Angel Eyes
I am going to be honest with you Dear Reader, this specific post has not been an easy one to write. I have been struggling with all the different thoughts and ideas that I could write about and it has kept me from finally sitting down and writing it.
As I said in my bio, I too am a hopeless romantic. That means that we love the concept of love and will always root for it no matter what. In my opinion, this also means that I am a firm believer of young love. Love comes in all shapes and sizes and I am not going to tell a middle schooler that they are not in love because they are “too young.” You can guide love in a healthy way, but shutting down a human for feeling love is not the way to go.
Ok, as I get off my soap box, I will begin to tell you about one of my favorite movies. This movie will never get old in my eyes, because it tells the perfect story of the struggles of young love and how it can be such a rollercoaster of emotions. This movie is called Flipped.
Dear Reader, I suggest if you have not seen this movie or at least read the book then stop reading and go do so. If you ignore the warning and keep reading, I will have to disclose that this will have major spoilers. I also encourage you to not look up a trailer for the movie, in my opinion the trailer does NOT give the movie justice.
Our main characters are Juli Baker and Bryce Loski. Bryce was the new kid in town and Juli was the neighbor girl across the street. When they first meet, Juli was trying to help them move into their house but Bryce’s dad was not too keen on having her help so he sent Bryce inside to get her to go away, but that didn’t stop Juli. She ran after him to try to see if he wanted to play, when their arms got tangled and they ended up holding hands. This made Bryce get all weird because he was holding a girl’s hand, and it made Juli’s heart flip. Thus, begins the rocky road of love.
Juli Baker lives in a creative household with her mom, dad, and two brothers Matt and Mark. Her dad is an artist, her mother is a baker, and her brothers are in a band and record music. Her parents are in a happy marriage with a couple bumps along the way, but all in all she has a solid and supportive family. Her dad is her biggest inspiration both with his paintings and with his kind words. Juli is content with what she has and when she puts her mind to something, she is willing to take a stand.
Bryce on the other hand is different. Most people would watch the movie for the first time and say that Bryce Loski is a jerk and doesn’t deserve to be redeemed. I strongly disagree. Bryce grew up in a house that was not as loving as the Baker family. He lives with his mom, dad, and sister Lynetta. His dad is a semi alcoholic and his mom is a doormat. I hate to say that but it is true his mom never really stands up for herself and when she tries to tell her husband that he is being rude Mr. Loski either claims it was a joke or gets defensive and angry. Lynetta does not have too big of a part but she is the more rebellious child of the family. Bryce, in the beginning of the movie is only mirroring his father’s attitude because that is all he knows, but as he is doing it he feels that something is wrong. It is not until his grandfather, Chet, comes to live with them does Bryce begin to have a better role model in his life.
In the beginning Juli is head over heels for the boy next door and he wants nothing to do with her. She tries to reach out to Bryce and even invites him to sit up on her favorite sycamore tree with her. For years Bryce declines because he is too afraid of getting made fun of by his school mates. Juli is the type of girl who does not care about what people think, and sitting up in the sycamore tree to watch the sun rise and set was her favorite part of the day, until one day the owner of the tree paid to get it cut down. Juli refused to come out of the tree and begged Bryce and her fellow classmates to come into the tree to save it, but Bryce walked away and followed is classmates on the bus. This broke Juli’s heart and she began to rethink her feelings for Bryce.
Bryce was still against being around Juli, but when her tree was cut down and she never showed up at the bus stop he began to “miss her” in a way. When his grandfather asked about her Bryce called her stubborn and annoying, but his grandfather saw spirit and drive. In fact, Chet went over to help Juli spruce up her front yard although Juli did not need his help. Chet told her that she reminded him of his wife, Rene, and that he wanted to get to know her better.
When talking with Chet and her dad they told Juli about life and looking at the whole landscape and judging it by the sum of its parts. Juli started to open her eyes and see the world in a new light to see if people were less or more than the sum of their parts. Sadly, as time went on Juli started to see Bryce as less than the sum of his parts. Which makes sense because when you see the movie you will understand why.
My main point in writing this post though is to explain why I love Bryce Loski and his character arch. As I said before, most people who watch the movie once tend to not like Bryce because he is rude. But you must look at his role models a.k.a. his father. When Bryce spends more time talking with his grandfather, he learns about the beauty in people and how certain people are rare and incomparable once you find the right one. At first, Bryce has no idea what that meant until he started looking at Juli that way. He started seeing Juli in a different light and couldn’t keep his mind off her, but by this time Juli’s feelings had changed.
“Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss; but every once in a while, you find someone who’s iridescent, and once you do, nothing will ever compare”
Bryce was having inner turmoil over his feelings. Because he is a boy, he confided in his best friend Garrett which was a terrible decision. Garrett is not a good friend and he calls Bryce mental because he is falling for Juli. He even insults Juli’s mentally challenged uncle saying, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Bryce wanted to punch him, but because they were in a public place he didn’t, but agreed with Garrett instead. Little did he know Juli was standing behind the bookshelf listening. Bryce had made a big mistake and Juli let him know he did right away saying, “I heard what you and Garrett said about my uncle, and I don’t want to speak to you. Not now, not ever.”
