MovieChat Forums > Harriet the Spy (1996) Discussion > Was I the only one who was rooting for h...

Was I the only one who was rooting for her revenge against them?

posted 11 years ago by DanandKirb
5 replies | jump to latest

I mean the way they treated her was beyond cruel and unacceptable, including intentionally reading her private journal with the intention of using her writing against her. It was her own personal journal, and she had a right to write whatever she wanted in it, with the expectation that it would never get out into the open like that. And then the way they treated her after that with the paint, chasing her around the neighborhood and being really loud in her face, and passing out nasty messages about her in class, all of that is beyond bullying, it was pure harassment as far as I'm concerned!! If an entire classroom like that was terrorizing me day after day, you better believe that I wouldn't just sit back and keep taking the abuse, she had to put her foot down eventually somehow, even if it was in an extreme way. I didn't feel the least bit sorry for Marion in the scene where Harriet hits her with that verbal low-blow, because she was an awful bully who needed to be put in her place, she needed to know that there's consequences for treating others the way that she did!!

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pink_sakura_fairy 10 years ago

I was rooting for her too. And I was glad she slapped Marion, haha

[–] Sage_Beckett 10 years ago

Nope. In fact, I thought most of her revenge was weak as hell. They invaded her privacy then bullied and tortured her!

The only two that even remotely would have stung was the photo of Sport in the dress and telling Marion her dad doesn't love her.

The rest? She chopped a few inches off Laura's braid. She wasn't bald. Her hair wasn't even short, it was still pretty long.

She knocked over Pinky's Popsicle castle (how traumatizing), messed up one class experiment for Janey (the horror!), drew mustaches on Beth-Ellen's cheapo magazine locker pics (haha), and hoisted Carrie's bra up the flagpole. Except there was no sign saying Carrie's bra, so most kids probably just laughed at the bra on the flagpole.

I forget what she did to Rachel but clearly it was so weak I remember Popsicle sticks more.

I know it's a kids movie and I guess in the 90's it was relevant.....but that isn't what revenge looks like to a middle schooler in 2014.

I would love to see a remake though where she actually got the kids as bad as they got her. It's just a movie, after all.

[–] CranberryNoVodka 8 years ago

Those kids deserved it. I rooted for Harriet the entire time. None of that would have happened if that little adolescent demon didn't open Harriet's notebook. It was none of their business, and they had it coming.

A bit of the old ultraviolence...

[–] kayleewheat 8 years ago

Everybody's said what I was already thinking, so I'm not going to repeat it all. I was rooting for Harriet's revenge against them too. The way they treated her was awful.