Ariel bugged me a little.
It’s clear she’s acting out for basically 90% of this movie. Everything about her screams rebellion: her haircut, her libido, staying together with an obviously asshole boyfriend, coming home late, dancing. Her rebellious behavior makes sense: her brother died, and her parents can’t help her cope with the pain properly, so she’s acting out. It’s understandable, but I feel like they stretched this idea too far, to the point where Ariel’s character felt fake.
When I watched the movie for the first time something about her was bugging me… and then I got it. Ariel’s character relied too much on her rebellious attitude. Is anything about her real? Or is everything she does designed to piss someone else off?
Her relationship with Ren was a good example. I felt her relationship with Ren was, at least initially, insincere, obviously manipulative. I was thinking: Does she even like Ren? Or is she only hanging out with him because he was new, ‘trouble,’ dancing, another way to act out? I Even when she and Ren dance together outside the diner and they seem to vibe, Ariel was only doing it to piss off Chuck.
I wish we could see more of her personality before her brothers death… then I feel like I could get a grip on what is ‘fabricated’ about her personality currently versus three years prior. Did she even like dancing before her brother’s death, or did she only dance because it became contraband?
I will say that after a rewatch Ariel redeemed herself… or at any rate I understand where she was coming from, which made her less annoying... I know she has that aggressive yelling slash heart-to-heart with her dad in the church, but the scene that struck me most was when she was with Ren, standing on the train tracks. Say what you will, that girl was read to die. Eyes closed, frozen. And then Ren saves her, the scene passes, and we never talk about it again. It was a moment of pure sincerity in a character who I had come to think as strongly artificial. It stuck with me that Ariel is in pain. She’s acting out, and she’s in pain. She allowed Ren to witness (however unintentionally) this moment of vulnerability. She likes Ren, and she’s in pain.
In any case, Ariel is a complex character, and I think those are good characters to have. People aren’t all good, all perfect, and her rebellious behavior versus Ren’s clear-cut morals made for a good match.