The bullying storyline involving Bethany and Lauren, plus a few of Lauren's hangers on, has, in my view been brought to us most effectively. Teenagers are complex creatures and we should never believe the mother or father who claims to know everything about their teenager and tell you how very close they are. One aspect of a teenager's life that is very well developed is the art of cunning. They allow those at home or at school to know only what they want people to know. They dissemble frequently.
At home and amongst her family, Bethany can be a real annoyance. She is rude, self-absorbed and embarrassed by her family, as most teenagers are, at least to some extent. The arrival of baby Harry though has been good for her. She has really taken to her little brother. So it was particularly upsetting to Bethany that Lauren and her crew took it upon themselves to insult Harry. The insult though,wasn't really directed at Harry, but was merely a device to maximise the bullying of Bethany and to further undermine her.
It has been interesting, though at times disturbing, to see Bethany in another light. At home she is confident, even cocky, but surrounded by these mean girls, we can clearly witness her terror. The scenes are well acted, credible and happen every day - if not face to face then in cyber world through social media. One positive aspect to come out of the bullying is that Bethany now seems more likeable and certainly more vulnerable.
How gratifying then that the hero Luke - tall, dark and handsome - driving a swish car to boot, should pull up, invite Bethany in and leave in their wake, the mean girls open-mouthed with surprise and envy.
Ruth, twitter @ruth1722
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18 comments:
Is this finally going to be the end of this long, drawn out storyline? I don't understand why Bethany doesn't appear to have any friends at all? She isn't a bad kid, quite attractive you'd think the boys would be all over her. I realize bullying happens a lot, it happened to me and members of my family and it is tragic. I would like to see Bethany be happy and make some friends, have a life outside her dysfunctional family.
My first thought was that this could be the start of Bethany developing a schoolgirl crush on Luke.
There are two types of people in this world - the bully and the bullied.
Bethany strikes me as the former rather than the latter.
However, all she needs do is take out the ringleader ie punch her lights out either physically or verbally, the rest would run a mile and never bother her again. Always with bullies, go for the trappy one!
We know bullying happens everyday. I spent a large part of my career helping victims of bullying who had dropped out of school. Nevertheless, and I will keep saying it, the fact that it happens to our loved ones or we read about the tragic consequences does not make a fictional character any more plausible. We know so little about Bethany's time in Milan. What caused her to flee to Weatherfield; was she bullied in Milan? She was totally unbelievable as a third culture kid (a commenter has previously given us a very clear explanation of how such children manage their situation). She had a broader accent than her mother's, and I don't remember her ever boasting of the superior food and fashion of Milan compared to Weatherfield's finest. Surely that would have been something a bolshy teenager like Bethany would do when it suited her. It seems like the writers wanted us to forget that she ever lived abroad and that was why she wasn't authentic and still isn't. I'd hoped the bullying was a lead-in to her and her mother's return to Milan. Maybe it still is but it's looking less likely. Bethany really needs a friend so that we hear her talking about her feelings. It worked so well with Faye and Craig, and really made Faye a much more sympathetic character. Sarah had Candice, and Bethany should have a female friend about her own age. As it stands, couldn't care less about Bethany (but I do care very much about real-life bullying)and the rest of her family.
Bethany is a good actress. Her character has evolved, like most new characters do. She is more believable as Sarah's daughter now.
Most likely a lead in to a triangle with Luke, Maria, and Bethany--she must be 16 now? Trying to calculate Luke's age, but if he's Stephanie's younger brother that makes him younger than 21. Much closer in age to Bethany than Maria.
Don't know why else he'd be featured so prominently.
Bullies sometimes target very attractive girls, if they are new and isolated (as Bethany is). Coming from a different country and being perceived as different and stuck-up makes it worse. So, I think it would be quite plausible that she'd be picked on by the jealous girls who have been in the school for ages and are used to ruling the roost--they don't want to be upstaged by this pretty newcomer.
Anonymous[15;41]I think Luke is older than Steph as he seems to be the protective older brother hence his concern for Bethany.
