The Babysitters Club #130: Stacey’s Movie

It is once again time for Short Takes at SMS. Stacey decides that she really wants in the filmmaking class, and remembers how she and Laine once watched them filming a movie in NYC. Jessi and Abby get into courses on physiology, Kristy and Stacey get into filmmaking, Mary Anne lands in Egyptology, and Claudia takes an architecture course.

In their first class, they meet with their teacher who is a big time Oscar nominated documentarian. She randomly assigns the students into groups. Stacey ends up in a group with Pete, Erica, and Emily. Kristy winds up with Logan, Anna, and Alan. Their teacher tells them to assign each other roles and Stacey gets to be director. Then the teacher assigns them completely different roles to mix things up and Stacey becomes the screenwriter.

They decide to make a thriller, so she writes a script about a dorky girl chased by zombies in the school. They get a bunch of volunteers and start shooting. When they watch the video, it looks really bad. They watch their teacher’s documentary on girls with eating disorders, and Stacey feels bad. She has a dream that night where she sees their teacher and then sees the school.

The next day, Stacey suggests they make a documentary about teens in their school. They interview Pete first, and he talks about how he feels bored and wants to go anywhere. They interview other people and everyone seems to open up on camera. Jessi confesses that she feels more comfortable with her friends in NYC and feels like an outsider in Stoneybrook. Abby walks out on her interview after confessing that she never has any free time and feels like her mother.

Mary Anne gives an interview and seems angry. She says that she hates her mother, and claims that Sharon isn’t her mom. She feels bad later and asks them to take out her interview. Stacey brings it up to the group and they decide to use her interview anyway. Emily goes in front of the camera and refuses to answer any questions, turning it back around on Stacey. Erica does the same thing, not willing to reveal anything about her life.

Stacey does her interview and tries to stay calm. Emily keeps pushing her, until she reveals that she is still angry about her parents’ divorce. Then Emily brings up her boyfriend Ethan and claims that Stacey can’t commit because of the divorce, which is why she chose a boyfriend that lives in a different town. Erica pretends that the camera ran out of film to save her.

Stacey asks the group to remove her interview and Mary Anne’s, but they refuse. She asks her teacher about embarrassing people on camera and the teacher pretty much agrees with the group. Mary Anne stops talking to her because of it, so Stacey decides to try and make things right by doing a new interview. The group doesn’t say if they plan on using it or not, though Pete says he will try his best.

The school hosts a big showing of all the movies. The film airs with the original interviews, but shows Mary Anne’s second where she says that she loves Sharon and will always carry her real mother in her heart. At the end, they show Stacey’s interview. The film ends with Stacey claiming that people remember the things they want to, and that her original interview was more on the things she didn’t want to remember.

*I love how Stacey freaks out at Jessi’s interview. Doesn’t Jessi constantly remind people that she’s black and a minority in town?

*The only outfit description is one about Claudia. She wears a hand-painted set of short overalls with a jungle scene on them. When I think about that, I shudder a little.

*Ann’s notes at the end are out there. She talks about how they didn’t have VCRs in her day and completely segues into a discussion of her favorite movies and how she loved going to the movies as a kid.

*The B-plot is all about Kristy taking over her group. She decides to film kids doing funny things and doesn’t listen to anyone. Alan confesses in his interview that he wants to change, but no one will give him a chance. Kristy keeps taking over the project until Alan finally speaks up.

*When Stacey tells her about Alan’s interview, Kristy refuses to listen to her and hangs up the phone before she can finish.

*It’s nice to know that other people realize Kristy is kind of a bitch! I know she’s a kid, but can you imagine her as an adult?

*Kristy makes Jackie feel bad because she wants to film him. He realizes that she wants him to do something stupid, so he asks not to be in the movie. Kristy sees him get stuck in a bucket and starts filming him. Mary Anne stops her and Kristy gets mad because she doesn’t care what he wants.

*Abby and Kristy sit at the Pike house. Kristy spends the whole time filming and snaps at Abby when she points out that Kristy is not doing her job. She lets the triplets climb all over each other, even when they are about to knock over a lamp. Then she lets Claire do somersaults on the couch and Abby has to catch her before she goes over the edge.