abstract
| - Unbeknownst to the adults, all the girls in camp bet money on the contest and divide into two "teams," each rooting for and egging on either Ferris (Tatum O'Neal) or Angel (Kristy McNichol). At the same time, the girls engage in typical teenage behavior such as food fights and other activities. The girls involved in the contest are opposites and rivals: cynical, suspicious and streetwise poor girl Angel Bright and naive, prissy and romantic rich girl Ferris Whitney. Both girls discover that "it" is not what they thought it was. Ferris thinks of love as romance and wine and flowers. She imagines herself swept off her feet by Gary, the camp counselor. When she lies about "making love" with him, the biological side manifests itself in others' reactions to what she said she did. She discovers that, at least in the context of a camp counselor having sex with a fifteen-year-old, sex can be hurtful and its consequences ugly. Her attitude is now more grounded in reality; she has become more like street-wise Angel. Angel approaches the same issue from the other side. She views winning the contest as a mechanical, purely biological function, "no big deal" as her mother has told her, but when she tries to do "it" with Randy (Matt Dillon) in the boathouse, she becomes confused by feelings she did not know she had. She behaves very defensively, as if Randy is trying to force her to have sex. Randy (who could take it or leave it) is put off by Angel's recalcitrance and leaves. She then must admit to herself that sex is not a mechanical function she can cynically turn on and off, but is something she deeply wants to do. Angel reconnects with Randy later with a much improved attitude, one closer to Ferris'. This time, she pays attention not to clothing removal procedures and condoms, but to her feelings for Randy. In the end, Ferris discovers that love involves sex (which is not always romantic) and Angel discovers that sex involves love (which deeply touches her and transforms her soul) & they both grow up that summer.
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