Line #19 Film/MyGirl


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/url_3.jpg]]
2
3	''My Girl'' is a 1991 coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Howard Zieff and starring Creator/AnnaChlumsky, Creator/MacaulayCulkin, Creator/DanAykroyd and Creator/JamieLeeCurtis. Set in the summer of 1972, the film revolves around Vada Sultenfuss (Chlumsky), an 11-year-old girl living with her father (Aykroyd). Vada is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her dad owns a funeral parlor. Her best friend, Thomas J. Sennett (Culkin) has various allergies and her father falls in love with makeup expert Shelly [=DeVoto=] (Curtis) whom he hires for the parlor. Vada tries everything she can to split them up while sticking around with Thomas J. for some various adventures...
4
5	The film's success spawned [[Film/MyGirl2 a sequel in 1994]].
6	----
7	!!Tropes associated with this movie:
8	* TheSeventies: The movie takes place in 1972 and features some era staples such as holdover hippies like Shelly's ex and Vada's plot-relevant mood ring (though mood rings technically didn't exist yet).
9	* ActorAllusion:
10	** Creator/JamieLeeCurtis and Creator/DanAykroyd previously were romantically involved in ''Film/TradingPlaces''.
11	** Vada gets locked in a room with a dead body, so it seems rather curious that Jamie Lee Curtis - ''the'' horror movie FinalGirl in the 80s - would save her.
12	* AlmostKiss: Between Harry and Shelly, before Vada intervenes.
13	* AnachronismStew:
14	** Pretty impressive that Vada lost a mood ring in 1972 considering they weren't invented until 1975.
15	** Harry claims that he danced the frug in high school. That's a dance from 1964, and he's old enough to have an eleven-year-old daughter in 1972. There is no way he could have been in high school in '64. Indeed, he mentions in another scene that he hasn't dated in twenty years, which would place his high school years in 1952 at the latest. If anything, he would have been dancing the jitterbug back then.
16	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Thomas J and Vada snipe at each other plenty of times, but do ultimately share a kiss.
17	* BackToBackPoster: The poster has main character Vada and Thomas J., who serves as her best friend and possible LoveInterest, back to back.
18	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Thomas J. unexpectedly dies and Vada’s outlook on life is forever changed with that loss of innocence, but she learns to cherish the good memories she had with him as a friend, patch things up with Harry, become more accepting of Shelley in Harry’s life and gets a new friend in Judy while moving forward with her emotional growth.]]
19	* BlindWithoutEm: Thomas J. needs his large glasses to see much of anything, and this is repeatedly mentioned. [[spoiler:The sentiment makes a heartbreaking comeback when Vada walks into Thomas's funeral and breaks down upon seeing him in his casket minus glasses, crying and begging someone to give them back to him because he can't see without them.]]
20	* BreakTheCutie: Vada. Especially after [[spoiler: her best friend dies and her crush marries someone else the same day of the funeral.]]
21	* CaptainObvious: While watching Shelly and her ex-husband arguing, Vada's uncle remarks, "These two people do not have a good relationship."
22	* ChekhovsArmoury: There's a whole bunch, including [[spoiler: the child-sized coffin, Vada's mood ring, Thomas J's allergies, and the fact that Vada lives in a funeral home.]]
23	* ChekhovsGun: Thomas J.'s allergy to ''everything'' and the beehive.
24	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Thomas J. reminds Vada that she can't marry her teacher because it's against the law: "he'll give you all A's!"
25	* ComingOfAgeStory: During the film Vada learns about the nature of love, copes with her father remarrying and the concept of death.
26	* CoolUncle: Vada's uncle Phil, a Vietnam vet who had a metal plate put in his head, is like another father to Vada.
27	* CreepyBasement: Considering the house is a funeral parlor and the basement is used to embalm the corpses, Vada gets suitably scared when she's accidentally locked down there.
28	* DarkReprise: Veda sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Manfred Mann a couple of times. She sings it again frantically when she gets trapped in the basement which is used as a mortuary.
29	* DatePeepers: Vada and Thomas J follow Vada's Father and Shelley on the Bingo date. She yells "Bingo!" in from the window and HilarityEnsues.
30	* DeadHatShot: There's a shot of the bee-allergic Thomas Jay Sennett's glasses falling on the ground after he is fatally stung by the ScaryStingingSwarm that he and Vada riled up earlier.
31	* DeathByChildbirth: Vada's mother passed away from complications a few days after Vada's birth, which Vada blames herself for.
32	* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler:Poor Thomas J. He's allergic to bees and succumbs to being stung by them.]]
33	* DroppedGlasses: [[spoiler:When Thomas J. is fatally attacked by a bee swarm, the camera focuses on his fallen glasses and bees crawling over them as a DiscretionShot to his actual death.]]
34	* FirstKiss: Vada and Thomas J. share a brief kiss as well as making a ChildhoodMarriagePromise. Notable for winning the first ever "Best Kiss" award at the 1992 MTV Movie Awards. Heck, in Latin American countries the movie is known as "Mi Primer Beso" ("My First Kiss"). It was also the first onscreen kiss for Creator/MacaulayCulkin.
