Is a dishonest win REALLY a win?
The only thing harder than getting in, is staying in... even for Massie Block.
Welcome back to OCD, where the drama is getting wild!
Okay, so we’re at the point in the story where…
Claire hacks into Massie’s Instant Messenger and says evil things to the girls as Massie. “Massie” also starts a denim-over-tights trend at OCD, which BTW, was inspired by Lisi’s denim-over-tights phase at Emerson College. Within minutes, the Pretty Committee is convinced that Massie has betrayed their trust and that Claire is their real friend. Meanwhile, Claire is the one who is actually betraying everyone’s trust. Why? To get in with the Pretty Committee and to pay Massie back for being so nasty. And it worked. Claire was in, and Massie was more out than a pink pashmina.
But was the win really a win?
When Claire steals Massie’s place at the (lunch) table, she feels no remorse. Should she? Did Massie have it coming? Did Claire deserve a win by any means necessary? Who were you rooting for in these chapters?
Why do you think TPC was so quick to jump ship and align with Claire?
Have you had moments in adult life where you did something wrong but justified it because you deserved the win? (Fighting for a promotion, social climbing, cheating on a partner?)
LFG! (Let’s F-ing Gossip!)
xoxo,
Lisi & Ellen
My girl Claire was fed tf up. And we’ve all been there. The point where you have tried, tried, tried and yet there is no winning with this individual or situation. She resolved in her mind that the necessary solution was to be exactly like the person who was against her. No, be better. Outthink and maneuver. (Who said middle school wasn’t like the art of war? It so very much was.) And chillleeeee, the TPC (like the royal court when the kings or queens fell from mighty power), secretly have been waiting for it for so long. The backhanded compliments, the whispered judgment of outfits not fitting Massie’s standards, or hiding the fact of simply just being or enjoying something that didn’t fit the “norm” was exhausting (secretly of course). TPC was ready for this shuffle. I, personally, have felt this in corporate life or even in friend dynamics. Trying to appease against the machine or individual that seems very set against you. Sometimes it makes you want to get “the win” even if it changes who you are briefly in that moment.
I'm going to combine my answers to prompt one and three. I feel that a win by any means necessary can sometimes (often) feel empty- at what cost did you win? I can say there are arguments in my life I may have "won" but I feel pretty bad about after for what was said. In those cases, it didn't justify. Does it matter that you won if you hurt someone you love in the process? I've even had times in life when I took a cheap shot at someone who I didn't like. It felt pretty good in the moment, but later on felt embarrassed that I stooped to trying to make someone else feel small. In these chapters there wasn't anyone who I could truly root for 100%. It felt kinda good to see Massie get a taste of her own medicine, but that novelty quickly wore off. I also felt disappointed with Claire but also knew where she was coming from. Its the complexity of being human.