Melissa and her Allies

 

The most striking part of the ending of Melissa was how the characters acted as allies, giving Melissa help where they could, and admitting where they could not. Scott offers an example of sincere but uninformed acceptance, the principal shows understanding, and Melissa’s mother even asks for help in helping. 

The scene at the beginning of the story where Scott and Melissa play video games struck me in particular as someone who grew up with an older brother who used the same exact excuse of “mom will think it’s brother bonding time” when he wanted to play together. Scott knew that there was something bothering Melissa, he just had no idea what. When he later gets an idea about her identity in Arnie’s, while sincere in his compassion, he clearly does not know how to handle this situation. Scott is constantly assuring Melissa that “I’m okay with that,” and “My friend Matt is gay,” because he believes that she is his gay brother, but when she opens up about her gender his only response is repeatedly “oh,” (138-139). After a further conversation, he assures her that “you don’t make a very good boy,” (140), which is again not the greatest response, but it is coming from a place of kindness where he wants to assure his sister’s emotions. This seems to work, as Melissa “had never been gladder to have an older brother,” (142). 

Principal Maldonado helps Melissa by helping her to feel safe. As demonstrated by the sign in her room that sticks out so strongly to Melissa, she is invested in the well-being of her queer students. When she sees how Melissa thrives on stage as Charlotte, she keeps Ms. Udell from swapping the roles back to their original actors. In our discussion on Monday, we kept talking about how “it’s just a spider, does it really matter?” and Principal Maldanado is clearly of the same mindset. While we do not see more of her actions, her final comment to Mellisa that her "door is always open,” makes me at least optimistic that she continues her work as an ally (161). 

After her words to Melissa upon finding her magazines, I believed that Melissa’s mother would be steady in her opposition to Melissa’s identity. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when she ends the story clearly trying to educate herself. She reassures Melissa that she is not upset with her, and that “I do think you need someone to talk to. I could probably use someone too. Someone who knows about these things,” (171). She does not double down in her bigotry or taking Scott’s approach of using the one example she has in her mind to say that she is the perfect ally; instead, Melissa’s mother reaches out to someone who is more experienced and can help both her and her daughter. 

Despite bullies like Jeff, Melissa features many allies, who take different approaches to helping Melissa. Some are more forward than others, and some show more understanding of the topic of gender, but they are all sincere in their attempts. Unfortunately, the story ends before showing the audience everyone coming full circle, but Gino paints an optimistic picture, leaving audiences hopeful.