SVH #22: Too Much in Love (Revisited)

“I’m always objective,” Jessica said. “Can I help it if DeeDee’s a total weirdo?”

DeeDee looks like a 40 year old divorcee

Details: Originally published by Bantam Books in August 1985. Paperback, 153 pages.

Summary/Overview: DeeDee Gordon and Bill Chase have been going steady for a while, and it seems as though DeeDee has thrown herself into the relationship a bit too much. She’s stopped attending design classes that she loved and obsesses over the next time she’ll get to see Bill. When Liz asks DeeDee to help with the sets for the upcoming school talent show, she first says no, afraid it will take her away from Bill, who has become busy with a history project and the swim team. When her best friend Patty Gilbert really pushes her to do it, DeeDee agrees, but her heart’s not in it.

When DeeDee finds out that Bill went to a matinee with Dana Larson, his friend, she flies off the handle. Bill tells DeeDee that they need to take a break, that he’s worried she’s lost herself in the relationship. DeeDee is despondent, and clings to Liz for help with every decision related to the talent show sets. Liz and Patty plot to get DeeDee feeling confident again: Liz feigns laryngitis and asks DeeDee to fill in as the director/organizer. DeeDee is horrified at first but finds a groove and herself in the process.

The talent show is a success, and Bill comes back to DeeDee. They make up.

The B-Plot: Ned and Alice decide to take a trip to Mexico and leave the twins home alone. Jessica immediately breaks the washing machine by overloading it and starts a small grease fire in the kitchen. But when she and Lila decide to throw a party and invite Lila’s frat boy boyfriend and his friends, things go really off the rails. The party spins out control and Alice’s favorite crystal vase is smashed, and the design plans she’s been working on are destroyed by spilled beer. Steven shows up in time to keep the police from arresting anyone, but they’re unsure what to do about the designs. Jessica begs DeeDee to help redo the plans, and she saves the day in the nick of time.

The German Cover – “This Girl is Killing Me” (this is the literal translation I swear!)

DeeDee shook her head. “In this case, I think the end really does justify the means,” she said slowly. “You had to take an extreme measure because I was really a mess. I needed to be jolted back to reality. And all I can do is thank you.”

Sweet Valley Social Calendar:
Estimated Elapsed Time: 2 weeks
– SVH Talent Show
– Party at Jessica and Elizabeth’s
– Swim meet (Bill wins)

Trivia:
– Talent show acts: Patty Gilbert does a modern dance (using music from West Side Story), Winston and Ken do a magic act, Todd wants to do stand-up but reads a poem (he doesn’t even memorize it)
– Bill is helping Mr. Fellows, the history teacher, with a special project about the Civil War
– Lila is still dating Drake Howard, a college guy

Pop Culture:
– The Bronte Sisters
– Romeo & Juliet
– My Little Chickadee/W.C. Fields
– Hitchcock/The Birds/Psycho
– Philadelphia Story/James Cagney/Katharine Hepburn
– Truffault
– Duck Soup/The Marx Brothers
– West Side Story

Does it hold up? (A totally unqualified critical analysis)
Oh, woof. This is a case of weak characterization meeting a plot that feels incredibly low-stakes. The result is a pretty boring slog (I flew through this in one sitting because I was afraid if I didn’t get it done I’d never want to pick it back up). The books about DeeDee and Bill are boring! I will not be taking questions at this time!

The problem is really in the book’s characterization, I think. We’re told that DeeDee has always been independent, but we don’t have much evidence of that (she did almost drown that one time because she was trying to learn to surf by herself). We’re given a lot more information about DeeDee’s increasing reliance on Bill for everything, and the book does its best to rationalize this by letting us know that DeeDee’s mother has said her marriage ended because she stopped making time for her husband and that DeeDee’s design teacher also shared something similar about her own marriage (a wildly inappropriate overshare in my opinion), and that these things have made DeeDee panic about her own relationship. But like, DeeDee is sixteen, and would she really be this worried about losing her boyfriend, especially when he’s made it clear he’s super into her (he’s just busy with extra-curriculars)?

I don’t know! What I do know is that DeeDee doesn’t need a project; she needs THERAPY! I cannot tell you how many times I yelled, “Liz, DeeDee doesn’t need to paint sets, she needs to see a therapist!” while reading this. There’s definitely some weird daddy issues here, and there’s also some wild self-esteem issues at play, and while I’m glad that DeeDee rediscovered her love for design, I don’t think distracting herself with a project is going to ultimately fix what might need mending here.