100 Kick-Ass Female Characters: #63
63. Beverly Donofrio, as seen in the memoir Riding in Cars With Boys by Beverly Donofrio and the film Riding in Cars With Boys, portrayed by Drew Barrymore
Full disclosure: I have not actually read the book the movie is based on; it has been on my "to read" list forever, but I've never actually been able to find a copy in a bookstore. I have, however, seen this movie about a thousand times, so this post is about to movie rather than the book and movie like most of these entries.
Beverly has always been a bit boy crazy. Growing up in a strict Italian family where her father is a police officer and her mother is a housewife, Beverly has always aspired to go to college and become a writer. But when she is 15, she has sex with a guy named Ray who is nice to her after being humiliated at a party and gets pregnant. After sliding down the stairs on her butt does not cause a miscarriage as she hoped it would, Beverly has to tell Ray she is pregnant, and he proposes. Marrying is the last thing Beverly wants, and, when she gives birth to a little boy named Jason, she quickly realizes just how out of her depth she is. She and Ray live in a small, shitty house in what isn't the best part of town, and, while she is always working her butt off, Ray is lazy and unreliable, even refusing to watch Jason so she could interview for a college scholarship. There are often times where it's obvious Beverly resents Jason for keeping her from what she wants, but it is also obvious she loves her son. When Ray, now a heroin addict, abandons Beverly and Jason, Beverly has to turn to alternative methods of making money, such as using her oven to dry out pot; Jason tells his grandfather about this, and he arrests both Beverly and her best friend Amelia, whose family only bails her out of jail if Fay agrees to stay away from Beverly, which also strips Jason of his best friend, Fay's daughter Amelia.
The entire movie is framed in the present with flashbacks to the past. In the present, Beverly has written an autobiography and needs to get Ray to sign a release to use his name. Ray is now deeply into heroin addiction, his teeth have rotted from his mouth, and, while his girlfriend forbids him from signing it, he does it as one last kindness to Beverly. Beverly also finds out Jason is moving to Indiana to be closer to Amelia, whom he is in love with, and it is the first time mother and son have ever been separated. She gives him her blessing to go, and the movie ends the way it began with Beverly riding in the car with her father.
What I love about Bev is her story and depiction of teen pregnancy is one of the few stories which feels real. Usually when teenage pregnancy is shown in the media, the mother is either a complete mess (doesn't take care of her kid, parties all the time, total fuck-up) or selflessly sacrifices everything to raise her child and lives happily ever after with the baby's father (ie: Cheyenne from "Reba") The truth for most women is somewhere very much in between; they mess up and they're out of their depth, but they genuinely try, and, while their parenting choices aren't always great, they don't stop trying. Bev raises Jason without an real help; she has a rocky relationship with her parents, so they are rarely an option, and Ray is essentially useless to her. She works dead end jobs to put herself through night school and Jason through college, and she never stops working for what she wants. Sure, Bev isn't the best mother there is, but perfection wasn't required to raise a wonderful kid, which is exactly what Jason is. Bev's path is certainly not traditional, but she never stops trying to accomplish all the things she set out to do as a teenager, albeit on a wildly different time table.
And that's a type of kick-ass which needs to be showcased more instead of the constant shaming teen mothers receive.
Full disclosure: I have not actually read the book the movie is based on; it has been on my "to read" list forever, but I've never actually been able to find a copy in a bookstore. I have, however, seen this movie about a thousand times, so this post is about to movie rather than the book and movie like most of these entries.
Beverly has always been a bit boy crazy. Growing up in a strict Italian family where her father is a police officer and her mother is a housewife, Beverly has always aspired to go to college and become a writer. But when she is 15, she has sex with a guy named Ray who is nice to her after being humiliated at a party and gets pregnant. After sliding down the stairs on her butt does not cause a miscarriage as she hoped it would, Beverly has to tell Ray she is pregnant, and he proposes. Marrying is the last thing Beverly wants, and, when she gives birth to a little boy named Jason, she quickly realizes just how out of her depth she is. She and Ray live in a small, shitty house in what isn't the best part of town, and, while she is always working her butt off, Ray is lazy and unreliable, even refusing to watch Jason so she could interview for a college scholarship. There are often times where it's obvious Beverly resents Jason for keeping her from what she wants, but it is also obvious she loves her son. When Ray, now a heroin addict, abandons Beverly and Jason, Beverly has to turn to alternative methods of making money, such as using her oven to dry out pot; Jason tells his grandfather about this, and he arrests both Beverly and her best friend Amelia, whose family only bails her out of jail if Fay agrees to stay away from Beverly, which also strips Jason of his best friend, Fay's daughter Amelia.
The entire movie is framed in the present with flashbacks to the past. In the present, Beverly has written an autobiography and needs to get Ray to sign a release to use his name. Ray is now deeply into heroin addiction, his teeth have rotted from his mouth, and, while his girlfriend forbids him from signing it, he does it as one last kindness to Beverly. Beverly also finds out Jason is moving to Indiana to be closer to Amelia, whom he is in love with, and it is the first time mother and son have ever been separated. She gives him her blessing to go, and the movie ends the way it began with Beverly riding in the car with her father.
What I love about Bev is her story and depiction of teen pregnancy is one of the few stories which feels real. Usually when teenage pregnancy is shown in the media, the mother is either a complete mess (doesn't take care of her kid, parties all the time, total fuck-up) or selflessly sacrifices everything to raise her child and lives happily ever after with the baby's father (ie: Cheyenne from "Reba") The truth for most women is somewhere very much in between; they mess up and they're out of their depth, but they genuinely try, and, while their parenting choices aren't always great, they don't stop trying. Bev raises Jason without an real help; she has a rocky relationship with her parents, so they are rarely an option, and Ray is essentially useless to her. She works dead end jobs to put herself through night school and Jason through college, and she never stops working for what she wants. Sure, Bev isn't the best mother there is, but perfection wasn't required to raise a wonderful kid, which is exactly what Jason is. Bev's path is certainly not traditional, but she never stops trying to accomplish all the things she set out to do as a teenager, albeit on a wildly different time table.
And that's a type of kick-ass which needs to be showcased more instead of the constant shaming teen mothers receive.