Thirteen

Question: I read that Evan Rachel Wood's character, Tracy, is supposed to be Nikki Reed at the age when she was having the experiences that Tracy went through. Was the character Evie based on a girl that Nikki knew in real life?

Answer: Evie was based off several people in Nikki Reed's life.

Question: Did Evie actually love Tracy or was she just using her the whole time? Did she actually want to be friends with her?

Answer: Tracy acted like she had done everything Evie did before. She pretended she was already bad to become friends with them, so Evie thought she had found someone who was like her. Evie was definitely also in love with Tracy, but was also jealous since Tracy had a family who loved her. She wanted that. Yes she used Tracy, but she also cared about her.

I don't think Evie was romantically in love with Tracy. It was more about her wanting to *be* Tracy, with a mother like Tracy's. Also, she seemed to know that Tracy was only pretending to be "bad." I think Tracy's innocence made Evie sad, because there was a time when Evie was more like her.

Answer: My interpretation is that Evie hates her home life, so she drifts between various friends. She hopes to stay at their homes and feel "included" in their families. Notice how she kept trying to please Mel. Eventually, she overstays her welcome and people make her leave. Tracy was just the current "friend" who Evie was using.

Answer: I don't think Evie ever loved Tracy or cared about her. I genuinely believe the whole reason why Evie befriended Tracy in the first place was the reason she knew well how innocent Tracy actually was and in a way Evie was jealous of that so I think she purposely wanted to change her which she knew would happen if Tracy started to hang out with her. The reason why the whole friendship continued is because of Tracy's mom which Evie was jealous she never had. I guess she thought that becoming obsessively close with Tracy would make her feel like she was part of the family and Mel was also her mother and Tracy probably her sister.? That explains the reason why Evie ditched Tracy the moment she realised Mel isn't going to adopt her - Evie never cared about Tracy she just wanted her life and when she realised that she couldn't have it she tried to ruin it by snitching on Tracy That's my explanation on the whole Evie - Tracy relationship in general.

Question: I wanted to clarify the question I submitted about why Tracy starts starving herself. I know that many girls starve for different reasons, but I thought she was being influenced by Evie and wanted to copy her. Why did she starve herself if Evie wasn't? Evie normally ate the food that Tracy's mom cooked.

Answer: I think what started it was her tongue piercing. She didn't want to eat cause it would hurt and her mom would notice.

I think it's a combination of the tongue piercing and Tracy's new rebellious attitude. She wants to be "difficult" by refusing to eat what her mom cooks. Evie, meanwhile, is trying to impress Tracy's family, because she wants to live there for as long as possible. So she eats whatever food Tracy's mom cooks.

Drugs will affect your appetite.

Answer: Tracy is more than likely just trying to look as skinny as Evie, even though Tracy is clearly thinner than she is. Also, it could be a result from drugs or angst.

Answer: Because she wanted to protect herself from trouble. She had no qualms about betraying Tracy in order to protect herself. I believe that Evie "uses" friends. She drifts from one current best friend to another. Eventually her best friends, and their families, stop tolerating her behavior. At this point, she knew that Tracy and Tracy's mother were "done" with her. She was prepared to betray Tracy, then move on to her next best friend.

Question: What does the piercer say to Tracy/Evie right before piercing Tracy's tongue? (04:30:22 - 04:59:43)

Answer: He says something in Spanish that roughly translates to "if you only knew a woman with a big butt" and then in English says "I only put it in when I need to" (regarding his tongue piercing). Then says "stick it out." (referring to her tongue).

Bishop73

Question: In the scene when we first see Tracy cutting herself, what was Mel's boyfriend doing in the flashback?

Answer: He was doing drugs, most likely either cocaine or crystal meth.

Answer: Pretty sure he was smoking crack on a pop/beer can.

Question: When Tracy finds her mom's boyfriend's clothes in the laundry, what is she talking about when she says that her mom promised her and Mason something?

Answer: Her mom had promised that her boyfriend was only coming for dinner and was not going to stay with them anymore, and when Tracy found his clothes in the laundry, that shows that he stayed the night and that she had broken her promise.

john reisenauer

Question: Does anyone know what the scene with the chicken is all about? Where did the chicken come from, and is it supposed to represent anything?

Krista

Chosen answer: If you watch the commentary on the movie they discuss this, they explain that the guy who played the mom's boyfriend came up to them and just started doing that thing with the chicken and they thought it was funny so they put it in the movie.

Question: Why does Tracy start starving herself?

Answer: Young girls starve themselves for a variety of reasons. Many are insecure and have unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look and stop eating to lose as much weight as possible. For others it a combination of trying to be thin, having something in their lives that they alone can control, an an act of rebellion, and so on. This often develops into a real disease called anorexia that needs medical treatment.

raywest

Did you watch the movie before you answered? This is not really an answer for this character's situation.

Answer: It was most likely because of her tongue piercing - she didn't want her mom to notice, and it would have been painful.

Answer: As someone else wrote, it could be the tongue piercing, and I think it was also her rebellious attitude. She wanted to be "difficult" by refusing to eat with the family or eat what her mother cooked.

Question: Was Tracy self-harming before or after she met Evie?

Answer: I think she harmed before Evie because she knew where the scissors were in the cabinet. And, since she's already had problems before Evie, maybe she self-harmed to help relieve pressure.

I agree. She was already upset about her mother's boyfriend and her father not spending much time with her. I've read that people often self-harm because they want a form of pain that they can control (unlike the circumstances that are beyond their control).

Question: Did Evie and Javi actually do something in the change rooms, or did Javi actually spill coke on his pants? I also thought it was odd Evie insisted she give Javi her number instead of Tracey. Why? (00:42:50 - 01:00:13)

Answer: I think Evie and Javi probably "did something." My interpretation is that Evie uses people/freeloads until they stop allowing it. So, Evie is willing to have an "encounter" with Javi, and lie to Tracy about it because she is not a true friend. It's also possible that Javi offered her money or drugs. As for the phone number, Evie wants Javi to contact her because Tracy's mom does not control her phone. Easier for the girls to hide their activities.

Question: Evie pretends that she can't go home because Brooke is out of town. She says that Brooke sent Mel an email about it. Why doesn't Mel call her out on this lie, and make her go home? Mel says "I guess I didn't check my email", but it sounds like she is also pretending.

Answer: I got the impression that Tracy's family, being lower-income, doesn't have the Internet at home. This was not very unusual in the early 2000s. Internet service was still a semi-luxury for some families. Mel doesn't want to admit that she is not checking her e-mail often. She may not even have an e-mail address; also not very unusual for the time. (I graduated from high school in 2006, and some of my classmates still didn't care to use e-mail).

Answer: She didn't want to hurt her feelings or make her upset.

Continuity mistake: As Tracy throws her socks into her trashcan, and then her teddies (both from the bed and from the wall,) in nearly every shot the teddies differ positions/return/disappear etc. (00:08:00)

Hamster

More mistakes in Thirteen

Tracy: Mom, I have to go to the bathroom now.
Melanie: Can't you hold it a minute?
Tracy: That's how you get a bladder infection, you child abuser.
Melanie: That's dramatic.

More quotes from Thirteen

Trivia: Mentioned on Commentary - the poster at the bus stop "Beauty is Truth" is a picture of Nikki Reed's (Evie) eyes on another woman's face. The picture is supposedly symbolic because each time we see the poster it is more graffitied/ruined, symbolising how Evie is making Tracy more out-of-control and dirty (e.g. introducing her to drugs and sex.).

Hamster

More trivia for Thirteen

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