How others will see it. No matter how old you are, it is still possible to recall the frustration of your teenage years, when your independence and your knowledge of social situations were minimal. You had yet to realize that since no one actually cares about your problems, there's no use in stewing over them. And kids did not disguise their cruelty, as they learn to do as they mature. While the situations are sometimes exaggerated, often enough, a connection is made between the viewer and Dawn. Most viewers will appreciate the irony and black humor.
How I felt about it. Has anyone ever had a mother so shallow, who so patently favors the spoiled, bratty youngest daughter Missy (Kalinina) over the older sister? Or, a brother so obsessed with getting into a 'good school', clueless that connections and personality, not grades, are the secrets to career success? Was anyone ever hated so unfairly by her fellow classmates as Dawn?
The answer to all these questions is yes. Somewhere out there, the mothers are shallow, the daughters bratty, the brothers self-absorbed, and the bullies unrelenting. What makes Dawn special isn't her situation, but her courage. She is only getting through the day, with countless more days of misery ahead, but she still gets up each morning to confront her demons. She may stew and whine, just a little, but she keeps her pluck. That's the lesson in this film for us all. Even when things aren't working and may never work, keep plugging away anyhow. It's all you can do.
There are moments to savor in this movie. Steve has to be paid $200 to sing a dismal love song to Dawn's parents, and I believe he was underpaid, given the insipid lyrics. The news announcer deadpans that the child pervert liked to play Santa Claus during holiday season. Of course!
Best of all, Brandon the bully turns out to be Brandon the outcast, and his bark proves worse than his bite. But Dawn remains unpopular, cursed with a last name fit for taunting and a pair of eyeglasses that make her look nearly as nerdy as her humorless, future-driven older brother.
You will feel sorry for Dawn, and you will cheer her on, even when her adventures are misguided, as is often the case for early teenagers. The knocks of hard life have to be learned. I don't miss junior high at all. I'd rather be 25 again, than 15.