I Lied, Put your clothes back on. We're gonna talk about Tori Spring

Before I begin I want to give a quote that my English teacher had had us write about.

I often warn people: Somewhere along the way, someone is going to tell you, 'There is no "I" in team.' What you should tell them is, 'Maybe not. But there is an "I" in independence, individuality and integrity.' - George Carlin

SPOILERS: As this quote popped up on the board I started thinking as I read it and happened to be reading Solitaire, a book that predates the show 'Heartstopper', which you will see a separate blog post about soon enough. I was watching the show and Tori had always stuck out to me, maybe its the fact that I share the same older sister love she has or maybe it's just cause she wasn't shown much and we always want what we don't have. As we didn't get many scenes or a very good look into her life. Anyways, (this upcoming part i wrote so well while I was taking my PSAT but then had to give in my scrap paper 😞so I'm writing from memory bear with me) Tori is a non-conformist in an average society, she doesn't do it on purpose. She dislikes small-talk and crush culture (yes, Conan Gray reference) She is upset and almost guilty that she can't help more with the situation that happened with Ben and the damage that Solitaire ends up doing. I think this guilt fuels her depression but why? Why does Tori all of the sudden care so much about helping and doing the right thing? I think the obvious answer is that Michael Holden enters her life. He changes Tori's perspective on life and makes her rethink how she acts, “The problem is that people don't act. The problem is that I don't act. I just sit here, doing nothing, assuming that someone else is going to make things better." (Alice Oseman, Solitaire) I think she wonders if she is more caring than she thinks she is, as she calls herself uncaring and basically heartless as she says she never feels anything (remember this.) To Tori, Michael seems basically perfect. She sees him as an optimist and always curious. He is always up for an adventure and is a an overall cheerful person (she learns this after she has met him for herself and forms her own opinion not based off of anything Nick had said previously in the book.) Looking at Michaels perspective on life gives Tori a reality check and she starts to care more about other people. I think that before Michael had been introduced to her she would have not cared about Ben being beaten up, maybe would have just left and done nothing about it. I think she gave all her love to Charlie before Michael. She didn't see a reason to give her love to anything or anyone else. Now she is almost trying to make herself better after meeting Michael. Anyways, we find out that Tori had a false judgment of Michael and we learn that he is actually a very angry person. Tori thinks that we are all slightly angry people all the time but it often gets overshadowed by other things. I think this is interesting because I agree, we all have the capability to be angry and be crude towards people but it only comes out when we truly care so much that it hurts. We see this in Michael with his speed skating and even in the show with Tori towards David when he says some nasty stuff about Charlie. Then in Nick when he is fighting with Charlie about him not eating. I think anger being a harsh and frowned upon emotion is reasonable "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God" James 1:19-20. I think the bible tells us to be slow to anger because we do things we don't mean to, similar to why it tells us not to be drunk. When we are angry we do things we don't mean to simply show emotion. Obviously anger is bad for all sorts of reasons, our emotions are good comfort but horrible guidance. Anyways, I think that Tori is a very intriguing character in herself, and I would love to see a Solitaire movie at some point I think Jenny Walser is a great actress and plays Tori incredibly well.

Signing off,

Hailey <3