THE GREAT MOM SWAP
Starring: Valerie Harper, Shelley Fabares, Mary Kate Schellhardt, Hillary Tuck
Original Airdate: September, 1995
Type: Family/Drama
Remember in the 90's how all those teen movies came out in droves, and how half of them centered on an awkward girl who gets some sort of makeover and then goes to the prom, something she never would have normally done but hey, that's the point?
This is one of those movies.
However... The Great Mom Swap is the best of all of them. And to think it didn't even hit the big screen. Instead it aired one time on ABC, has never been released on video or DVD... and so it just quietly sits -- one of the best teen movies of its time, almost completely ignored by the masses.
To combat some of the sadness I feel over that very fact, I've decided to talk about the movie today.
The Great Mom Swap is about two girls, Karen and Terry. At fourteen years old, they're classmates and rivals. Karen's rich and kind of a snob, while Terry is poor... and the smartest girl in school. They've been having little spats for years, but after Karen purposely wrecks Terry's science project and Terry tries to enact revenge by vandalizing Karen's locker... they both get in a lot of trouble. The juvenile officer who handles their case suggests they be expelled, but soon realizes that the girls' animosity and attitudes toward each other seems to have been handed down from their parents. (Terry's mom and Karen's mom used to be neighbors... long story.)
Anyway, as punishment, the officer imposes this sentence: Terry is to go live with Karen's family, and Karen is to go live with Terry's, for thirty days. Each must obey the rules of the parent in whose house she is now living.
As the movie progresses, many things happen as a result of this sentence. Karen's snotty friends pretty much disown her, making her realize how jerky they are... and how much of a snob she was when she was hanging out with them. Karen also bonds with Terry's grandfather and realizes that living a life in non-luxury isn't so bad after all. Meanwhile, Terry manages to lecture both her mom and Karen's over their various shortcomings -- making Karen's mom realize that she needs to stop being such a workaholic, and making her own mother learn that she could stand to take a risk or two every now and then. The arrangement also eventually leads to the reconciliation of the friendship between Karen's mom and Terry's mom.
Best of all, though, Karen and Terry slowly become friends.
Karen convinces Terry to let her take her on a shopping spree, during which Terry buys new clothes and shoes and gets her hair permed (so that now she looks like a Karen clone, basically.) Suddenly she's getting lots of attention from guys, including Karen's older brother, David. But the makeover doesn't profoundly change Terry's life; in fact, she's unhappier than ever.
Terry: "You're walking in my shoes, now."
Karen: "And you're walking in mine. You have to admit... they're a lot cuter than the ones you had before."
Terry: "Yeah, well maybe they don't fit."
The Great Mom Swap is a story about gaining independence, appreciating what you have, and understanding others. I absolutely love it and it needs to be released on DVD a.s.a.p.
The movie is VERY loosely based on the novel by the same title by Betsy Haynes. However, the differences are major.
Learn more about this movie at The Internet Movie Database.
7/17/2005
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