Judy
By: Kayla Hammond
Lonely
Judy is a lonely individual for many reasons, one of them being her quick upset response to her father not giving her the level of attention she wanted. Throughout the movie it is clear that Judy is in constant need of affection and or attention from her boyfriend Buzz. Towards the end of the movie, after the passing of Buzz, Judy says to Jim, "He needed you Jim, but so do I." Showing that even though Plato, their friend, was in need of affection from them, Judy made the situation about herself due to her need for attention caused by her loneliness.
Fake
Judy's relationship with Buzz in the beginning of the movie shows just how fake she is. She is shown blindly following her boyfriend Buzz and her decisions, making it appear she doesn't have opinions of her own. Towards the end of the movie Judy says, "Is this what is feels like to fall in love?" She makes this comment to Jim within hours of her boyfriend Buzz dying, showing that she couldn't have been in a real relationship with her previous boyfriend. Judy's instant attachment to Jim after her boyfriends death is just another example of her being fake.
Bully
Judy might not appear as a physical bully in the movie, but her silent actions make her fit this trait quite perfectly. She begins by pushing Jim and Buzz into a knife fight, where her smile appears to widen as the fight continues. Judy was also so in favor of the "chickie run" that she was the signal for the boys to begin driving towards the dangerous cliff. Not only is Judy a silent bully by pushing actions upon others, she also is an emotional bully. The viewers can see this with her ability to mess with Jim's feelings while still being in a committed relationship with someone else.
Judy's Underlying Challenges
Although Judy may play a role where others envy her life, she has a very prevalent family issue that she is trying to overcome throughout the movie. Judy, like many other characters in the movie, is having issues with her family. Judy's main conflict is that she believes she isn't receiving enough affection from her father. Since Judy is getting older, her father no longer treats her like the little girl she used to be. This treatment from her father creates lots of tension and opens up ways for Judy to misbehave in protest against this unfair treatment from her father.
Judy's Transformation
Judy was upset that she wasn't receiving as much attention from her father but, I think she grew during the movie to understand that she can receive attention from others that make her feel the same pleasure. Judy says towards the end of the movie to Jim, "All this time I've been looking for someone to love me, and now I love somebody." Judy confesses her love to Jim, making her realize that it's so easy to love him. This love in the end is what brings her happiness and transforms her attitude towards affection solely from her father.
The Mansion
The mansion was an example of the ability to escape from society. The mansion was discovered by Plato at a young age, this is where he would go to run away from what he thought was his "unhappy family." The mansion began to be Plato's safe place when he needed to get away from society and all of the people within their society. Plato's decision to share his mansion with Jim, was just a way for Plato to show his trust in Jim and how much he really wanted Jim to be a part of his life. When Judy, Jim, and Plato all went to the mansion, it was a way for them to escape from their problems that were occurring within society. The mansion acted as a safe place for those who knew about it, before Buzz's friends bombarded it in search of Jim.
Conformity vs. Individuality
I think the largest theme in the movie is that of conformity vs. individuality. The movie revolves around Jim and his character's life. The viewers learn that the reason for Jim's constant moving of schools is due to his inability to make friends with the right crowd, an example of how his parents decided to deal with this conformity. In the beginning of the movie Judy is shown to be a part of a friend group that may not make the best decisions having started a fight with the new kid on his first day. Judy conforms to the people she is surrounded by until the end of the movie when Buzz dies she realizes that she is allowed to make her own decisions and be an individual. Jim originally tries to be a part of Judy's misfit group of friends by making jokes during the movie in an attempt to conform to the personalities of those in the group. Jim also does the chickie run in an attempt to conform to the friend groups ideals, meaning he must be strong and not a chicken to be one of them. Jim's ability to continue being friends with Plato, even though no one has wanted to be his friend previously, is a great example of his individuality.