Wow. Becky’s plotline this week turned very quickly from
lighthearted to serious, and without involving a 40 year old perv! Good job,
Degrassi. Seriously, I am super appalled by what Becky’s mom said to her: “Sticking
together means you have to stand up for Luke at his trial. The family can count
on you for that, right?” This was sickening, but at the same it showed that
Realm of Doom really is more than a game to Becky. It is an escape from her
jacked up family life. So I appreciated the writer’s ability to show how Becky’s
use of the internet ties into these really heavy issues, without repeating a
storyline that’s already been done in Mother and Child reunion (which, in my
opinion, would have begun to perpetuated a stereotype that ALL guys who use the
internet are actually, in the words of Imogen, basement trolls).
So anyway, Mrs. Baker is despicable and disgusting. She gave Becky a taste of what it would feel like to be loved and wanted in the family, only to dangle it over her like a dog trainer holding out a treat. “Wait, Becky! You thought I was going to give you the treat? Nope, just a sniff. Sit pretty and you’ll get the whole thing.” Barf. How can a mother treat her child this way? I even understand that the Bakers must be completely overburdened by legal bills (especially considering the fact that they will be going against the Rivas’, who must be billionaires with contacts to top lawyers), and I feel for Mr. and Mrs. Baker, who are probably worried about their sons future and don’t want a permanent record to destroy his future before it’s even begun, but man. Mrs. Baker was just so COLD. I would expect her to at least demonstrate that she’s having some internal conflict about which child to support, especially since she has to know that it was actually Becky who DID THE RIGHT THING by turning in Luke. But no. It’s like she sided with Luke without even giving Becky a second thought, and without considering what sort of moral lesson she would convey to her children by helping Luke deny a crime in order to avoid the consequences. Honestly, right now, she’s acting like she doesn’t love Becky at all, and by trying to help Luke get away with rape, she’s probably hurting him more than helping him too. Skeezball.
At least Becky is trying to do the right thing, is still
talking about Jesus, and is torn about what to do next. I would be upset with
Degrassi’s portrayal of Christians, except that I really can’t be, with Becky
on the show. The sad truth is that many Christians, just like everyone else, do
make poor decisions and act in a cruel or loveless way. And who knows, maybe Mr.
and Mrs. Baker are Christians only in name. It would be unrealistic of Degrassi
to put only “perfect” Christians on the show, as Christians are imperfect
people in need of a savior, but I’m glad that they have Becky here to balance
the negative image. Becky has been through some truly horrible times and has
had her faith tested, but she’s obviously relied on Jesus to get through a lot
of it. I think it’s pretty evident that she’s been looking to God to give her a
loving and forgiving spirit despite all the hard times, and to do the morally
right thing even when it’s not the easy thing to do. I hope she continues to
stand up for what she knows is right, and I think she will.
Hunter, though. Who called this last week!?! Okay, so I only
got about 75% of the way there, but I even commented that it was odd for Hunter
to be in the credits when we couldn’t see him in the episode at all. Now I
realize we couldn’t SEE him because we could only HEAR him playing Sir
Excellence! And I was just wishing that he would soon have a bigger role. I
really want Hunter to stay around as a main character. First of all, I feel
like there aren’t many niners this year. Zoe and Maya and all them are in grade
ten now, and we have Frankie, but it’s good to have more characters who we can
follow for all four years. Secondly, Hunter looks really young to me, which is
good because it’s realistic. Miles looks like a kid too, but Hunter looks more
than a year younger, in my opinion. I was just watching a clip from the old
Degrassi: The Next Generation (meaning a clip with Manny and Emma) and I was
like, wow, everyone looks so young. Maybe it’s just because I know what those
character look like when they’re older, but I feel like they looked even
younger in their early Degrassi days than today’s ninth and tenth graders. It’s
not like Degrassi is having thirty-somethings play high schoolers in the spirit
of Dawson’s Creek, but I don’t want it to start slipping in that direction, so
I’m thankful for Hunter who looks to be literally fresh out of eighth grade. And
thirdly, I’m grateful for Hunter because he’s just so different. He’s nerdy
without being icky and ugly. He has some serious interests that aren’t all
about partying and/or preppy school activities. The first thing we ever heard
about Hunter was when Frankie told Zoe, “He was born on the dork side of the
womb.” It seems like his character has been developed very intentionally and he’s
already an interesting person (who we know quite a bit about) even though he’s
only made a few appearances.
I wish Becky and Hunter would have actually gotten together!
Logically, I know it might a bad time for Becky to start a new relationship, as
she just has so much going on in her life and wouldn’t want to cling to some
guy instead of dealing with her problems. Also, they don’t seem interested in
each other in real life at all lol. Hunter made his lack of a real-life
relationship especially clear with his “[it’s over now] because you have to go
and be a real girl. Everything’s better when it stays online!” comment. And
also with, “You want to live irl, you go ahead, n00b. Oh, and if you tell
anyone about what we did in the Meadow of Zorath, I will find you, and I will
turn you into a troll.” (By the way, Imogen’s facial expressions during this conversation
were priceless). It’s like, mentally I understand that if Hunter wanted Becky
to be his girlfriend, he probably would have approached her about it before,
because he knew who she was all along. BUT…
In my heart, I want them to be together so bad. I’m just
making up excuses, like maybe Hunter was just mad at Becky for ditching him and
maybe he was too shy to approach her before that. Maybe he was afraid of
real-life rejection. They just have so much in common! Why did Becky have to be
such a n00b and get all weirded out by the niner concept? That whole “I wanted
to keep my real life separate from my Realm of Doom life” thing was obviously
made-up, because prior to knowing that Sir Excellence was a niner, she was
swooning. Who says Becky and Hunter couldn’t have worked? Maybe they could have
supported each other in a legitimate, healthy way, and traded gold and water-walking
boots while they were at it. It’s only a three year difference. It’s a little taboo
for a twelfth grader to date a ninth grader, but it’s not unheard of. It didn’t
stop Drew from dating Zoe! Okay, so people had something to say about Drew/Zoe,
but I think people have more to say about it when the girl is older, and that’s
sexist. I mean, maybe the age thing is a legitimate concern if Becky is going
off to college next year (she probably is) and just knows that a relationship
with a high schooler wouldn’t last if they were apart from each other all those
years (and it probably wouldn’t). But that’s obviously not what Becky was
thinking about. She was just like, “Eww, a niner, ohmygosh.” Sigh. Maybe their
stars will cross again, when they are 32 and 35 and when age doesn’t matter so much.
#bakersworth
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