Veronica Mars and Me

I am a self proclaimed Marshmallow* and I don't care who know's it. I watched the whole series, contributed to the kickstarter and even went to an advanced screening of the movie. (I have two T-Shirts to prove it!) What I found most interesting about the Bolte article is how important it is to view Veronica as an outsider. While I always understood the show to challenge the societal norms of high school, I never really appreciated how key it is for Veronica to be someone outside of those norms. In fact, until the death of her best friend and her rape, Veronica never questioned anything and took advantage of the exact norms and societal rules that she picks apart in the series. On the inside, it's almost impossible to see the truth, while an outside observer can pick up on wider ideas.

I think this is very important for how the audience connects with both the show and Veronica as a character. Generally speaking, most high schoolers are not in what Bolte refers to as the "in-crowd." This means that a majority of teenagers feel in some way that they themselves are outliers. As an intelligent, critical outlier, Veronica can communicate with the audience the advantages of outlier-ness and why it is more important to be honest and thinking than be part of the "in-crowd." The show serves as a critical analysis of teenage social dynamics, but by telling this story through an independent and intelligent character, these observations can be easily appreciated and understood by people of all types.

*For those who are unaware, Marshmallow is the name given to the fans of Veronica Mars based off of a line in the Pilot.