Speak

I hate it how in the movies, high school is all peachy. I mean, get real, if you have an older, popular brother or sister, I guess you should be all right. But normally, on the first day of high school, everyone is giving you devious glares, assuming that you are incredibly immature and don’t belong in THEIR school. Stereotypes are huge. If you are pretty with long flowing hair, the perfect makeup, and the cutest clothes, you would be considered “alright.” But, if you were to have a little acne, not “mall brand” clothes, and not be in the best shape, you would be considered “a gross loser.” I understand that this all may sound horrible, but it is all very true. This all ties in perfectly with the novel “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson. This whole book revolves around stereotypes. And because of this, “Speak” reminds me of the MTV series, “If You Really Knew Me.”

First off, let me tell you a little background. Melinda is an average eight grader. She wears average clothes. She has average friends. She has an average life. But after that one party, her world turns upside down. Melinda and a few of her friends go to a party, where there is alcohol. Now, let’s all be realistic here, would it be smart to leave the party as soon as you see there is alcohol present? Well of course. Would you? Of course not. So, like any average, naïve, little, soon- to- be freshman, Melinda decides to take a drink. I know that she, similar to anyone in this situation, would feel much more mature and “in the loop” when you have that little red cup in your hand. You feel that you finally have maturity, or that you can finally make your own decisions for once. But, sometimes when you first have that little red cup in your hands, you take advantage of it. It’s almost like to Andy Evens, Melinda is his “little red cup.” He takes advantage of it. Of course that would not be the right decision, but if you have the choice, you’re going to take it. So, when Andy Evan’s is finished with his “little red cup,” he leaves it there, not caring if he ever sees it again. At this point, Melinda is utterly petrified. She has a million things running through her head and decides that the best decision is to call the cops. Yet, I don’t think she realized right then and there that there was a party going on, and that if she called the cops, everyone was going to assume that she did it to get them all into trouble, and therefore the will hate her. Well, when she made the call, of course the cops come and she is now the little red cup with no friends and is hated by pretty much the whole school. But, what I don’t completely understand, is why they never bothered to ask her why she made that call in the first place. I mean, there had to be a reason, but she never decided to speak up about it.

Since everything went down at the party last summer, nobody is speaking to Melinda and she isn’t speaking to anyone. She is now stereotyped as “The Outcast.” Melinda absolutely hates it when people stereotype her, or anyone for that matter. All through the book, she is whining about how “The Cheerleaders” talk crap about her, and “The Nerds” won’t even give her the time of day. Notice something? Yes, Melinda is stereotyping other people. Probably more than people are doing it to her. She stereotypes everyone, including the teachers. She has a teacher she refers to as “Hairwoman”, and another she’s not fond of as “Mr. Neck.” I guess this is very similar to any regular high school. Everyone is stereotyped. Everyone stereotyped other people. Nothing is fair in high school. You can never win. Somebody is always going to hate on you, unless you are fake. Whether it is older or younger, you cannot be friends with everyone. But look on the Brightside. It is only four years of your life that you will realize will go way to fast. Soon you will be heading off to college. And at your reunions, I promise that those people, who were so mean to you in high school, will turn out to be close friends when you mature and grow up.

Because of the stereotypes that fly through Melinda’s high school, this book reminded me of the series, “If You Really Knew Me.” This show is very popular, and the basis of it is that people go around to different high schools, that have major drama, and gather everyone up into the gym. They put kids in little groups and let them talk. It all starts with “If you really knew me….” And it goes from there. They share their secrets about their home life and the problems that they have, and it always ends up with people finally understanding why some kids are so depressed, or why some kids are such bullies. I just wonder how much better Melinda’s freshman year could have been if they decided to do this at their school. Also, I wonder how much better my school could be if we would do this exercise here in Pewaukee.

“Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson is a story about how a girl named Melinda needs to speak up for themselves. If only everyone had the guts to do that. If only everyone could just get along. If only there were no stereotypes and everyone could understand why people are way they are. I guess that is what everybody hopes for when it comes to high school, yet they go off and do the negative things that they do. If everyone could just be accepting and loving to one another, this world could be a better place. I understand that I cannot control other people’s actions, but I can control mine. You could say that reading “Speak” changed me in a lot of ways. I finally get that if you are open and kind to everyone, you can make a lot of new friends and have a lot less enemies. Talking crap about people does not make you “cool” or “popular.” It just shows how low your self esteem is and that you are uncomfortable with yourself. So now it’s up to you, are you going to be the bigger person?