red and pink roses, ‘cause that’s nice, right? I think, “Okay, I’ll get five and five.” —Mind you, I’m ordering in German, so sometimes things get lost in translation or I mess something up.— And the guy says, “Ten?” I say, “Yes, please.” He is really nice and I say how this is for a nice old lady, and he says, “Well then the wrapping is free. And here is a nice extra flower for a nice young lady.” And gives me an extra flower. Things are going great! Then I realize that the bouquet is TWENTY flowers. As of now, I’m too shy to say that I only wanted ten so I just buy them and wish him a nice evening.

I continue on with my night, and head to the bus stop to go home. I sit down and there is a lady on her phone, let’s call her Clara ‘cause I don’t know her name. Clara is playing on her phone and so I don’t want to bother her by talking. Another lady sits down on the other side of Clara and looks at my bouquet interestedly and I say, “It was an accident, I bought too many.” Then l strike up conversation because I’m a talker. I offer them a flower because I think, “If I make a mistake, I can hopefully make some other people happy.” They politely decline, slightly confused that I just want to give them without wanting anything or having any specific motive except wanting to give (I told them that it makes me happy when I can make other people happy). I keep talking to Clara as we got on the bus and it was a really nice fifteen minute conversation. As she gets off the bus I insist she take a flower, and she does! Yay!

Now during this time, another older looking, dark haired lady was just smiling and slightly laughing while overhearing my conversation with Clara. I’m two stops away from where I get off and I move to pick up my back pack. The lady asks if she needs to push the button for me and I say, “No, I have the next one.” She smiles and I say thank you. I then ask if she wants a flower. She says, “But we don’t know each other! That would not make sense!” I say, “It doesn’t matter, this is just American sharing!” (Yes, I’m American. Please don’t hold it against me.) And she smiles and points at a flower. These flowers are wrapped together and tightly packed so I pull on the pink flower and it’s a few seconds away from my stop. The lady goes, “If it is too much of a problem, you don’t have to do it.” I say that it is no problem. I never take back what I offer. In the last few seconds the flower comes free and I hand it to the lady. She just beams at me and says thank you.

This made made my day and I hope it made these people’s as well. And yours, too!

We find ourselves on different sides

Of a line nobody drew

Though it all may be one in the higher eye

Down here where we live it is two

I to my side call the meek and the mild

You to your side call the Word

By virtue of suffering I claim to have won

You claim to have never been heard

Both of us say there are laws to obey

But frankly I don’t like your tone

You want to change the way I make love

To those who are introduced to me, I am a character which is shy but friendly. I may seem like I want to run away from the interaction, but it’s not your fault.

To those who know me, I am both. There are instances where I will stay within my boundaries until you approach me. I am then friendly, a little bit shy, but will offer up a mutual conversation until one of us is tired. I’ll give you gifts to show my gratitude for your friendship.

Seda Tutkhalyan’s Different Sides