| Claire Standish | |
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Gender: |
Female |
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Born |
1968 (age 16) |
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Height |
5'8" |
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Occupation(s): |
Student at Shermer High School |
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Alias(es): |
Princess |
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Family: |
Mr. Standish (Father) |
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Friends: |
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Reason for detention: |
Ditching class to go shopping |
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Responsible for causing her detention |
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Significant Other: |
John Bender |
Claire Standish is the most popular girl at Shermer High School; she wears diamond earrings, her dad drives a BMW, her attire is very sophisticated and was in detention for skipping class to go shopping. In her own words, everyone looks up to her and looks down on everyone else.
Claire expresses her opinions through modesty, which positions the other characters to see her as very stuck-up and rude. She’s very immature and naïve but tries to act older and ‘cool’. Claire still has feelings but cares too much to maintain her status at school; she admits in the movie after having bonded with her fellow peers, that despite the friendships they've established she wouldn't acknowledge them in the halls at school.
The Princess
John Bender and Allison Reynolds tease Claire by asking her if she is a virgin and that Bender bets that she has never kissed a boy on the mouth or been felt up 'over the bra, under the blouse, over the panties, shirt unbuttoned, no bra, Calvin's in a ball on the front seat...' Claire is evidently affected after this exchange. Later he also mocks her 'sushi' lunch and when she asks where his lunch is, he says that she is wearing it. Later when John reveals his cigar burn as a proof of his father's abuse, Claire looked sympathetic and nodded her head in disgust, later telling Andrew that he shouldn't have doubted John. Claire, along with the rest of the group covered for Bender when he stole the screw, asking Vernon why anybody would want to steal a screw and also when Vernon stormed in asking what the ruckus was, while John Bender hid under Claire's desk and wedged his head between Claire's legs. This leads Claire to call him an @sshole. However, she and Brian join Bender later and smoke pot and Claire giggles and makes eyes at John when she gets high.
Later, when the group is sitting together, Claire is manipulated and pressured into admitting that she is In fact a virgin (because she wants to be with someone who would love and respect her). Later when the group is discussing what each one of them can do, Claire demonstrates that she can apply lipstick by placing the stick between her breasts. Though John swore that he wouldn't laugh, he slow claps and sarcastically says that his image of Claire is totally blown to which Claire replies that she has just as many feelings as he does and it hurts just as much when someone steps all over them. John responds by saying that she is pathetic to have compared him to herself since she has everything and he has 'got sh*t'.
John comments that he likes her earrings and bets that they are real diamonds and were given to her as a Christmas gift whereas he got a pack of cigarettes from his abusive father and that Claire should cry to her father at home instead of to John. After this exchange Claire says that she is never going to be like her parents. She also says that come Monday, things would go back to the way they were and that she wouldn't want to be friends with any of them (possibly after all the hurtful things Bender said to Claire).
After that Bender irately and loudly calls her a b*tch [seemingly in defense of Allison] and she asks 'why? cause I am telling the truth?' To this Bender says that 'you know how sh*tty that is to do to someone' and that Claire does not have the courage to stand up to her friends and tell them that she will pick her own friends. Claire says that he is a hypocrite and that he himself wouldn't like to be seen with Claire in front of his friends to which John yells that it is never going to happen and that Claire doesn't know any of his friends and that she should stick to the things she knows 'shopping, nail polish, her father's BMW and her drunk mother in the Caribbean'. He also says that she should bury her head in the sand and wait for her F**K**G prom. This drives Claire to tears and she declares that she hates him.
Brian also calls her conceited and Claire explains that she doesn't like having to go along with everything her friends say and that she is constantly under a lot of pressure from her popular friends and family. As the detention comes to an end, she says to Brian that she and the others trust him and that he should write the paper on all of their behalf. She also gives Alison a makeover and when Alison asks her why she is being so nice to her, Claire responds 'cause you are letting me'. She later visits Bender in the closet and kisses his neck and asks if he was really disgusted with her lipstick trick to which he says no. She walks out of the school and gives John one of her diamond earring showing him that she can meet him halfway. After they share a kiss, Bender asks why Claire did it (which makes sense, owing how Bender abused Claire to kingdom come), and Claire responds that she knew the latter would not. However, the real reason might be:
- Bender drastically changed, and atoned for his abuse towards Claire, maybe including an off-screen apology to her, or apologizing through his actions.
- Now that Bender has opened himself up, Claire, along with the rest of the group, knows that Bender is not the Craig Tucker-like punk that he presents himself to be--he is just a scared kid from a hostile household, who just needs to find love from somewhere--so Claire took care of giving Bender that love.
- Claire was secretly into Bender, which became clear, through her periodically defending the latter.
Claire gets in car and is driven away as Bender watches and puts the earring on his ear.
