Nothing Like the Movies

Liz is another of the novel’s main characters and first-person narrators. The chapters titled with her first name are written from her point of view. In the narrative present, Liz is also 20 years old. She is just starting her junior year at UCLA, where she’s pursuing a degree in videography and studying the music industry. Working with Lilith from HEFT Entertainment and the campus athletics department and video production team makes her feel validated. She is investing in the things that she cares about and taking steps to exact the future that she wants. However, when her ex-boyfriend, Wes, returns to campus, Liz’s confidence falters. She has convinced herself that she is no longer the girl who Wes broke up with two years prior. She has made new friends and established herself as a realist rather than the romantic she used to be. When she starts running into Wes around campus, she begins to wonder what she feels for him and if she is the girl she’s told herself she’s become.

Liz is a spirited and reflective individual. She knows how to speak her mind and engages with her friends in a lively manner. At the same time, she is a serious student and dedicated to her vocational future. Her unresolved relationship with Wes in the present complicates these facets of her character. She feels an undeniable connection to Wes whenever they’re working together or interacting at social gatherings. However, she tries to deny her emotions out of self-preservation. She wants to be a strong and focused young woman and fears that she’ll compromise her future if she gives in to her feelings for Wes again.

Throughout the novel, Liz learns that making peace with her past is the only way to fully inhabit the identity she craves. She starts to speak more openly about what she feels and the hurt she’s experienced. When she starts opening up to her loved ones, she learns that it isn’t a sign of weakness to show vulnerability or ask for help. Her relationships with her roommate Clark; her dad; and her stepmother, Helena, are influential in this regard. These characters act as guides for Liz’s character and help her make peace with her heartbreak and pursue renewal with Wes in the present. This allows her to complete her Journey Toward Healing and Forgiveness.

Stuart is a secondary character and is Wes and Sarah’s dad. Because he died two years before the narrative present, his character does not appear in scene. However, Wes constantly thinks about his late father. Therefore, his presence appears in Wes’s narrative. Memories of Stuart and the sound of Stuart’s voice particularly come to Wes when he’s playing baseball.

Stuart raised Wes to care about baseball, and the sport was a primary point of connection between the father and son. However, Stuart had a headstrong, unbending, and often callous manner. He was hard on his son and often struggled to relate to him with gentleness and grace. These facets of Stuart’s character complicated Wes’s relationship with his dad. In the narrative present, Wes still blames himself for Stuart’s death because he yelled at Stuart on the phone shortly before Stuart had the heart attack that killed him.

Stuart’s character adds subtextual narrative tension because Wes is trying to reconcile with his death throughout the novel. Once he realizes that his dad wasn’t angry with him when he died, nor was he responsible for his death, Wes can let go of his guilt and grieve Stuart more healthily.

Lilith is a secondary character and is Liz’s boss at her internship. As an acclaimed documentarian and documentary producer, Lilith is one of Liz’s heroes. She works for HEFT Entertainment and is especially respected “in the sports world” (17). Liz looks up to her throughout the novel and sees her as her proverbial guide. Lilith is Liz’s elder, and she is kind, gracious, and understanding. She communicates openly with Liz throughout their internship work together and encourages Liz whenever she’s feeling overwhelmed or worried about her projects. Her character has a positive influence on Liz’s character. She serves as a mentor to Liz and indirectly aids Liz and Wes in getting back together, as she assigns Liz to cover the baseball team’s preseason.

Clark is a secondary character and is one of Liz’s roommates and closest friends at UCLA. He also works with the video production team on campus. He and Liz spend a lot of time chatting at home together and frequent the same vocational, academic, and social realms. Clark proves his care for Liz when he agrees to pose as her fake boyfriend after Wes returns to campus. He’s naturally protective of his friend and acts as her romantic buffer. However, Clark is also a person of integrity when he ends the fake relationship after seeing how it’s hurting Wes. Clark is honest, authentic, and open, and he does his best to communicate with his loved ones, even if it means compromising their expectations of him.

Sarah is a secondary character and is Wes’s younger sister. Throughout the novel, Sarah and Wes remain in constant contact despite the physical distance between them. They keep in touch via FaceTime and regular phone calls. Sarah is younger than Wes, but she is a source of encouragement, comfort, and strength for him. She consistently challenges her brother to be honest about his feelings and communicate with his loved ones more authentically. Sarah especially supports Wes and Liz getting back together, but she doesn’t think they can rekindle their relationship if Wes won’t be vulnerable with Liz. Wes and Sarah’s connection is in part due to the trauma they experienced together. Sarah depends on Wes and is grateful for his support after their dad died. She also supports him because she wants to repay him for making sacrifices on her behalf when he stepped up to take care of their family—both emotionally and financially—when their mother could not.