Besides the letter “L”---what’s the difference between a BFFL
(best friend for life) and a BFF (best friend forever)?
When Nathalia Ramos, 15, the actress who plays Yasmin (one
of the Mattel dolls that is brought to life in Bratz, the movie) was
interviewed by a reporter from the Washington Post she said:
There are biffles and BFFs…A biffle (as in BFFL, or best
friend for life) is a fun friend that you phone. A BFF is a best friend forever
that you love.
Whether close friendships are for life or forever (let’s not
nitpick), the story line of the movie is banal; it’s about four friends of
different cultural backgrounds and interests who drift apart during high school,
as best friends often do, and come together again (which is less likely to
happen).
One critic disses the film (that opened last summer and will
be released as a DVD over Thanksgiving) as an “excruciatingly inane high-school comedy inspired by a line of
sexually suggestive dolls aimed at 9-year-old girls.”
While the overarching
theme of this PG movie is the feel-good and exceedingly important topic of friendship, it’s unfortunate that the film
perpetuates myths and stereotypes about young women---casting them as shallow, obsessed
with guys, and materialistic---and that it is targeted towards younger girls who are
looking for role models.
What miffs me most is
that the film helps perpetuate the myth of BFF for another generation.
by Irene S. Levine, PhD