Gregory's Girl - Switching Dorothy For Susan

Gregory’s Girl

Director: Bill Forsyth

Look Charlie, we've got to get some girls; we've got to make a move. Even Gregory's at it now. We're falling behind. I don't think there's any advantage of putting it off any longer. Besides, it's making me depressed. –Andy

If you don't take an interest in yourself, how can you expect other people to be interested in you? –Madeline

It's just the way girls work. They help each other. –Susan

Hard work being in love, eh? Especially when you don't know which girl it is.
–Madeline

Netflix description of the movie:

Awkward teenager Gregory, who lives in a small Scottish town, has started to discover girls. He becomes particularly infatuated with Dorothy because she manages to get onto the football team and is a better player than he is. Gregory is so unfamiliar with the opposite sex that he relies on advice from his little sister before he asks Dorothy on a date. Bill Forsyth writes and directs this coming-of-age tale.

I really liked this movie. It was made in 1981, it's set in Scotland, and it's about football (or soccer, in America), so I really wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. The movie follows awkward Gregory as he discovers girls and figures out how to get them to discover him.

My favorite character – aside from Gregory, of course, who was a fantastic underdog – was our hero's young sister Madeline. Her purpose in the movie was twofold: she served as Gregory's confidant and gave him advice on how to attract Dorothy, the girl he's crushing after; and she instructed him on what to wear and how to carry himself in general. Madeline's confidence in him gave him confidence in himself enough to finally approach Dorothy for a date.

She also acts a bit as Greogory's foil. While he struggles to make a move, she tends to be in control of her relationship. When her boyfriend (or what I assume is her boyfriend, though she is only 11 years old so "boyfriend" is subjective) approaches her after school offering to carry her bag, she tells him she can’t hang out with him but he can try to reach out to her later. She shows more maturity in dealing with the opposite sex, including with her brother, who tends to talk to everyone from a place of immaturity. She has confidence, he does not; she knows about clothes, he does not; she knows what to say; he does not.

But ultimately, even though she is the seemingly more mature of the two, Gregory is older and feels quite protective of Madeline. When her young man comes to the door inquiring after her, he grills him and then sends him away without allowing him access to his sister. It was a smart scene to show after Gregory's afternoon with Madeline, which he spent acting like a child seeking the advice of a sage.

Once Gregory finally does get up the nerve to ask Dorothy on a date, he is met instead by another classmate, who more or less passes him off to another girl, who eventually passes him off to his third and final. Unbeknownst to Gregory, Dorothy's friend Susan had been crushing on him and had recruited Dorothy to help her set up a date. Gregory is, of course, confused by the whole situation, but goes along with it.

Possibly my favorite scene in the whole movie happens during their date. While in the park, Gregory and Susan engage in the kind of banter that feels so natural and is typically made glossy in the movies. But it feels real with these two, and kudos probably go to the writer and/or director for letting it happen this way. When the two dance, it doesn't feel hokey, and when they kiss at the end of the date, it doesn't feel forced. From the moment Gregory and Susan meet up on the street at the beginning of their date until the movie's credits, I just had this warm, happy glow inside me – the kind that comes from watching something truly organic and beautiful. Well done!

My takeaway: Good siblings help each other with the important things, like love and protection. And in the words of the Rolling Stones, "You can’t always get what you want" (in this case Dorothy) "but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need" (in this case Susan).