Character Construction
Through the use of character conventions we are shown how Allison is constructed as the character that is labelled the Basket Case.
Allison has been proven hard to understand, she squeals, laughs, makes few rude comments but other wise stays to herself. The one character that seems to break through her barrier is Andrew. The first connection is when Principle Vernon sends them to go and get the drinks from the staff room together. This seems to be the first time hey properly talk. It starts off with Andrew asking
“What’s your poison”
This is the first thing that Andrew asks Allison, they lead on in the scene to talk about why they were in detention. This is where we find out that Allison just had nothing better to do then be in a 9 hour Saturday detention. This shows that Allison had nowhere else she wanted to be. Allison finds detention as somewhere that she can actually get people attention, where she finds some friends, and leaps over the barrier of her being extremely hidden.
Through the use of character conventions we are shown how Allison is constructed as the character that is labelled the Basket Case.
Allison has been proven hard to understand, she squeals, laughs, makes few rude comments but other wise stays to herself. The one character that seems to break through her barrier is Andrew. The first connection is when Principle Vernon sends them to go and get the drinks from the staff room together. This seems to be the first time hey properly talk. It starts off with Andrew asking
“What’s your poison”
This is the first thing that Andrew asks Allison, they lead on in the scene to talk about why they were in detention. This is where we find out that Allison just had nothing better to do then be in a 9 hour Saturday detention. This shows that Allison had nowhere else she wanted to be. Allison finds detention as somewhere that she can actually get people attention, where she finds some friends, and leaps over the barrier of her being extremely hidden.
As the film goes on Allison begins to open up slightly to the athlete Andrew Clark, when she empties out the contents of her purse Andrew seems shocked but realises that there must be something wrong. He leads on to ask her is anything is wrong, this results in Allison trying not to show her feeling to Andrew, not telling him the hardship she has. In the end of the scene Andrew asks,
“Is it your parents”,
Allison nods, Andrew understands this as he has problems with his parents also. From this scene Andrew and Allison have a real connection, that grows and grows as the film goes on. Allison’s parents neglect her and this leads her to wanting to run away, she starts to get a feeling of belonging, friendship and attention from the other teenagers, of which we are lead to believe she enjoys.
Allison is not afraid to be different, but does not succumb to the peer pressure of smoking marijuana, when the rest of the group are. In the scene after Allison seems to be letting out her feelings and tells the group that she is a nymphomaniac, saying this just to get something personal out of Claire, and then telling them that she was actually a compulsive liar and everything she had been saying was lies.
At the end of the movie we are shown that Allison is truly beautiful, how much she has changed by pulling her hair back and wearing some nicer clothes. She lets Claire do her make up and change her look. This change really catches Andrews eye, and in the end they end up together kissing goodbye.
It is present throughout the whole movie how much Allison changes personality and physically wise, she seems to open up a lot to the other characters and we get to see her through different eyes.
Character Response
Alison hides herself for what we believe is because she is not very emotionally stable. Having to live a life at home where her parents don’t take any notice of her is hard and she has a lot of troubles because of this. She has a lot of scenes where she lashes out with words at the rest of the teenagers, not able to control what she feels, this shows us that she finds it hard to respond to things rationally and just does what maybe she sees her parents do.
It is very present that Allison does not enjoy her home life, seeing as she would rather spend 9 hours in detention then be at home. This would have a massive effect on how she acts towards everything and one in the movie.
“Is it your parents”,
Allison nods, Andrew understands this as he has problems with his parents also. From this scene Andrew and Allison have a real connection, that grows and grows as the film goes on. Allison’s parents neglect her and this leads her to wanting to run away, she starts to get a feeling of belonging, friendship and attention from the other teenagers, of which we are lead to believe she enjoys.
Allison is not afraid to be different, but does not succumb to the peer pressure of smoking marijuana, when the rest of the group are. In the scene after Allison seems to be letting out her feelings and tells the group that she is a nymphomaniac, saying this just to get something personal out of Claire, and then telling them that she was actually a compulsive liar and everything she had been saying was lies.
At the end of the movie we are shown that Allison is truly beautiful, how much she has changed by pulling her hair back and wearing some nicer clothes. She lets Claire do her make up and change her look. This change really catches Andrews eye, and in the end they end up together kissing goodbye.
It is present throughout the whole movie how much Allison changes personality and physically wise, she seems to open up a lot to the other characters and we get to see her through different eyes.
Character Response
Alison hides herself for what we believe is because she is not very emotionally stable. Having to live a life at home where her parents don’t take any notice of her is hard and she has a lot of troubles because of this. She has a lot of scenes where she lashes out with words at the rest of the teenagers, not able to control what she feels, this shows us that she finds it hard to respond to things rationally and just does what maybe she sees her parents do.
It is very present that Allison does not enjoy her home life, seeing as she would rather spend 9 hours in detention then be at home. This would have a massive effect on how she acts towards everything and one in the movie.
In the beginning she does not know how to respond to people, she barely ever says a word. This really changes as the film goes on, we watch her grow into a better person that knows how to deal with things.
The scene that I believe really shapes her as a character is when all the characters are sitting around talking in a circle, telling each other why they are in detention and what there lives are like. Allison starts off telling everyone she is a nymphomaniac making up a story about how she sees a therapist and when she told him, he nailed her. She goes on with this for quite sometime all to get out of Claire whether she is a virgin or not. One quote from the film is quite a stand out for Allison.
“It’s kind of a double edges sword isn’t it” Allison tells Claire
“A what”
“Well if you say you haven’t, you’re a prude. If you say you have you’re a slut. It’s a trap. You want to but you can’t, and when you do you wish you didn’t, right?”
This state by Allison is very true and all the characters know this, she seems very wise and actually a little helpful when she states it. Even though she doesn’t talk much her reaction to what they were talking about lead her to a long conversation. In the end she tells the group that she’s not a nymphomaniac she’s just a compulsive liar leading the group to get quite angry at her, which she seems to enjoy.
We as viewers are lead to not fully understand Allison along with the rest of the characters, as the movie goes on she opens up and we see that really she is just quite scared and vulnerable but she starts to become stronger as the movie goes on.
The scene that I believe really shapes her as a character is when all the characters are sitting around talking in a circle, telling each other why they are in detention and what there lives are like. Allison starts off telling everyone she is a nymphomaniac making up a story about how she sees a therapist and when she told him, he nailed her. She goes on with this for quite sometime all to get out of Claire whether she is a virgin or not. One quote from the film is quite a stand out for Allison.
“It’s kind of a double edges sword isn’t it” Allison tells Claire
“A what”
“Well if you say you haven’t, you’re a prude. If you say you have you’re a slut. It’s a trap. You want to but you can’t, and when you do you wish you didn’t, right?”
This state by Allison is very true and all the characters know this, she seems very wise and actually a little helpful when she states it. Even though she doesn’t talk much her reaction to what they were talking about lead her to a long conversation. In the end she tells the group that she’s not a nymphomaniac she’s just a compulsive liar leading the group to get quite angry at her, which she seems to enjoy.
We as viewers are lead to not fully understand Allison along with the rest of the characters, as the movie goes on she opens up and we see that really she is just quite scared and vulnerable but she starts to become stronger as the movie goes on.