I do agree that Bethany will develop a crush on Luke and perhaps she'll suddenly popular for having a good looking friend with a nice car?
As for Bethany running away,my theory is that she felt neglected by her mother who seems more concerned about her love life.
I mean when Sarah returned looking for her daughter,she immediately gotten involved with Callum.
I think Luke is older than Steph though she tends to "mother" him. He's still a bit younger than Maria, though, who must be about 30 by now. Steph just turned 21 and I calculate Luke at about 23 or 24, similar in age to Andy.
As to why Bethany doesn't have any friends at all, I suppose coming in as the new kid and feeling really out of place makes it that much harder to make friends and yes, maybe she was also bullied in Milan. She'd likely be more of a loner in school and reluctant to make friends perhaps. I really like the connection she has with Todd as her former father-figure. Yes she'll be 16 in June, in between Faye's and Craig's age.
Well I hope they do not end the story in an unbelievable way like Faye. Remember the tormentors saw the baby and boom....awww ...so cute...bullying over.
I can't begin to tell you how upset it makes me regarding the bullying. Furthermore I can't understand why Bethany hasn't smacked the leader or pushed her back very hard because it is a known fact that bullies are cowards and if a person stands up for themselves the bully finds someone else to terrorise. This all happened to me and for some reason I went totally mental and pushed the girl away from me so hard she fell on the ground and then I told her if she ever spoke to me like that again she would not live to talk about it......lol. I have no idea where, as a young girl, I found the courage to do that. Makes me think that I could have been the most celebrated bully ever. I suppose having 4 older brothers taught me how to stand up for myself even though they are great brothers they have a predilection towards excessive teasing.
I won't be satisfied until the lead bully in that group gets thrown out of school and forced to go to therapy to get the help she so sorrowfully needs.
I agree Luke seems older than Steph, but I think I remember her referring to him as her baby brother a number of times, especially when he first appeared on the show.
Not sure though...couldn't find birth dates for the fictional Luke character on line.
I feel the storyline is quite contrived. We haven't really heard of these girls before and being a teenager myself, this stuff doesn't really happen in high schools as much as some people may think. The whole "Nick Assault" thing was stupid and to be honest, I'll be glad when this is over.
I have now stepped into Team Bethany side...was NOT a fan when she first appeared with her Mom....too nasty....too much make-up....just TOO TOO....however....she has toned things down...scraped off most of the slap and is showing her vulnerable and soft side....well done writers! I am liking the NEW Bethany!
I also find this story quite contrived, particularly with Bethany's behaviour upon arrival - she was definitely bully material. While it may seem like a simple solution to thump the ringleader one and send the bullies scattering, the reality is that in today's age Bethany would be the one to end up in Court under charges and/or blamed for causing a ruckus rather than telling a teacher or other responsible adult. Besides, violence begets violence so maybe the bully's big-sister would come after Bethany - just makes matters worse.
This story is quite contrived to get the viewers to like/empathize with the character. If this blog is an encapsulated universe of typical Corrie viewers then they needed to do something to get people to like/empathize with her, most comments about the character have been negative until now.
I love the evolved Bethany. I totally believe she is a teenager now. I love the different sides to her character. I don't think anything romantic will happen between Luke and Bethany, she's too young. But wow. Luke is a "top bloke." He's so kind to everyone. Get him away from the boring Maria.
Anon at 01:03, trust me, take the bully ringleader out, that would be the end of it. The bully would not want to admit to anyone, let alone a big sister, that she had been beaten at her own game.
This storyline has definitely led to the 'believability' of Bethany as a teenager. I think just about everyone's been through something like this at one point in their lives.
Gold stars to Luke for putting them in their place.
I couldn't believe the brass neck on Lauren's mother, after all the anguish her gobby daughter has caused, to barge into Chez Platt and complain about a broken shampoo bottle! Her daughter was literally on Bethany's doorstep bullying her - if Bethany was my daughter, Lauren would be lucky that a shampoo bottle was all that got broken!
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