Date of airing: August 31, 2001 (Disney Channel)
written by: Melissa Gould
directed by: Ellen Falcon Gittelsohn
Lizzie and Sam were spending some father/daughter time together. That is very cute, and it is something I am going to have to remember doing as well, in case I will ever have children (the chances for that are pretty much zero), just so I can prove to myself that I am the complete opposite of my parents who never spent time with me. I loved the story, as it was realistic and honest and almost romantic, in a parenting way.
I like it when fictional parents try to make up with their kids and spend some quality time together, and since I am kind of a virgin when it comes to loving and respectable parent/child interactions, I never got the parental love Lizzie was getting in this episode, and that could explain why I am suffering from social anxiety these days. Okay, my parents and I tripped to the Hanover World Expo in 2000 and went to Europa Park at some point (it is one of the more popular amusement parks in Germany), which were memorable trips for me, but except for those and a few trips to the cinema, there is not really anything I would consider parent/child time in my life, and looking at that premise through scripted television, I am realizing how much I would have loved taking part in these activities more often. And not just because I would have loved realizing that my parents did care about me. But they never did, and now that I am realizing all of this while watching LIZZIE McGUIRE, I am getting envious of the life of a fictional t(w)eenager having the best time of her life, even though she sees it as the worst time of her life.
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| This is one way to whitewash a black character. |
I also liked the conflict Lizzie was in and how she resolved it, albeit in somewhat of an absurd way. Instead of bringing Sam along to Friday night bowling so she can get close to Ethan, she simply could have rescheduled her date with her father for Saturday. She believed at the beginning that the bowling outing was on a Saturday, right? I was kind of laughing why Lizzie did not just reschedule her father/daughter night out to the next day, as it would not have broken any hearts and Sam still would have had the opportunity to spend quality time with his daughter, even if the bowling outing happened to be more interesting in the long run.
He was in the background of Lizzie hanging with her friends, getting to know her a little in the process, while Lizzie learns what it is like to also spend some time with half of the parental units. Sam not only had quality time with Lizzie, but he also watched her interacting with her friends, which means he learned something about her life. Then again, is it not normally awkward to have a parent with you when you are out with your friends? Was there no sense of shame for Lizzie to drag her father along while she was putting all the effort into throwing herself into Ethan’s arms and being flirty around him? Were Lizzie’s friends not “bothered” by that one parental unit’s presence (who may have seen Sam as a chaperone of sorts), or was Ethan quite joyful and jolly with Lizzie’s father around?
Gordo’s side plot was okay, although his back story emergency sounded like it was a G-rated version of the penis-stuck-in-zipper incident from THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, as getting your fingers stuck in a bowling ball is an equally ludicrous (and the least funny) premise. Still, it had Gordo and Miranda hang out for a few seconds and spend time together as friends, while Lizzie was too busy dreaming of her wedding day with Ethan, and that makes me think Miranda and Gordon are going to date first before Gordo lands with Lizzie, which is still something I believe will happen. Besides that, it does not hurt the show when Gordo and Miranda are embroiled in their own little adventure every once in a while, because it would mean the show is not always about the titular character, and it would further the agenda of the show’s small, but talented, ensemble cast.
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| On American television, recreational bowlers bowl with patriotism. |
And finally, there was whatever Matt was doing. I yawned once more. I am pretty sure I am going to say that every time this boy has screentime, and I am also sure I will mention again and again that Matt is so far the worst-ever Disney Channel character I have encountered (side note: Nevel from iCARLY is the worst-ever character in a kids’ show I have ever encountered). Seriously, this kid needs better stories, and I need an explanation of why Lanny was naked and wrapped in a towel on the couch when he planned to trick Lizzie into a scenario that could prove important for Matt and Lanny’s plan to go up against their bully. That was a weird moment for a second. Even more so, Lanny continues to be mute, and let’s not forget that the image of an African-American character not speaking a single word in a TV series is a pretty bad image to shop around. If Twitter finds the existence of LIZZIE McGUIRE and realizes what kind of character Lanny is, the show is going to get canceled real quick.
