That Girl

 As a little girl of about 7 years old, I started watching the TV series "That Girl" and I cannot believe the impact that it had on me growing up! I grew up wanting to be Ann Marie in the sense that I wanted to grow up and be on my own,  be independent, move away from my parents, have my own apartment with a devoted boyfriend.

So for the past few days I've been binge watching the t v series "That Girl". Prior to my current binging, I have only watched a few episodes as an adult  so this the first time I'm watching this series again in it's entirety through an adult's eyes versus a child's eyes.

One of the comments and criticisms I have heard and  read often about the show is about how Ann Marie she lived in a nice apartment in Manhattan, had nice clothes and how she could afford that? Well this is something I'd never noticed and again until I was watching as an adult but during the first or a second episode when she was leaving her parent's home to move to New York City, she mentioned that she had been a teacher but quit so she could pursue acting. This to me implied that because she lived with her parents, (and I'm sure rent free) that she was able to save money and explains not only why she had nice clothes since teachers did dress nicely back then , but also that she could afford them. But even after moving to New York she did have a job.  She worked as a waitress between acting assignments and then at Macy's department store. It seemed that after that, she started getting pretty regular acting jobs, which I'm sure helped pay for her living expenses, including the clothes that she wore. Remember that booking a commercial or a short terms gig would likely pay enough for her to be able to take care of her obligations but not enough to make her rich or even to be able to save a lot. Many times she mentioned how she was broke or couldn't afford certain things that were even of minimal cost. But I'm sure that's because she spent her extra money on clothes not unlike Carrie Bradshaw who spent all of her money foolishly on expensive shoes.

So let's talk about the clothes. She did have very nice clothes. And as I look back on my growing up even as a teenager and young adult , I think I dressed like her! But while she did have beautiful outfits did anyone else notice that she always wore tights? I mean, she did not dress like a woman. I don't mean that she had to be showing a lot of skin or cleavage, but her style was that of a little girl in and again a little girl in a woman's body. I'm not saying that grown women cannot wear tights, but that's all she wore for the most part, and because she did,  to me at least, it makes her look childish.

I don't think what I'm going to say is going to be very popular but it's really the way I see things and I think most people, if they were to critique the series objectively, they would have to agree.  This is not meant to take away the entertainment value at all of the series. It's just that all of a sudden I am just seeing it so differently.

Here are some of the observations I am noticing now, again through adult eyes that I obviously did not see as a child.

I'm not quite sure where to begin. But one of the most obvious observations is that Ann Marie is really a little girl in a woman's body. In fact, while watching today Don referred to her as a woman and then as a lady and she did not like either of those and wanted to be called a girl. I thought that was very strange but yet very telling.  Now I do recognize the fact that this TV show was made in the 60s and it was the first of its kind in terms of a female, a single female living alone away from her parents in a large city. That's what I appreciated about it as a child and to some degree as an adult, I still do. In saying that I'm really referring to the sexual mores of the time. How is it that a couple like Don and Ann were together for several years and never consummate the relationship? Even for its time the couple would have either broken up, consummated the relationship or just gotten married. I appreciate that there was an awareness that little girls were watching. That's all the more reason where something should have happened. I mean, the series ran for 5 seasons and the whole time Don and Ann were a couple that never shared the same bed. Throughout the show there were references made to that fact. I remember a episode where Ann was shopping for a new bed and she was still looking for a twin bed. Even the salesman questioned her and asked her if she wanted a bigger bed in case she had a guest and she got offended by that question! There was another episode where she was asked if Don were her lover and she replied that he was her boyfriend. I remember the other person asking "isn't that the same thing"?  She  responded" not necessarily"

Even back in those days it would not have been unusual for outsiders to presume that a couple together that long would at least be married or they would have an intimate physical relationship. What I did notice and what was interesting is that there were many times where Don was already there in Ann's apartment in the morning which would imply that he stayed over,  yet I'm sure not in that single bed! There was also the fact that they spent the night many times at the home of Ann's parents. I also recall a time when her mom referred to Ann as a "good girl" , when her father was concerned that she was intimate with Don. 

She had a very overprotective father. He seemed overly concerned about her virtue for someone of her age and for someone who was in a long term relationship with a man. He treated her like a little girl! I man, I get it. I was definitely a "daddy's girl" but as I got older, moved away for college. he acted accordingly. Meaning that he encouraged not just independence but respected the fact that I was an adult and a single adult woman at that. He gave me my freedom. He was protective but not over protective. But Mr Marie treated Ann as if she was still in Junior High school.

I don't know. I was not expecting to feel this way after watching the show in it's entirety for the first time as an adult. I do still like the show and nothing can change the fact that the character of Ann Marie had a huge impact on me as a little girl. But the things I've pointed out really jumped out at me!

I'd love to know what you think! Did you watch That Girl as a child? If so, what were your impressions then? Were they like mine? Have you watch the show in it's entirety as an adult? If so, did you notice any of this?