History Fridge / BridgeToTerabithia

** Maybe a tiny bit of FridgeBrilliance could come from the fact that they only told Jesse that she [[spoiler:was knocked out]] to make him feel better vs him hearing that she [[spoiler:died horribly]] by making it seem that she didn't see it coming

* The story depicts Jesse's survivor's guilt over [[spoiler:Leslie's death]], but, as an adult, one realizes that there was plenty of that survivor's guilt to go around. After all, despite Jesse's and Leslie's belief that their activities were a secret, it turned out that everyone, particularly the parents, knew about it. Specifically, the parents knew that their kids were swinging on a rope to go play across the creek. Once [[spoiler:Leslie dies, it really has to eat at them that they didn't put a stop to things before it got out of hand. After all, Jesse and Leslie are both kids; they can't be expected to know how dangerous it was to swing on a rope across a creek; that's what parents are for. No doubt Leslie's parents are beating themselves up over not seeing this coming and losing their daughter as a result. Meanwhile, Jesse's parents have to face the fact that, because of their inaction, their son dodged a bullet -- that ended up killing someone else's kid.]]

* The story depicts Jesse's survivor's guilt over [[spoiler:Leslie's death]], but, as an adult, one realizes that there was plenty of that survivor's guilt to go around. After all, despite Jesse's and Leslie's belief that their activities were a secret, it turned out that everyone, particularly the parents, knew about it. Specifically, the parents knew that their kids were swinging on a rope to go play across the creek. Once [[spoiler:Leslie dies, it really has to eat at them that they didn't put a stop to things before it got out of hand. After all, Jesse and Leslie are both kids; they can't be expected to know how dangerous their activities were; that's what adults are for. No doubt Leslie's parents are beating themselves up over not seeing this coming and losing their daughter as a result. Meanwhile, Jesse's parents have to face the fact that their son dodged a bullet -- that ended up killing someone else's kid.]]

** This is actually implied in the story. [[spoiler:When Jesse comes home from the museum, his parents have been thinking he was dead all day. Why? Leslie was found dead in the creek and Jesse was nowhere to be found. The conclusion: As soon as Leslie fell in the creek, Jesse tried to be a hero and went in to save her, getting himself killed for his troubles with his body being washed away.]]

* Miss Edmunds is probably going to know that [[spoiler: Leslie died while she was at the museum with Jess. When she finds this out, she's going to be torturing herself for wondering why she didn't invite Leslie too]]. Though Leslie is invited in the book too, but not in the film.

* Miss Edmunds is probably going to know that [[spoiler: Leslie died while she was at the museum with Jess. When she finds this out, she's going to be torturing herself for wondering why she didn't invite Leslie too]]. Though Leslie is invited in the book too, but not in the film.

* This is most likely unintentional, but there is a scene where Jess contemplates whether [[spoiler: Leslie felt fear before she died]]. As a child, this seems sad, but silly as you accept the explanation by Jess' Father ([[spoiler: she hit her head, was knocked out and ''that's'' why she died - so she didn't have '''time''' for fear]] at face value. But after this troper read a couple of other books, and heard a couple of warnings about fast water, he think that actually, this explanation is improbable - [[spoiler: by such a high stand rocks would be too deep to hit when falling just a few meters]]. Far more likely is that [[spoiler: she was unable to reach the shore because of the current pull effect (current is fastest in the middle, and anybody in water is drawn towards it) and that her limbs went numb from exhaustion and hypothermia (it was April and rain water is surely cold). So instead of a swift, almost painless death you get a long, hopeless struggle coupled with ''plenty'' of horror and despair.]] Good read.

* A little bit of a horrifying FridgeBrilliance that might have an explanation to why [[spoiler: the death is changed up]]. In real life, [[spoiler:Lisa Hill (Leslie's inspiration) was struck by lightning and died]]. Now, while the main reason why this was changed to a [[spoiler:drowning]] was [[spoiler: so it would seem [[RealityIsUnrealistic more realistic]],]] keep in mind that one of the themes brought up was "[[spoiler:what happens after a non-Christian dies?", with the overall idea that they go to hell. Lightning bolts are usually associated with [[BoltOfDivineRetribution God delivering judgement]].]] Thankfully, one of the characters brings up that [[spoiler:[[GodIsGood God's probably not going to let Leslie burn in hell]], because otherwise, [[spoiler: if the lightning bolt death ''was'' kept]], some people might think that God was [[JerkassGods having his cake]] and [[GodIsEvil eating it too]].]]

* A little bit of a horrifying FridgeBrilliance that might have an explanation to why [[spoiler: the death is changed up]]. In real life, [[spoiler:Lisa Hill (Leslie's inspiration) was struck by lightning and died]]. Now, while this was changed to a [[spoiler:more realistic death]], keep in mind that one of the themes brought up was "[[spoiler:what happens after a non-Christian dies?", with the overall idea that they go to hell. Lightning bolts are usually associated with [[BoltOfDivineRetribution God delivering judgement]].]] Thankfully, one of the characters brings up that [[spoiler:[[GodIsGood God's probably not going to let Leslie burn in hell]], because otherwise, if the lightning bolt death ''was'' kept, some people might think that God was [[JerkassGods having his cake]] and [[GodIsEvil eating it too]].]]

