Let’s not kid ourselves: The Parent Trap (1998) IS a classic. One of the best Disney movies to exist, where Lindsay Lohan and… Lindsay Lohan played twins Annie James and Hallie Parker. Well, guess what, buddy… Turns out that their almost-stepmother Meredith Blake, wasn’t as mean as they made us think she was.
For the film’s 20th anniversary, Elaine Hendrix decided to tell Entertainment Weekly all about what it feels like to be hated when you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. And it’s actually hilarious.
Everyone always called her a “gold digger” and had her pegged as an evil stepmom. But, when you think about it, that’s not completely true. You see, Meredith Blake was a major publicist in freaking San Francisco, people. Therefore, she didn’t need Nick Parker’s millions, as Annie and Chessy claimed.
Hendrix, defending her character, turns the whole thing around. Imagine being Meredith. You actually like Nick, you try to get along with his daughter (while getting pranked every single time), discover he lied about Hallie being a single child, and that his ex is this very famous fashion designer.
Plus, he didn’t even notice that the girl who came home after camp wasn’t even Hallie. Solid parenting, Nick, just great.
So, for your 411, Meredith Blake was never a selfish gold digger. She was determined and opportunistic. And if being compared to a strong, fashion-forward, successful woman makes me Cruella… Then fetch me a Dalmatian and a cigarette holder pronto.
Yeah! You tell ’em, Mer!
“You were trained to hate me”
Of course you’d be on Hallie and Annie’s side, because that’s the part of the story that you know. They made you believe that Meredith was the terrible person here! Well, yeah, she did say that she was going to ship those brats to boarding school, but then again, they didn’t even gave Mer a chance. You know, or at least they could’ve given her the benefit of the doubt.
Maybe she was an opportunist, as Hendrix says, and maybe she was spoiled, but Meredith Blake deserved better. She swallowed a lizard, for crying out loud!
After watching these videos, please, give evil stepmothers a chance. Who knows, they might even turn out to be good if you treat them nicely.