This sent Bryce’s feelings reeling, and he couldn’t figure out how he was ever going to climb out of the hole he dug himself. Every night he laid awake in bed thinking about Juli, and how much of a coward he was for not telling Garrett off. Bryce also tended to think about his father and the way he acts toward the Baker family. Mr. Loski tends to make fun of everything the Bakers do and why is that? Bryce thinks it is because his father is a coward and is bitter toward his life decisions and blames the world for his problems. It is at that moment that Bryce decides to stop listening to his head and start listening to his heart.
“She’s laughing. What’s she laughing about? How could she sit there and laugh and look so beautiful?”
It wasn’t until the day of the Basket Boy auction that he made his move. When he and Sherry Stalls, the most popular girl in school, were supposed to be enjoying a delicious lunch together all he could do was stare at Juli who was at the table next to him. Bryce couldn’t contain his emotions anymore and he got up, walked over to Juli pulled her up next to him, and went in for a kiss, but Juli ran away.
This is what Juli has been waiting for since she was a kid, Bryce Loski giving her a first kiss, but she didn’t want it in that way so she ran. Bryce ran after her and tried to stop her but she got on her bike and peddled home. Even after all the mocking and the negativity from Garrett calling him crazy for leaving Sherry for Juli, Bryce had enough and dumped Garrett and went after Juli. For two days straight Bryce knocked, called and tried to get a hold of Juli. He even goes to her window and knocks saying, “Come on Juli I need to see you please.” If that just doesn’t break your heart, Dear Reader I don’t know what will. Bryce needed to come up with something big to let Juli know that he has changed and that he wants her.
This is the part that gets me every time. Bryce Loski, being a 7th grade boy, goes above and beyond to show his love because he knows that nothing will ever compare to Juli Baker. So one day he goes into her front lawn and starts digging a hole, with Juli’s father’s permission of course. Once he knows that Juli is watching he goes to the side of the house and brings back a tree to put into the hole. This is not just any tree though Dear Reader. This is Juli’s special tree, a sycamore tree. A tree that meant the world to Juli, and Bryce was planting it for her. When she walks outside to help him out that is when Bryce and Juli start to talk to each other for the first real time in their friendship, and as she helps him scoop up dirt Bryce makes an effort to hold her hand just like they did when they were kids.
“He looked at me with those eyes, those once again dazzling eyes, and I knew that Bryce Loski was still walking around with my first kiss. But he wouldn’t be for long.”
I know this is a lot Dear Reader, but I am not sorry.
This is why I believe in young love because all people no matter how old or young are capable of the feeling of love. Bryce never had good role models when it comes to love and how to feel about it. It wasn’t until Bryce had intimate conversations with his grandfather that he realize he was hiding from his true emotions because he was scared of being made fun of, when Juli was the only person who treated him with respect and love. That is why he planted to tree because he knew that it meant something to Juli and he wanted to prove to her that he didn’t care about what others thought but only about how he felt and he wanted to be with her.
In adult movies we see them do this all the time so why is it any different if a younger kid does it? News flash it isn’t any different. I encourage you, Dear Reader to start believing in love and all its many ways of expression.
It is so hard to write about feelings because sometimes there is just so much going on in the mind and heart that words just can’t quite reach the expression you are feeling. That is how I feel about a lot of things and sometimes when I talk about something I only just barley scratch the surface and it makes me so mad because I want to be able to passionately talk about certain things. That is how I felt about one of my other posts “In a Crowd of Thousands.” I wanted to express how much Dimitri means to me when it comes to the film but also his character in the musical, but was super hard to express all the feelings with it, so I decided to go all out for this post.
I hope I have expressed to you the way this movie makes me feel, and helps you feel a fraction of what I am feeling. There is so much more to this movie and each time I watch it I learn something different that I can apply to my own life. Not everyone feels the same way I do and I understand that, but I am glad I have a way to channel my feelings and talk about it with you, Dear Reader.
“How could anybody, ever have wanted to run away from Juli Baker?”
For about eight years now I have built up an image in my mind about what I want my future husband to be like and every time I go back to three main guys; Peter Parker, Gilbert Blythe, and Bryce Loski. Of course, there are mixes of some other characters, like Dimitri, here and there but those are the three main ones I always come back to. I think it is because these specific characters have certain qualities that I see in myself, and they treat their other half with respect and can communicate and speak their love language.
So Dear Reader, as I close for today I would like you all to consider what you want in a partner, and make sure that you do not settle for anything less. You should have the best because you respect yourself just as much as they should respect you. Find someone that you can trust to know you better then you know yourself. Find someone who is willing to give you the world, or even plant you a basic sycamore tree.
Until then, peace out lovers!
