Step into the baggy work pants of Harriet M. Welsch circa 6th grade and you’ll notice that your cozy, familiar world is transforming. Everything seems more complicated and more fraught with expectation. You’re breaking taboos you didn’t know existed simply by inching over the amorphous, invisible line that separates childhood from adulthood. (Hint: most people won't react well when they learn that you record all their dirt in your diary.)
Harriet the Spy’s charm comes from its liberal sprinkling of ‘90s ephemera across a sturdy coming-of-age narrative born in the ‘60s, though these days Harriet’s tech-free lifestyle feels just as quaint as its optimistically orderly urban setting. But even if city kids grow up faster than others, the point remains that they eventually realize they're part of a bigger picture and have to cope with it somehow. In this episode, we navigate the pitfalls of preadolescence along with special guest
Blythe Wolber, and come to understand what it's like to walk a mile in someone else's Dickies.
Harriet the Spy (1996)
Directed by Bronwen Hughes
Produced by Marykay Powell
Written by Douglas Petrie and Theresa Rebeck
Based on the book
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Starring Michelle Trachtenberg, Gregory Smith, Vanessa Lee Chester, J. Smith-Cameron, Robert Joy, and Rosie O'Donnell