* This is most likely unintentional, but there is a scene where Jess contemplates whether [[spoiler: Leslie felt fear before she died]]. As a child, this seems sad, but silly as you accept the explanation by Jess' Father ([[spoiler: she hit her head, was knocked out and ''that's'' why she died - so she didn't have '''time''' for fear]] at face value. But after this troper read a couple of other books, and heard a couple of warnings about fast water, he think that actually, this explanation is improbable - [[spoiler: by such a high stand rocks would be too deep to hit when falling just a few meters]]. Far more likely is that [[spoiler: she was unable to reach the shore because of the current pull effect (current is fastest in the midlle, and anybody in water is drawn towards it) and that her limbs went numb from exhaustion and hypothermia (it was april and rain water is surely cold). So instead of a swift, almost painless death you get a long, hopeless struggle coupled with ''plenty'' of horror and despair.]] Good read.

* Miss Edmunds is probably going to know that [[spoiler: Leslie died while she was at the museum with Jess. When she finds this out, she's going to be torturing herself for wondering why she didn't invite Leslie too]]. Though Leslie is invited in the book too, but not in the film.

[[AC: Fridge Brilliance]]
* Leslie's overactive imagination makes perfect sense when one considers her parents. Not just because they're writers but the implication is that they often don't have too much time for their daughter. While they're writing, Leslie is often on her own - encouraging her to think up other worlds or ways to amuse herself.
* Minor example. Jess thinks Leslie doesn't have dresses to wear to church but she replies that of course she does. Remember how she said she still had her Barbies? She's clearly a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak and can [[SheCleansUpNicely clean up nicely when she wants to.]]
* Terabithia's creatures are full of this trope, but the Hairy Vultures have an interesting case; they're crude parodies of [[TheBully Gary Fulcher]], whose catchphrase is "dead meat". This adds to the perfection of them being ''vultures''. What better animal than a scavenger to have an affinity for dead meat?
* [[spoiler: Leslie's death seems sort of odd, considering her swimming skills, until you realize she probably didn't just fall in by herself, she was most likely knocked clean out when she hit the rocks]].

* [spoiler: Leslie's death seems sort of odd, considering her swimming skills, until you realize she probably didn't just fall in by herself, she was most likely knocked clean out when she hit the rocks]].

* Terabithia's creatures are full of this trope, but the Hairy Vultures have an interesting case; they're crude parodies of [[TheBully Gary Fulcher]], whose catchphrase is "dead meat". This adds to the perfection of them being ''vultures''. What better animal than a scavenger to have an affinity for dead meat?

* This is most likely unintentional, but In BridgeToTerabithia, there is a scene where Jess contemplates whether [[spoiler: Leslie felt fear before she died]]. As a child, this seems sad, but silly as you accept the explanation by Jess' Father ([[spoiler: she hit her head, was knocked out and ''that's'' why she died - so she didn't have '''time''' for fear]] at face value. But after this troper read a couple of other books, and heard a couple of warnings about fast water, he think that actually, this explanation is improbable - [[spoiler: by such a high stand rocks would be too deep to hit when falling just a few meters]]. Far more likely is that [[spoiler: she was unable to reach the shore because of the current pull effect (current is fastest in the midlle, and anybody in water is drawn towards it) and that her limbs went numb from exhaustion and hypothermia (it was april and rain water is surely cold). So instead of a swift, almost painless death you get a long, hopeless struggle coupled with ''plenty'' of horror and despair.]] Good read.

* Minor example. Jess thinks Leslie doesn't have dresses to wear to church but she replies that of course she does. Remember how she said she still had her Barbies? She's clearly a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak and can clean up nicely when she wants to.

* Terabithia's creatures are full of this trope, but the Hairy Vultures have an interesting case; they're crude parodies of [[TheBully Gary Fulcher]], whose catchphrase is "dead meat". This adds to the perfection of them being ''vultures''. What better animal than a scavenger to have an affinity for dead meat?

* Minor example. Jess thinks Leslie doesn't have dresses to wear to church but she replies that of course she does. Remember how she said she still had her Barbies? She's clearly a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak and can clean up nicely when she wants to.

* Terabithia's creatures are full of this trope, but the Hairy Vultures have an interesting case; they're crude parodies of [[TheBully Gary Fulcher]], whose catchphrase is "dead meat". This adds to the perfection of them being ''vultures''. What better animal to have an affinity for dead meat?

* What kind of life will Jess have when he grows up? Would it be difficult for him to start a real relationship with someone without thinking about Leslie, and what might have been?

* What kind of life will Jess have when he grows up? Would it be difficult for him to stat a real relationship with someone without thinking about Leslie, and what might have been?