Too Much Too Soon: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead
Warner Bros., 1991
What every kid needs to learn is that being an adult isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
the late 80s and early 90s, Chrisina Applegate was best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the sitcom Married With Children. As Kelly, she was a dumb blonde that was often dressed in tight clothes and only there to add sex appeal. It’s known that Applegate grew tired of playing Kelly as the years on the show carried on, so in 1991, she took on the role of Sue Ellen Crandell, a smart blonde who was appropriately dressed in the movie Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (DTMTBD).
Applegate used the role as Sue Ellen to show audiences that she was more than a sex symbol and equipped as an actress to play a character that had more depth than Kelly. Although the film didn’t do as well as hoped, it did give Applegate the outlet needed to prove to people that she could be more than Kelly Bundy.
In the film, Sue Ellen must take care of her younger siblings for the summer, after her high school graduation, when the babysitter her mom hired before going on an extended vacation suddenly dies. Just to note, she dies after walking into sibling Kenny’s room that’s filled with naked women on posters and weed paraphernalia all over the place. Instead of calling their mom to come home, Sue Ellen is forced to take charge of her bratty siblings by getting a job as a secretary, I’m sorry, an executive administrative assistant, to a high-powered business woman in some realm of the fashion industry.
My love for this movie is mostly based on nostalgia. I saw this meme the other day about elder millennials and the movies they loved as kids still being staples in their entertainment choices. DTMTBD is for sure one of those movies for me. It will pop up as a recommended viewing choice when I turn on my TV every now and again; I sometimes indulge and watch it. My bff feels the same way, and we will occasionally throw some of the well-known lines at each other for a giggle.
It’s not like this movie was anything more than a fun watch. Most of the reviews that it received basically explained that it was a good time, but not a must see. Designed for a young audience, I got the appeal when I was a kid, and I still do because I work with teenagers. Many teens could probably relate to Sue Ellen’s ideas of being a grown up and not having a parent around to tell them what to do all the time, but what Sue Ellen doesn’t factor in is the fact that her summer vacation is all work and hardly any play, something that any grown person would’ve been able to tell her.
As for Applegate and how she played this role, she did a good job. It’s clear to see that she could handle more than just a Kelly Bundy type of character, which over the years in her different roles, she’s been able to prove. Sue Ellen was the character that gave her a little boost in acting credibility before kicking off her career in full blown adult roles.
Even though this movie is 34 years old, it still rings true with the theme of wanting to be independent, but not being equipped just yet to juggle what independence really entails. Sue Ellen had to learn that lesson, a lesson that young people will always need to figure out as they head off into adulthood.