Line #6 Awesome/Speak


1	!!Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies to all Awesome pages, so all spoilers are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
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3	* Dave standing up to [[PoliticallyMotivatedTeacher Mr. Neck's]] xenophobic remarks.
4	* The turkey-bone {{sculpture\|s}}, with a duct-taped Barbie head and the bones shaped into a tree sculpture. Mainly because Mr. Freeman and Ivy intuit the emotions presented within the piece.
5	* Melinda refusing to help Heather decorate for the school prom after the latter has dropped her in favor of more "popular" friends. Becomes a ReasonYouSuckSpeech in the film.
6	-->'''Melinda:''' I won't help you.\
7	'''Heather:''' But you ''have'' to.\
8	'''Melinda:''' No I don't.\
9	'''Heather:''' But why?\
10	'''Melinda:''' Because I was nice to you, in the beginning of school, when [[BrutalHonesty I didn't even like you]]. And you [[UngratefulBastard blew me off]]. Because you're a self-centered social climber.
11	* Though it earns her a D on her assignment, Melinda finding a [[LoopholeAbuse loophole]] to giving an oral report, and Dave helps. They pass out copies of her report to the whole class and plan to have her stand for the required duration of her presentation.
12	* Melinda playing tennis against the class athlete, Nicole. While she ultimately loses, it was a close match, which is a testament to her own skill at the game. She even wins Nicole's respect in the process.
13	* Melinda writing Andy down as a guy to stay away from on the BathroomStallGraffiti in the girls' room, which leads to a flood of responses from other girls agreeing with her.
14	* In the movie, after mulling over what Melinda told her (despite [[CassandraTruth not believing her]] initially), Rachel considers that perhaps her ex-friend really is telling the truth about her boyfriend. The next time she sees Andy, she instantly breaks up with him.
15	** In the book, it's an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome where Rachel not only breaks up with Andy during prom after he makes her uncomfortable with his hot and heavy behavior, but also calls him out as a predator in front of everyone. To top it off, she leaves a cremated ash pile of all the gifts Andy ever gave her, right in front of his locker the next day. Even Melinda is impressed and can't help but derive a little schadenfreude at his expense, with her inner narration calling him a "scumbag".
16	*** The graphic novel also makes it satisfying by showing a couple girls (possibly those who [[ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter know the real Andy Evens]]) ''giggling'' at the spectacle of Andy scowling at the humiliating ash pile.
17	* The climactic showdown between Melinda and Andy. Andy, angered at how Melinda's actions led to Rachel exposing him as a predator, tries to attack Melinda and even [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape her]] again. But this time, Melinda is able to fight back--she splashes a cup of cleaning chemicals into Andy's face to blind him, smashes the turkey bone sculpture against the mirror, grabs a large shard, holds it to his neck, and firmly says, "I said ''no''."
18	** And then Nicole and the girls' lacrosse team break the door down and see what's happening and come to Melinda's defense, and they all repeatedly call out Andy and tell him "everyone knows what you did", all the while ignoring his pitiful cries of pain.
19	* The ending of the movie brings a series of awesome moments of subtle directing and acting in which the characters communicate while hardly speaking (thematically appropriate):
20	** Melinda finally musters up the strength to tell Rachel she was raped, and she does so by writing out nine letters, one by one, and we know what each of those letters are going to be as they come down on the page, each in its own turn.
21	** Rachel interrogates Andy in just a few words, just a few innocent questions and through his silence determines that Melinda is telling the truth; through the slightest shift of his facial expression Andy goes from lazily arrogant, confident, to frustrated, hunted.
22	** Melinda shows Mr. Freeman her secret art studio and his tearful expression shows, without speaking, his relief at knowing his positive impact in Melinda's life. He has offered to talk with Melinda if she needs it, but words are not necessary.
23	** Andy and Melinda are fighting in the dark, the view goes so black that the audience cannot see the action, there's angry voices outside the closet, and then light floods in on the scene from behind - the door has been opened. And we see that it's now Melinda who has the advantage, a piece of glass pressed to a defeated Andy's throat. The girls' field hockey team. [[note]]presumably changed from the book's lacrosse because hockey sticks look more intimidating[[/note]] is outside, glaring in, and it's not clear yet who they think is the bad guy here - will Melinda be blamed for assaulting Andy? Nicole orders Melinda to get out of there and she does. And the girls continue to glare into the closet and we know, before anybody says anything else, that the worm has turned - without anybody having had to say anything on screen the girls, the whole school has determined that Melinda was right all along, are on her side, now. Andy is a whimpering, helpless mess. Nicole demands that he say something - but now it's Andy who can't speak for himself.
24	** Melinda walks away, free and clear, and Mr. Neck comes out to see what's going on. He calls out to Melinda, genuinely concerned for her now - and she marches right past without acknowledging him because her life doesn't hinge on the approval of the people around her any more. She can choose who she wants to speak to and who she doesn't.
25	** Melinda's mom drives her home. We flash back to that moment, before Melinda lost her innocence, when she was leaning out the car window on the way to the party. Now she sticks her head out the window again, feeling the breeze - not an excited moment this time, a relieved one, relief that she is able to begin to enjoy simple things again.
26	** Melinda's mother says she doesn't have to talk about it if she doesn't want to - but Melinda does. She begins to speak, in the animated style you'd expect of a typical teenage girl. The sound cuts out after just the first few words, but it doesn't matter - seeing her able to speak tells us everything we need to know.

Context Awesome / Speak