Baseball as Connection: A Thematic Analysis of It Takes Two [CAMP ESSAY LIBRARY]
1Hello to all my Queers and Dears and welcome to the Summer Camp theme collaboration, organized by my friends in the Video Essay Library!
Today we’re talking about It Takes Two, a 1995 film starring a very young Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen playing two strangers who look exactly alike and scheme to get their respective parental figures to fall in love in order to avoid some very unhappy endings for all.
This film operates across a significant class divide, with one girl—Amanda—an orphan being taken care of by a lower class woman who runs the foster home and the other—Alyssa— being a child of a multi-millionaire. Yet despite having a father and being rich, Alyssa is extremely isolated; while despite her lack of a family (and her current mother figure Diane not being allowed to officially adopt her on her salary), Amanda has a strong community. While many things conspire to link these worlds in this film, it is the language of baseball that is used to cross them emotionally.
Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, supposedly, though I’d argue American football has taken the spot of The Most American Sport. That’s besides the point though—baseball still holds a deep cultural significance in America, and It Takes Two uses the cultural relevance of baseball as a touchstone for the grounded, middle/lower class experience.
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