Pants = Love?

It was a strange fascination. I saw half of the movie trailer and saw the books in a book store, but even though I was interested, I was not going to read them. This really isn't my style, but I decided to give it a chance because I was buying kids books at my local Salvation Army and they were selling the first two books for 25 cents each. Who am I to turn down an offer like that? Even if I am mildly ashamed.

Okay, so I enjoyed reading them. That's not to say that I enjoyed everything about them, because I really didn't. But I'd like to throw my two cents in about the books and about the movie (which I watched for the first time yesterday).

Talking about the Books
I really enjoyed the first book. Part way through the second book I was about to blow my top about how bratty all the girls were being and then I clued in - this is about the girls and their relationships with their mothers (I especially enjoyed Bridget's plot line). The third book was also quite good. I really liked it. I read the last book over the Christmas holiday and I was pretty choked about the way a few of the things turned out.

My main complaint is that the author often has the girls get with guys they have pretty much spent no time with. Most of the guys in her books barely have time to put their clothes back on before they're out the door. My biggest complaint would be the plot line with Lena and Kostos. For the amount of time they spent together in the books, I can't believe how much they laboured over it. I was like, "You hardly know him. Plenty of good fish in the sea. Why are you bothering?"

In the end, I really hated the plot line with Lena the most. Don't get the wrong idea about me though - it doesn't have anything to do with the nude painting. I know lots of people who have done that kind of art and I don't think it's at all indecent. To me, it's very similar to being a doctor or a nurse. You're not thinking of the person as a piece of meat - you're thinking of them as work. It's that she let that translate into casual sex that made me feel ill. Would you really take the chance of getting pregnant just because you were curious? I liked Tibby's reaction better because she had a much better idea of what she was doing.

Talking About the Movie
I don't know if a movie is meant to tackle this many plot lines at once. I think the medium is just wrong for this. It jumped around so much without having the four plot lines converge much - which is fine for a book - you can take your time - but I think it makes a confusing watch for a movie. You only get to spend 5 - 10 minutes with each girl before you've got to move onto the next one, and then it's like 30 minutes before you get back to the one you started with.

I also asked one of my friends if they had seen it and she told me it was very much like 'The Baby Sitter's Club'. I was pretty disgusted to discover that she was right, because the books weren't at all like that. I'm not saying they were as deep as the ocean, but they were definitely insightful. The parts that should have been deep - like the part where Bailey dies (totally heart breaking in the book) was essentially skipped over, and Bridget? The whole point of Bridget's plot line was GONE. In the books, Bridget was not healed until the end of book 2 and even after that she has definitely learned her lesson. In the movie, the act like her problems can all be fixed with a slumber party ... u-huh.

Lena's story line was completely different in the first book - and frankly - a lot funnier and a lot more meaningful.

Carmen's story line was good. I can't think of one thing that was wrong with it - perfectly fine.

I think the way to improve this movie would have been to remove Bridget's storyline completely, even though hers is my favourite throughout all four books.

I guess on the whole they weren't all that bad. Just as a side note about book four - I was really glad that not all the girls had romantic problems in the last book. I was pleased that Carmen didn't. Not everyone has romantic problems even when they're young.