The Baby-sitters Club

Yeah, the BSC in general does not react well to change. Anytime someone wants to change her appearance or make a friend outside the club, the others close ranks. I had forgotten that they were judgy to Dawn in that book because I think I only read it once. The height of my BSC fandom was years before I hit my own boy-crazy stage, so most of the "club member has a crush!" books bored me. Except Stacey's Lie, when she's so obsessed with Robert that she lies to her father AND to Claudia and gets into fights with both of them. That one was hilarious.

They DID judge everyone didn't they? I remember Stacy quit for a while because she couldn't handle it but then her new friends turned out to be "bad" and stuck alcohol into a U4ME concert or whatever. I remember they were also weird about Claudia's seventh grade friends when she got sent back. And to Jessi's dance friends when she went to New York for that summer program.

Dawn was my favorite but reading it back she was kind of awful. I was also OBSESSED with the Babysitters Club movie, and she was my favorite in that but they pretty much redid her personality and made her way more likable, plus she had that adorable thing with Alan Gray. And was played by Larissa Oleynik whom I adored.

Speaking of the movie can we discuss how I am STILL creeped out by Luka and Stacy a good 15 years later? That scene at the end where she is like I'LL BE 14 IN A YEAR. Yes and HE WILL BE 18 STOP THIS NOW. And that scene where Peter Horton as Kristy's dad picks her up and everyone is like KRISTY HAS A BOYFRIEND? Even though he is clearly over 40 and they should be telling an adult if that is the case.

Also I saw the guy who played Logan on an episode of ER that same year where he got his sister pregnant.

I remember thinking when I saw the movie how absolutely stupid everyone was to think Kristy's dad was her boyfriend.

Was the reason why they were so bitchy about club members finding new friends or getting a new hobby due to the fact they didn't like how it took away from babysitting? Mary Anne was lucky Logan babysat too otherwise he wouldn't have gotten the club's approval.

Also, I remember a book where the club decided to turn down new clients because they were neo-Nazis or Aryanists (if that's a word) and only wanted Stacey and Dawn, the blue-eyed blondes, to babysit.

There were neo-Nazis in one of the books? That sounds like super heavy material for something as fluffy as the BSC.

Man, I want to find and watch the movie now that you've brought it up, big chicken. When I saw the actress playing Movie!Stacy in a few episodes of ABC's What About Brian a few years ago, I got all nostalgic. I thought she was rather ideal, looks-wise, for Stacy. Rachel Leigh Cook was adorable as Mary Ann if I recall correctly.

Oh yeah, they told Jessi they didn't need a babysitter. That was dark.

Also I saw the guy who played Logan on an episode of ER that same year where he got his sister pregnant.

I remember that ER storyline - the nurses at the desk were gossiping about it and their dad heard when he came in to pick them up. And he's the guy from My Girl 2!

Thank you! I knew there was some other movie from my childhood that he'd been in, but I couldn't remember which one!

Kiran wrote:Oh yeah, they told Jessi they didn't need a babysitter. That was dark.

That's right! They didn't want Claudia either, and I think they also turned down Mallory because having so many siblings meant her family must be Catholic. And they wouldn't let their kids sing songs from Fiddler on the Roof because...the characters are Jewish, I guess? Kristy talked to Watson and Nannie about it and they gave her permission to tell the racist family to go screw.

That was Keep Out, Claudia! I read a snarky commentary somewhere on the book that said, "Ann M. hates Jessi so much that she gave the Very Special Racism book to Claud," and I almost died laughing.

VodouDoll wrote:

Kiran wrote:Oh yeah, they told Jessi they didn't need a babysitter. That was dark.

That's right! They didn't want Claudia either, and I think they also turned down Mallory because having so many siblings meant her family must be Catholic. And they wouldn't let their kids sing songs from Fiddler on the Roof because...the characters are Jewish, I guess? Kristy talked to Watson and Nannie about it and they gave her permission to tell the racist family to go screw.

And they didn't want Dawn or Stacy because their parents were divorced. Man, I don't think those people really needed a baby sitter that badly.

They never flat-out rejected Dawn or Stacey. Kristy just theorized that the Lowells (yes, I remember the family's name) wouldn't want babysitters of divorced parents for their kids.

That book is so ridiculous. It's one of my favorites. At the time I read it, I was still scandalized by any evidence of racism I found, because I was in my naive youth where I believed most people weren't prejudiced. Now, it makes me laugh. The sitters are SO SHOCKED at this racist family, even after they take time out of every single book to talk about how mean Stoneybrook was to the Ramseys when they first moved in (but THEY don't care that Jessi is black).

It's stuff like this that reminds me that I am probably significantly older than most of BuzzFeed's staff, because every single outfit on those covers is like a perfect time capsule of 1986 - 1995. EVERYONE wore those clothes. Socks over your skinny pegged pants WAS A THING! Randomly baggy clothing WAS A THING! Damn kids, get off my lawn, probably can't remember anything before Delia's chokers and Steve Madden platforms, etc etc etc.