MovieChat Forums > Save the Last Dance (2001) Discussion > Were Derek and Chenille supposed to be t...

Were Derek and Chenille supposed to be twins?


They seem to be the same age/grade in the movie. Was there ever anything said to differentiate their ages or grades or to confirm that they were twins?

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Not actually SAID, at least not in the movie.. makes sense tho. You're probably right!

--Artemis
I have a dream, and in it, something eats you.

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I was trying to find out myself who was the oldest, I thought maybe Derek was the oldest and then again maybe Chanelle, she just seem like she could be.

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I thought chenelle was the older. Something about how she was talkinga bout hwo ehen they were younger Derek would talk about their mom coming back and how she knew better and he grew out of that. But for some reason I also go the impression they were faternal twins. :/

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I kind of wondered about that too but then there is the whole thing about Derek getting into Georgetown. Chenille talks about going to Design school but they say nothing about her applying or getting in or anything so I always assumed she was a year younger than them.

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Interesting... all this inferring one must do. I figured it was a matter of her not having the money to go even if she did apply.

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I don't remember it being stated in the film but they appeared to be in the same year. Maybe Chenille was a year behind as she'd had time off for the baby?

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[deleted]

I think Chenille was older.She did just have a baby which could have cause her to fail and repeat a year.

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I know this is late but I wanted to add my thoughts.

Chenille and Sara, from what I could tell, don't have any classes together so maybe Chenille is a year younger than Sara and Derek.

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[deleted]

Derek was obviously older since he was applying for colleges. You only do that in your senior year of high school. Chenille could have had her baby eaaarly. Some girls have them as early as 12, 13, 14, or 15. Derek was probably 17/18 and Chenille could've been 16/17. Derek was probably just a year or so older.

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I always thought that Chenille was older than Derek :/

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[deleted]

not true. many students actually do apps in their junior year.

as for the age/grade thing. I can buy that they were twins or even that Chenille was older and lost time due to the baby and was thus held back. but the comments about their parents and who remembered what leds me to believe that no way was Derek older

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I think Chenille might be younger since she wasn't talking about college or anything. Girls just mature faster then guys especially girls with kids. Either that or she is older and took time off cause of the baby.

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They could also be less than a year apart.

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I'm not sure about what it is like in America, but Chenille and Sara *did* have Gym together, which led me to believe Derek and Chenille were in the same year/twins. But like I said, I don't know if Gym in America is mixed with the other grades.

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In high school, there may be people of different grades in one PE class. A freshman and a junior may be registered for tennis, for example.

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I graduated in 1998 (3 years before this film came out), and I had gym class (and even some regular classes) with people of various grades all through high school (grades 9-12). This was in Massachusetts, btw, but I'm pretty sure it's the same in public schools across the country.

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No Chenille was a year younger than them. Derrick and Sara were both Seniors

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Really? How do you know that?

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Because Derek was accepted to Georgetown and Sarah was going to Julliard. They never specify what grade Chenille is in but it can be assumed that she was only a junior.

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I really don't understand why people are using the 'Chenille wasn't even talking about college' argument.

It was made very, *very* clear during the film that very few from that neighbourhood/school would *ever* make it out and into college, and most weren't going to try.

In particular it was emphasised that Derek was the 'family hope' the smarty pants who was getting out and making something of himself. Chenille was *clearly* not planning on going anywhere.

As others have said, from the way they discussed after their mother left, and how Derek versus Chenille reacted, I'd say that Chenille was slightly older, but held back a year or so due to the baby. The younger one is pretty much always the one who remembers less and therefore has fonder memories. Also, she treated him like her younger brother, there was a protective and proud way she spoke to/about him that spoke of an older sibling.

I would buy twins too, but usually if characters/people are twins it gets a mention (and also, at that age, a certain amount of teasing by the 'older by 9 minutes' twin). Since there was never any mention of it, I'd take from the context clues Chenille being older.

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Chenille was *clearly* not planning on going anywhere.


At 52:40 of the DVD, Chenille *clearly* states otherwise.

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Yeah, she mentioned she was going to design school, or wanted to.

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She might came back to school after having the baby

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