MovieChat Forums > 13 Going on 30 (2004) Discussion > something that bothered me this time tha...

something that bothered me this time that hasn't before..

posted 11 years ago by sassygirl676
24 replies | jump to latest

So, for some reason while watching this movie for the like 1,000th time last night, it really bugged me that the whole thing is something that only Jenna will remember. I guess that might be a good thing because I don't think Matt would want to remember breaking her heart near the end, but it's kinda sad he won't remember the little moments between them, like eating razzles, kissing her by the swingset, doing the photo shoot, etc. I guess they could still do all those things but some reason it makes me a little sad that only Jenna remembers them. And would she even remember after a while or just think it was a weird dream. I would like to believe she would remember it because she obviously does at the end when Matt opens the closet door.

Plus, just a little side note, but what did Jenna end up doing for a career when she grew up instead of working at the magazine? Would she do something in photography or writing maybe? I know, I know, I'm way overthinking this. Just something I always wondered.

[–] Catnip86 11 years ago

To answer your last question, I guess anyone could write their own ending. Maybe Jenna worked for a small town paper. Or maybe she became a teacher. (Somehow, I can see "nice" Jenna doing something like that. I doubt she still worked for Poise. It seemed like to work there, you had to be the type to step on others, as "mean" Jenna had done.

I am guessing that maybe Lucy still got to the same position she was in, and maybe even was the one Trish approached to sink the magazine.

[–] LovesConfusingJoy 10 years ago

Yea, especially since Jenna and Matt lived in the suburbs

[–] pioneergrrrl (2388) 5 years ago

maybe Jenna and Matt worked together owned a small family business of some kind. No she's not world famous anymore, but she is much happier. And this is what matters.

[–] hka-3 10 years ago

Good questions! Regarding your first paragraph, I personally believe she does remember everything. As you said, maybe they could still do some of those things if she basically tries to recreate similar moments.

Regarding your second paragraph, I've thought about this before. At the end when young Jenna and Matt run up the stairs, Jenna tells him she wants to show him something. I like to think that she shows him something pertaining to his interest in photography and from that day on she helps "hone" his photography skills. Like you, I don't imagine Jenna being in the magazine field and possibly doing something along the lines of photography, instead, as a way to be supportive of Matt and to have that interest in common...and also maybe as a way to stay away from shallow people like Lucy (although Jenna's other coworkers at Poise seemed cool enough).

[–] TheStripedKattah 9 years ago

You know, I was thinking that Lucy probably didn't even make it to Poise at all, seeing as how she seemed to have teamed up with Jenna for every project. I'm assuming, given their past and how Jenna did her homework for her that one time (and probably many times after in order to gain her good favor), Jenna was the brains of the duo and that Lucy hadn't a creative bone in her body. No one even liked Lucy's idea at the end, so, of course, she had to go and steal Jenna's. I take it in the reconstructed future, Lucy probably got knocked up by Chris Grandy early on and they're not living the high life. lol

[–] Catnip86 9 years ago

But you have to remember, Jenna stole the unseen Charlotte's idea, then fired her. My guess was that was how Jenna got to the top - by back-stabbing just like Lucy did.

[–] ackmondual (199) 8 months ago

And in the original timeline of events, Jenna not only got into the Six Chix group, but was their leader. That group seemed to be backstabby and "bitchy" on its own, so that probably helped Jenna prepare for her role at Poise magazine.

[–] pioneergrrrl (2388) 4 years ago

I assumed they worked together doing something.

[–] punxgurrl 9 years ago

I always was under the impression it was just a dream.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ShadowsGathered 9 years ago

Well, aren't you just a charmer?

~ the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it ~

[–] Helenlaurence 8 years ago

I mean I know it's just a romcom and it doesn't have to make any sense, and time travel / body swop films can't really make sense anyway!
But what annoyed me a bit was that she basically missed her whole adolescence and young adulthood.
She went straight from kissing Matty to getting married to him and being 30 again... They could have just had that as 'the future'

[–] cecelia_lisbon 8 years ago

What? No, that was a flash-forward. They lived their lives up to that point.

[–] Helenlaurence 8 years ago

Really? I never thought of it like that. But id prefer that ending!

[–] cecelia_lisbon 8 years ago

Yes! Oh man, that would be horrible if she skipped her whole life.

[–] missferly 8 years ago

Maybe it's just me, but I always thought after the younger versions of Matt & Jenna ran up the stairs that she realized he was the one for her. So they grew up together, and eventually got married. They never skipped all the great firsts part. Jenna just knew that they would end up together and they did. And Matt never met Wendy, so she would never have to be hurt by him jilting her at the altar.

"If you don't get a pizza here in 10 minutes, I'll let the monkeys loose."

[–] Helenlaurence 8 years ago

Thats a much better way of looking at it!
Now i can bear to watch the ending again 😄

I was obviously being too literal.

[–] MarblesLove 8 years ago

That's how I saw it too. They didn't actually skip all that time between her 13th birthday party and them getting married as grown-ups. We just didn't get to see it all.

Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (47421091) 8 years ago

....but it's kinda sad (Matt) won't remember the little moments between them, like eating razzles, kissing her by the swingset, doing the photo shoot, etc.

True, but he also won't remember Jenna flinging the dollhouse at him, she abandoning his friendship and his heartbreak of coming of age without her. He also won't have the hurt of 17 years without Jen wondering what went wrong.

He WILL however now remember Jenna kissing him in the closet, taking his hand and leading them both into adulthood together. We don't see it but we can assume their life together leading to their marriage was wonderful, including eating Razzles during those previously missing 17 years.

A much better set of memories for Matt and a one sided trade in my opinion.

[–] strntz (10779) 4 years ago

Effing brilliant!!!! Okay, I have to say that as that was my account that I deleted on that POS IMDB site a week before they shut down the boards..

[–] Circle_of_the_Moon2101 8 years ago

I think that the writers wanted the audience to use their own imaginations about what course of events happened following Jenna returning to her 13-year-old self and deciding to live a different life, this time with Matt remaining her closest friend all the way up to marriage.