35	* FirstPeriodPanic: Vada apparently has never heard of menstruation. She visits the bathroom, then calls for her father in a panic. Her father is not available, so she tells the only other adult present that she is hemorrhaging. She's also one of the girls who have no mother or female figure to consult. Fortunately for her, the available adult is Shelley, who very kindly calms her down and explains matters to her.
36	* FourthDateMarriage:
37	** Downplayed, but the whole film--including Harry and Shelly's first meeting, first going on a date, and eventually getting engaged--takes place over the course of one summer.
38	** Harry tells Vada that he doesn't know much about her mother because they didn't have much time together. He proposed on the second date and they got married two weeks later.
39	* FreakOut: Vada goes through a couple of these; when she's accidentally locked in the basement, when she gets her first period, and [[spoiler: at Thomas J.'s funeral.]]
40	* FreudianExcuse: MissingMom + guilt for the DeathByChildbirth + growing up in a funeral home and being around dead people all the time = the eccentric Vada Sultenfuss.
41	* TheFunInFuneral: Accidental example. Vada is supposed to be watching her senile grandmother while a funeral is going on in the house, but she isn't. So the grandmother walks into the funeral and starts singing loudly.
42	* GirlinessUpgrade: At the end of the movie, Vada lets her hair down and wears a nice dress.
43	* GoodParents: Harry and Shelly, who both love Vada deeply with the latter wanting to make sure Vada's mother is still part of her life despite her death.
44	* GranolaGirl: The creative writing class has granola girls AND guys. Then again, it is set in 1972.
45	* GrandparentalObliviousness: Vada's grandmother suffers badly from dementia, so much so that it's ''Vada's'' job to babysit ''Grandma'' whenever a funeral is happening downstairs (Vada's father is the funeral director). It's a rare example of the obliviousness not being PlayedForLaughs, and in fact is a point of contention for Vada and her dad at one point when Grandma gets out of Vada's sight and starts singing "One More for the Road" into a rose in front of a roomful of mourners.
46	* GreenEyedMonster: Vada feels this way in regard to her father developing a relationship with Shelly. She gets over it with time.
47	* HeroicBSOD: Poor Vada takes [[spoiler: Thomas J's death]] ''very'' badly.
48	* HotForTeacher: Vada has a huge crush on her schoolteacher - to the point where, in order to pay to enroll in a summer writing course that he teaches, she steals the money from Shelly.
49	* {{Hypochondria}}: Vada. The junior novel adaptation opens with her listing off all the things she thinks are wrong with her - namely, that she was born jaundiced, caught hemorrhoids in a public restroom, and has a small chicken bone stuck in her throat from a Fourth of July barbecue years before.
50	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Vada has many of these which is rather fitting for an eccentric and possibly gifted child like her having a hard time finding friends within her peer group. She gets along well with her father's coworker Arthur, Shelly (before finding out about Harry being attracted to her), her teacher (who she has a crush on), everyone in the writing class, and even Dr. Welty and his secretary.
51	* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Thomas J. dies after being attacked by bees, and the rest of the movie deals with the fallout of his death and Vada learning to cope with her grief over both him and her late mother.]]
52	* KissingInATree: A group of passing girls makes fun of Vada and Thomas J using this song, while the two of them are hanging out at Shelley's.
53	* LettingHerHairDown: Vada is mostly seen with a ponytail for the first half of the film. She lets it down after some drama has passed.
54	* LikesOlderMen: Vada being in love with her teacher, with her even flat-out telling him, "I love you the same way my dad loves [his new girlfriend]." Upon finding out the teacher is engaged, Vada takes the news ''very'' hard. (Vada is not quite twelve.)
55	* LovableAlphaBitch: Judy, who doesn't seem to tease Vada along with the rest of the GirlPosse. [[spoiler: She pays her respects after Thomas J's death and she and Vada appear to be friends by the end of the movie and the sequel shows that they are still friends]].
56	* MadnessMantra: Vada puts her hands over her ears and sings "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" when she's emotionally breaking.
57	* MaternalDeathBlameTheChild: Vada does this [[ItsAllMyFault to herself]]. When she finally voices these feelings, her father assures her that it wasn't her fault.
58	* MissingMom: Vada's mother died a few days after Vada was born.
59	* MultigenerationalHousehold: Vada lives with her father and grandmother. [[spoiler:Her grandmother dies offscreen before the events of [[Film/MyGirl2 the sequel]].]]
60	* MysteriousParent: Vada knows virtually nothing about her mother except small anecdotes from her father.
61	* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer is narrated by Creator/MacaulayCulkin, making it seem like Thomas J. is the protagonist, and the film is primarily about his burgeoning preteen romance with Vada. In reality, Vada herself is decidedly the main character, and Thomas J. is in a supporting role. Trailers also portrayed the film as a lighthearted comedy, when in reality it is a more dramatic film that deals with Vada's father entering a new relationship [[spoiler:and Thomas J.'s accidental death.]]
