Justin: "Feel my aura."
Vada: "I don’t think I’m allowed to."
I watched My Girl again recently. It made me cry. This film kind of represents my childhood – it came out when I was six or seven, and was the first film that I deeply loved. I went through a phase of dressing exactly like tomboy Vada, to the point where I got teased about it. Jeans cut off at the knee, Chucks with socks, peasant blouses, overalls, tucked in check shirts, ponytail, mood ring. I'd dance around my room to the killer soundtrack, and ride my bike around wishing that I had a nerdy best friend called Thomas J. When My Girl 2 came out it was a major event for me; too bad that it sucked.
But while the sequel may have lacked a certain something, I absolutely love the original film’s sense of innocence and nostalgia: first crush, first kiss, first period, 'running away', hazy summer holidays where everything and nothing happens. It reminds me of a carefree time when career and financial stresses didn’t exist, when it didn’t matter what you were wearing, and when the biggest pressure was deciding whether it was time to go home for tea. It may also be the reason why I am terrified of bees.