Throughout the movie Claire struggles to find the reason behind her unhappiness. She realizes that she is trying to be someone she’s not so that she will be well liked and considered “popular”. She also mentions that her parents are constantly fighting and use her as a way to get back at each other. She would rather live with her brother and wishes that she was on a plane to France. Claire discovers that she is not alone, and that everyone tends to mask their real thoughts and feelings to become what people expect them to be, such as a geek, a loner, a bad@ss, or an athlete. She learns to accept her true self. Along with this, she also learns to accept others for who they truly are. Throughout this weekend detention, she learns that people should just accept each other for who they really are.
Clearly, Claire is deeply affected by her parent's constant fighting. She feels that her parents don't love her and use her as accessory to get even with each other. Since she doesn't get the love and sense of belonging with her family, it is highly possible that she looks for it in school with her group of friends, even if that means becoming something she is not to fit in with them.
Physical Appearance
Claire has a very beautiful face complimented with lush pouty lips, small nose, greenish chocolate brown eyes and a slim long neck. She has a pale rosy complexion and fiery auburn hair. Claire is tall at approx. 5'8" (with boots/heels).
For detention, Claire wears a Ralph Lauren ensemble of a pink blouse with a long brown wraparound skirt with brown leather boots. She also had a lace scarf (given to Alison as a headband), a red sweater, a brown leather jacket and leather gloves. She carries a bunch of makeup and a perfume in her purse. Claire also wore diamond earring studs which were mocked by John but Claire later gave one of them to him.
According to John, Claire is a fat girl name and he can imagine Claire 'pushing maximum density' after she gets married and 'squeezes out a few puppies'.
Character Analysis
Claire is labeled as the princess of the group. She is beautiful, rich and possibly the most popular girl at school which makes people assume that her life is perfect. You could say that she is the Regina George of Shermer High. In reality, Claire's parents are on the verge of a divorce and use her as a way to get back at each other. It is evident that Claire feels the need to escape her life since she longs to stay with her brother instead of with her parents. She also wishes she was on a plane to France. When Andrew questioned if they were going to be like their parents, Claire immediately said "not me", indicating that she doesn't wish to follow in her parents' footsteps.
It may be noted that unlike Andrew and Brian, Claire never doubted John when he told the group about his abusive parents, possibly because Claire herself has first hand experience of what it's like to be not taken seriously in the same regard. Since Claire is seen as a princess, the group constantly assumes that she is b*tchy, shallow and materialistic. This is evident when Brian and Bender look surprised that she would think its okay for a guy to be a virgin. Bender also teases her saying that 'you're gonna get married and squeeze out a few puppies...' indicating that he possibly assumes that Claire's aim in life is to get married to a rich guy her parents approve of and then settle into a mundane life. Bender also takes out all his anger towards the popular crowd on Claire since she represents everything he hates about the 'richies'.
In reality, Claire is quite soft at heart and very emotionally vulnerable. She is easily manipulated by Allison into admitting that she is a virgin and also reveals how she often goes along with whatever her friends say even if its against her will. Besides every bad assumption made about Claire, it is very evident that Claire is loyal to the group, often sticking up for Bender against Vernon. It is also evident that she is neither b*tchy nor materialistic when she helps Allison break out of her shell and gives Bender one of her diamond earrings, a symbol that even she doesn't have everything and that he now has a piece of her, contrary to what he said earlier 'you got everything and I got sh*t'.
Quotes
“Excuse me Sir, but why would anyone want to steal a screw?”
“Ugh, can I eat?”
“You're an @sshole.”
“I hate it. I hate having to go along with everything my friends say.”
“Claire. It's a family name.”
“Do you know how popular I am? I am so popular. Everybody loves me so much at this school.”
Trivia and allusions
- Claire can be compared to Regina George from the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls:
- Both are presented as being rich and privileged, when it is not all that true.
- Regina's parents are separated, but still together, while Claire's parents are on the verge of divorce, and only use her to retort back at each other.
- Unlike Regina, however, Claire is less privileged than Regina.
- Regina's parents are separated, but still together, while Claire's parents are on the verge of divorce, and only use her to retort back at each other.
- Both are well known and worshiped, as the "queenie" at their school.
- Unlike Claire, however, Regina uses her status as a means of putting herself above others, and she flaunts, boasts, and even is mean to people who are "less than her".
- Unlike Regina, Claire keeps her status as being worshiped as "queenie"; Regina loses her status of being worshiped, when her scoundrelism and dirty work [namely spreading nasty rumors and victimizing students and staff] gets exposed, via all of Regina's victims bringing the issue to light.
- Both can be snobbish at times:
- Unlike Claire, however, Regina has a mean attitude, and exhibits bullying [that goes mostly unnoticed until the end of the movie] towards other students, especially those who are, "less than" her.
- Unlike Regina, however, Claire is not a snob, and is actually quite vulnerable, but also kind to others; Regina actually is a snob, and she is mean to others.
- Both characters are 16 years old, when they are presented.
- Both are presented as being rich and privileged, when it is not all that true.