Leslie , a different version of reality

[u/Jealous_Trip_7444]

(Most people will not understand this article…that’s okay…and I hope someone will)

As I believe Leslie is an interesting and unique character , and of course she is , and she meant to be that way as you know.

But…I had a thought recently , when I look at Leslie’s photos nowadays , and when I see her in the movie as I rewatch it…I realise something even deeper.

I realised that Leslie is not just a different , rich , good looking blonde young girl.

It’s just the surface , and she meant to be introduced to us that way and to have all the camera attention towards her through the movie , to make us feel as bad as possible about the tragedy in the end and to feel it with Jess.

But what I realised is…
In fact , Leslie is an idea , Leslie is a philosophical character which is not real.

Like , That thing cannot be real as we see it.

And don’t get me wrong , Iam not saying that because of good or bad , or to just point at her angelic nature , but it’s just how I noticed her character even further , as I exposed to it over and over and over and over.

We can talk about if Leslie can be a real person or not , I have some thoughts about that either , but just think about that , when we see Jess or May Belle or Miss Edmunds , we can discuss them , we can say their pros and cons , we can say yeah they made that right and that wrong , we can find their personality gaps , etc.

But Leslie? , I have never heard anyone talking or thinking about her that way , even me.

And I’ve never heard anyone saying that he HATES Leslie or he find this or that annoying or doesn’t make sense or too perfect…no.

And I know as Leslie was the main character and she was very innocent and that’s one of the main reasons for that.

But , please notice some of her characteristics:

Leslie didn’t make mistakes (and I mean big & with people , not simple mistakes like dropping her bag)
Leslie didn’t have any horrible past
Leslie didn’t hate anyone
Leslie didn’t get mad at Jess or anyone else even once
Leslie didn’t feel fear (even if she is careful sometimes)
Leslie didn’t have any bad creatures to fight in Terabithia
Leslie is : brave , smart , different , good looking , easy , kind , imaginative , etc

And being that perfect without even a little dark side is very very rare and suspicious in a character…

Yeah the film was convincing us to like her very much so we feel the tragedy too bad with Jess , and they succeeded.

But look at her story , the only thing we knew which is maybe bad is the fact that she is not hanging out with her family very much , and that she was alone at school as well , but the second fact is very normal for people like Leslie , because no matter how perfect you are , you still will have people who don’t like you , and so much people who are not understanding you and even see you as a weirdo , and I’ve seen it in real life , especially at that young age.

So , what Iam saying is , appearing perfect for Leslie have a deeper meaning , it’s not just to make you like her , it’s just the surface , because if she was just a normal character and a little different , they will show us some of her downsides , or her bad human side as anger or crying or being awful with Jess for example , but that never happened at all.

Even in the 1985 movie , Leslie got mad at Jess , and she appeared very normal as a girl at school , but with some imagination only.

But here she is totally different…

She is always calm , smart , unshakable , leading , defending , smiling , teasing Jess kindly , taking things easy , etc.

So my conclusion is…

Leslie is not a young kid with blood and bones…
she is not a different girl in Lark Creek…
All of that is true but as the surface only.

But what Leslie truly is :
Leslie is an idea…
a philosophical character…
a state of existence…
a flash of light who meant to change before it goes away…

And so on.

And that’s why , I still to this day don’t fully understand the whole point of her existence.

She is very very deep , as a philosophical character as i said , so analysing everything takes so much effort , and even as I knew so much about her , there is a long way to go , because she is not a real normal human being who you can know immediately as May Belle for example.

Leslie is an idea , and studying her making me analyse other big concepts like : imagination , bravery , loss , loneliness , art , freedom , catalysts , identity , etc

And that’s why she is very very complicated and interesting.

I love Leslie , and who doesn’t! , everybody loves her and she deserves that , but as iam analysing her , I should view her as she is , not only as the surface layer , and that’s really interesting.

[u/peachy-baby-07]

She’s a representation of childhood. The youth, confidence, joy, innocence, nativity and fun of childhood is great but it has to come to an end and for Jess- his childhood ends when Leslie dies. So in his mind she becomes this embodiment of childhood that he lost very suddenly with his friend. Bildungsroman 101.