So, spoiler alert, Simon (played by David Gallagher) is caught giving a double middle finger to his friends after school has been let out for the day.
Even back in 99-2000 this episode is reaching a bit to make such a big deal of a boy or girl in junior high giving the "middle finger " gesture to their peers.
At this point in the show I find the crimes and punishments to be so far fetched and almost Puritan like...these people were living in 1995-2000. It seems that the writers/show runners are considering a minor gesture to be a huge blow against humanity (a double middle finger gesture??) I believe that they're reaching for moral fodder to write their story lines about.
I find it almost cult like. Meaning the show runners are trying to show that one cannot express any negative emotions, aside from making a peaceful stance on what one believes...in Jr. High, how many kids do you know that faught without hurtful words or more?
And with Mary's story line (played by Jessica Beal), the girls basketball team DID find themselves victims of a double standard.
The boys basketball team was able to keep playing with a C- average but, the girl's coach told the players that they needed to bring up their grades in order to play but, didn't require any notification to the parents before closing shop??
I'm guessing that in that day and age things like this were ok. But, if the girl players were not feeling heard and did not have a voice along with the boys team being able to continue to play at lower standards scholasticly...how else would you expect the girls to retaliate?? I know it's not real life but, how else could the girls be heard??
They were set up, plain and simple to have something like this to happen.
The parents and school are both to blame for the vandalism as well as the girls that did it.
The lessons they are trying to teach are good but, a little out of date and one sided.
Even back in 99-2000 this episode is reaching a bit to make such a big deal of a boy or girl in junior high giving the "middle finger " gesture to their peers.
At this point in the show I find the crimes and punishments to be so far fetched and almost Puritan like...these people were living in 1995-2000. It seems that the writers/show runners are considering a minor gesture to be a huge blow against humanity (a double middle finger gesture??) I believe that they're reaching for moral fodder to write their story lines about.
I find it almost cult like. Meaning the show runners are trying to show that one cannot express any negative emotions, aside from making a peaceful stance on what one believes...in Jr. High, how many kids do you know that faught without hurtful words or more?
And with Mary's story line (played by Jessica Beal), the girls basketball team DID find themselves victims of a double standard.
The boys basketball team was able to keep playing with a C- average but, the girl's coach told the players that they needed to bring up their grades in order to play but, didn't require any notification to the parents before closing shop??
I'm guessing that in that day and age things like this were ok. But, if the girl players were not feeling heard and did not have a voice along with the boys team being able to continue to play at lower standards scholasticly...how else would you expect the girls to retaliate?? I know it's not real life but, how else could the girls be heard??
They were set up, plain and simple to have something like this to happen.
The parents and school are both to blame for the vandalism as well as the girls that did it.
The lessons they are trying to teach are good but, a little out of date and one sided.
