MovieChat Forums > Beautiful Girls (1996) Discussion > "How do you figure Pooh?"

"How do you figure Pooh?"

posted 10 years ago by GirlwonderReturns
4 replies | jump to latest

This part has always bugged me a little. Marty is wise enough beyond her years to quote Shakespeare and Lou Reed, but she doesn't see how her relationship with Willie can be compared to Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin? A story that a kid her age would almost certainly be familiar with? I love this film (although like others, I felt Marty was just a little too precocious to be realistic), but I found that to be a little bogus. Someone as insightful as Marty would most likely have gotten the Pooh reference without it being explained to her.

Saying "I apologize" is the same as saying "I'm sorry." Except at a funeral.

[–] TxMike 10 years ago

Interesting take you have. This is one of my favorite movies, I've watched it a number of times, and most recently today. I had read your post before I watched again and paid particular attention to that scene. In fact I re-played it a couple of times. Here's how it seems to me.

Marty of course knew the Winnie the Pooh story but her failure to immediately get the Christopher Robin connection was written to show that even though in many ways she seemed wise for a 13-yr-old, she in fact wasn't much different from all the other 13-yr-olds.

When he opened the window upstairs and called to her while she was storing her sled under the porch, she observed it was "A dyslexic Romeo and Juliet moment." That showed how sharp she could be. But her needing to be explained the Pooh connection was to show that in reality she was not as grown up as she thought she was.

Anyways that is how I look at it.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Make a choice, to take a chance, to make a difference.

[–] tallkennj 10 years ago

But, at 13... at least in 1996 and before (I don't what kids know today)... most of knew Pooh as the star of mindless cartoons with happy endings. We don't learn the darker side... i.e. what is in the books... until we are older.

[–] amazingm08 8 years ago

Children can handle anything as long as you give them a happy ending

[–] brianf2004 9 years ago

I always thought it was because Marty thought pooh was for kids, and so she didn't really give it much time or attention. I'll be honest, I didn't know that Christopher Robbin outgrew pooh until I saw this movie, but I knew about the characters. I think Marty spends her time with more adult themes, so she knows those, not kid stories.