MovieChat Forums > 13 Going on 30 (2004) Discussion > So..... How did Jenna end up fitting in ...

So..... How did Jenna end up fitting in with the snobby cool kids?


The movie never portrays this. All we know is that the cool queen bee tricked her into thinking the cute boy liked her. Then left her in the closet so everyone can sneak out.Then Jenna gets mad and blames Matt for it.

- but how did Jenna become friends with that mean girl when she clearly only wanted to take advantage of her? (attending the party under the condition that Jenna wrote her book report).

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I wish I saw this sooner. Those are exactly my thoughts. I am guessing since she thought Matt drove them away it gave her confidence to be more bold about her desire to be a Six Chick? Like, "Crap, Matt almost screwed this up for me I have to fix it". Or something like that.

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I think she probably "bonded" with them by picking on people like Matt.

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yeah like sell out your real friends for cheap laughs.

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Remember, she was rude to Matt to impress the cool crowd, and he was pathetic enough to return after that.

I am guessing that when he wouldn't leave when she was yelling at him to "go away" then escalated her anger by playing his Casio (probably a nerdy song) and she threw the dollhouse at him (from what he told her when they were older) that was when Tom-Tom returned for her scarf. She probably saw Jenna throw the dollhouse and Matt scrambling to pick it up and repair it she laughed and maybe decided Jenna wasn't so bad after all. Then Jenna started hanging out with the "cool crowd".

My only question was: Would Tom-Tom really give up leadership of the Six Chicks to Jenna?

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Or maybe Tom-Tom agreed on Jenna joining the six chicks under the condition that she did all her homework and loaned her stuff (like money).

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Back in the 80s and in smaller towns kids who went to kindergarten together often continued on to the same schools and had classes together.

My husband graduated in 1985 and this was true for him. He’s graduating class had most kids he knew from kindergarten.

So they were friends as young kids and maybe some elementary school. Then by jr high some kids became “cooler” while others became labeled as nerds.

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Regarding being "labeled as nerds", I was a school nerd, and proud of it! Most of us weren't labeled as such, we owned the identity, because we were deeply interested in computers, sci-fi, science, or whatever, and were thrilled to have a group of friends with common interests and compatible personalities. Sure, the "cool" kids called us losers and looked down on us, but short of outright bullying (rare), it didn't bother us that much. We also looked down on the "cool" kids for being shallow and materialistic, and pitied them for missing out on all the wonderful sci-fi and computer games. Imagine going through life only having seen "Star Wars" 5-10 times!

It was like a junior version of "The Big Bang Theory", but without the welcoming embrace of Cal Tech.

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I only saw this movie for the first time last night. Well, "skimmed over" it would be a better description. I started hitting the fast forward button around the time this was revealed because it really bugged me too.
Having read the answers on here, it starts to make a bit of sense.
The only thing i could add is that she didn't just wish to be 30. She wished to be "30 add fabulous". And generally get what she wanted in that moment she wished for it.
So perhaps being "fabulous", and getting what her 13 year old self wanted (the glamourous job, being a 6 chick, being with Chris throughout high school etc) meant being something she wasn't, behaving in a way that the 6 chicks would approve of that wasn't really her, the underhanded tactics she was using to advance her career etc
It's not explained in the movie very well at all though. There's 2 threads asking about it on the first the pages for this movie!

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So perhaps being "fabulous", and getting what her 13 year old self wanted (the glamourous job, being a 6 chick, being with Chris throughout high school etc) meant being something she wasn't, behaving in a way that the 6 chicks would approve of that wasn't really her, the underhanded tactics she was using to advance her career etc


Thanks, great answer.

As I watched this, I also wondered why she turned into a back stabber to her own company, distanced herself from her own parents, and lost touch with her "best friend" Matt just by fast forwarding 17 years via the wish. The wish to be 30, flirty, and thriving must have changed her personality to accomplish the wish. But why?

That means either her becoming a rotten human was required to "thrive" (dumb) or that in a "monkey's paw" ironic way, you had to pay for the wish - in this case paying by losing touch with her parents, Matt, and hurting people around her.

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Oh yeah, it was "flirty and thriving". Don't know where i got "fabulous" from! Like i say, i skimmed over it.

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