Dear Diary

Dear diary,
Joanie Cunningham here and today was such a crazy day!
I was hanging out at Arnolds with Lori Beth and the other girls, like any normal day when I heard that Pinky Tuscadero was coming into town on her motorcycle tour!! And you know what? Chachi said that he heard that too. Then Pinky actually walked right into Arnolds and she gave me her sunglasses. I got Pinky Tuscadero's sunglasses!!!
Then she started singing about her motorcycle tour and it was totally cool! But after she sang about her bike, she was totally uncool and made a move on Chachi. I mean, not really but now how am I gonna get him to take me to the dance?
I can't get mad at her though, she's Pinky Tuscadero! And after her song, she told us how she was going to help us save Arnolds and then we talked about Fonzie for a while. Fonzie really is a bit much. He's totally cool but no one is as awesome as Chachi Arcola. Actually, Chachi came and talked to Pinky after she signed my foot. I don't really know what happened after that, I came home when Pinky told me that she was going to come over later. But Richie told me all about what happened when he came home after their dumb rehearsal.
After I left, the Malachi's came in and they told everyone about how scary they were now that they were out of jail and then the count threatened Fonzie!
That's Joanie Cunningham for now. Maybe tonight I'll get to write about Pinky being at my house!!!

Get in the mindset

The 1950's was a very different time from now, full of change for everyone and the beginning of a new era. This new post war era gave teenagers a lot more freedom and they began creating their own independant culture. Before this, teenagers weren't even their own age group because they were really just older children. Even though many things have changed for teenagers since the 50’s, some things have stayed the same. The biggest difference between teenagers then and now is obviously the internet. The internet has eliminated many activities a 50’s teenager would do, like drive-in theaters and actual conversations with people in person. But if we compare television then and internet now, it’s not that different. They're both the new technologies of the time and teenagers have been the first to truly embrace it. Because of this, teenage culture has always been very media driven, with popular music and fashion trends originating from movies, radio and T.V. But then things like slang and fashion have definitely changed. A few slang terms from the 50’s have survived through to modern day, like to burn rubber, bug (you bug me) and being on cloud 9, but most would sound crazy now. Fashion is in a similar situation, the most popular styles are still thriving or have been revived, like stiletto high heels and peplum waistlines, but fleeting fashions such as poodle skirts and DA haircuts have long died out. Basically, being a teenager hasn't changed very much, we still love our technology and music, the newest stuff we can get our hands on, the only thing that has changed is what we do with these things and the most basic concepts of what these technologies are.

Haunted and Happy

For Activity #1: "Get Happy", I watched "Haunted", season 2, episode 6. I chose this episode of all the ones I found because I really like Halloween. (I actually went back and watched a variety of other episodes because I was surprised at how much I liked it.) Since i'm a calendar girl, I didn't really learn anything about my character specifically but I did learn a lot about the show in general to help me get into character.

Some of the things I learned were that the whole show is really light-hearted and silly, like when Ralph says to Potsie: "your brain is haunted". It doesn't make much sense but in context it's pretty funny, light-hearted and shows how the teo guys can just tease each other. I also found that Richie is easily scared as he shows when he runs out of the Simpson house so fast he pushes his sister into the driver's seat. Despite how easily he's scared though, Richie really just wants to fit in and because of how much he wants it, he ends up being really brave. Richie's initial fear also provides a way of showing that Fonzie knows his friends really well and gives great advice, always trying to steer them in the right direction. He knows Richie well enough that without even looking at him, as soon as Richie says he isn't scared, Fonzie says "I could tell you're lying" just like that. That led perfectly to an example of his great advice "you got nothin' to fear but fear itself." which although was actually said by someone else, is a great thing to tell Richie at that point because it gives him confidence.

I also learned a lot about the Cunningham family. For example, it's really obvious that Richie and Joanie have a very typical brother/ sister relationship. They love and support each other but try not to show it by hiding it with a lot of teasing. Joanie also admires her brother and doesn't want to let him know she's afraid. When they're at the Simpson house, she goes from saying "If I get my head chopped off Richie Cunningham, I'mma tell mum on you!" to "you're gonna have trouble eating with your heart in your mouth!" She really is scared but she teases her brother to tell him that she's really brave and not a scared little girl. Another thing about the Cunningham family is that Richie and his dad are really relaxed with each other, they can just sit and chat. Very few teenagers would have the following conversation with their parents: "Why were you at the Simpson house anyways?" "We're having a party there on Saturday." "Oh okay, have fun." It's no problem for Mr. Cunningham to be okay with a party at some abandoned house because his son told him about it beforehand and they have a trust that has clearly been earned.

After all that, my two favorite characters of the episode are Joanie and Mrs. C. Mrs. C. has a rather difficult job with her two kids, especially when Joanie's friends are over and everyone is having different problems. As any good mother though, she is very good at adapting to these situations which is commendable. When everyone is rushing around she has the following conversation with her two children:
"I think you all look very cute." (Mrs. C)
"We'll get more candy if we look scary." (Joanie)
"Well you look scary *gasp*" (Mrs. C)
"mom, does this look silly?" (Richie)
"No! It looks very scary." (Mrs. C)
"I don't wanna look scary, I wanna look cute!" (Richie)
The poor woman has to deal with her children's different situations and keep straight what to tell which kid and she's pretty good at it (after all, she's had a lot of practice). My favorite scene with Mrs. C though is when she's just trying to get everyone out the door and her only reaction to her children's squabbles is to at one point turn to Joanie and say: "Leave him alone Joanie or he'll belt you." and then leaves them to sort out their differences.

All in all, I really enjoyed the episode and can't wait to start rehearsals!