2006's 'Aquamarine' was about many things, but key among them is the powerful friendship between the teen girls at its center.
For most of its existence, Hollywood has centered its stories on straight, white men, and utilized anyone else to propel their stories forward. When we entered the 2000s, there was a surge of girl-centric storylines during the heyday of teen stars like Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, and Amanda Bynes.
Regarding the tomboy versus girly-girl trope, Liz Allen treats these girls not as stock characters but as real people with varying senses of style. Always ready for action, Hailey spends most of this movie with her hair in a practical ponytail and her body shielded from the sun in baggy outfits. The cautious and youthful Claire opts more for floral prints and flowy skirts.
An honorable mention for character development can even be given to mean-girl Cecilia who, to quote Claire, is a total sand-witch. However, even as she manipulates and bullies her way through this movie, we are given glimpses into how Cecilia has had to earn attention that should be willingly given. Her news-reporter father barely gives her the time of day until she has a story to offer him, but when it blows up on live TV and embarrasses him he yells at her for being attention-seeking.
As the story progresses, and we learn more about the characters, we get to see the vulnerability under Hailey’s unperturbed facade, and the dormant fierceness in Claire, both of which come out when their friends need it. When the ever-certain Aquamarine flees for the ocean when Raymond bails on her for a date, Hailey loses hope that she’ll be able to wish to stay in Baybridge. Seeing her friends’ despair, Claire takes action and goes to confront Raymond, finally coming into her own as a leader.