62	* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted. Vada experiences her first period, and panics when it happens.
63	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Mr. and Mrs. Sennett lose their only child in a very unexpected and tragic accident.]]
64	* ParentalObliviousness: Harry doesn't take Vada's eccentric behavior or apparent hypochondria seriously, even initially brushing off Shelly when she points out how Vada is scared and confused by the concept of death due to her unusual exposure to it.
65	* ParentsAsPeople: The movie occasionally shifts its focus from Vada to Harry, following his developing romance with Shelly and his struggles in being a good father to Vada.
66	* ParentWithNewParamour: Vada is not happy about her father dating Shelly. She gets over it by the end and develops a good relationship with Shelly as a new mother figure.
67	* PracticeKiss: Vada and Thomas practiced kissing on the back of their hands first before going for the actual kiss.
68	* PrecociousCrush: Vada has a crush on her teacher, Mr. Bixler. [[spoiler:She confesses to him while breaking down after Thomas J.'s funeral, and he tries to gently let her down and informs her he is getting married. It doesn't make her feel better.]]
69	* RaisedByDudes: Vada was raised by her widower father, and since there were some topics Dad was either himself less than fully informed about or too squeamish to discuss with his daughter, her first period comes as a frightening shock to her. Fortunately for her, a female employee of her father (who later becomes her stepmother) is available and quickly steps in to explain to Vada what's going on and reassure her that she's OK.
70	* TheRunaway: Vada runs away after she finds out Harry and Shelly are getting married, but it lasts less than a day and no one notices. [[spoiler: She does it again when she can't cope with Thomas J.'s death and her guardians definitely notice.]]
71	* ScaryStingingSwarm: Vada and Thomas J run from a swarm of bees and manage to escape unscathed, save for Vada losing her mood ring. [[spoiler:When Thomas J goes back alone to retrieve the ring, he isn't quite so lucky...]]
72	* SelfSoothingSong: Whenever Vada is stressed or dealing with trauma (like when she's locked in the basement and when Thomas J has been killed), she covers her ears and quickly sings "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy" to herself.
73	* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Inverted; Vada is annoyed when kids tease her about Thomas J. being her boyfriend.
74	* SomewhereAnEntomologistIsCrying: The movie features honeybees living inside what appears to be a hornet's nest.
75	* StockBeehive: The "beehive" that Thomas and Vada knock down, and Thomas later gets stung to death by, is clearly a nest of bald-faced hornets or aerial yellow jackets, though the bugs were portrayed by real live honeybees.
76	* SublimeRhyme: Defied by Vada's teacher. He tells her that a poem is more than words rhyming; it's about expressing one's self.
77	* TheTalk: Vada gets one from Shelly after her period. Her reaction: "My mom and dad did THAT?...I think it should be outlawed!"
78	* TeacherStudentRomance: Vada has a PrecociousCrush on her teacher, who [[spoiler:is engaged and whose fiancee is moving in with him the day Vada tells him how she feels -- which happens to be the [[BreakTheCutie same day of her best friend's funeral, held in the parlor of HER house (her father is the town undertaker and she lives in the funeral home).]] She doesn't take the rejection well.]]
79	* ThatNostalgiaShow: It's set in the 1970s and has a very nostalgic feel to it - Shelly drives a Volkswagen van, Vada owns a mood ring, there are 70s pop songs on the soundtrack...you get the picture. The 1990s were a time when 70s nostalgia was quite prevalent.
80	%%* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Vada and Shelly.
81	%%* TomboyishPonytail: Vada wears one for most of the film.
82	* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Vada Sultenfuss is a tomboy, who generally wears jeans, sneakers, and a baseball cap, and who is best friend with a boy. However, she also wears a mood ring and has a traditionally feminine-looking bedroom. Plus, she doesn't mind it at all when Shelly applies makeup to her face for fun, even admiring her new look.
83	%%* TragicKeepsake: Vada's mood ring becomes one.
84	* TraumaCongaLine: Vada's life was already a little rough, [[spoiler: but then her best friend, Thomas J, dies [[ScaryStingingSwarm in a bee attack]]. She was the one who angered the bees in the first place, and he only went back to try and find her mood ring that she lost, her father is the coroner, the funeral is held at her house, and to top it all off, on the day of said funeral, she discovers the teacher that she had a crush on is getting married.]] It's quite understandable when she ends up having complete breakdown, although some would argue that it's a bit surprising that it wasn't worse.
85	* {{Tsundere}}: Vada is hot and aggressive toward Thomas a lot of the time, but she does care for him a lot.
86	* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The film is set in 1972, which wasn't even twenty years ago at the time of production.
87	* UptightLovesWild: Thomas falls for Vada despite her being everything opposite to his usual sedate existence.
88	%%* VitriolicBestBuds: Thomas J. and Vada are this.
89	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Shelly's ex-husband's response when introduced to Vada.
90	-->"''Vada Sultenfuss''? Tough break."

Context Film / MyGirl