Imitation of life

One of Bella Thorne's many fans on Twitter asked her about her ability to tear up when called upon, to which she responded...


i have a lot of sadness that i can reflect on so that's how i cry on cue

Anyone who's read even a succinct biography of her (from this post) - or seen the video I linked to in my previous entry - can totally understand it.  It's what transforms CeCe from an outward ditz into a character with real depth, emotion, and heartache - that the surface issues of behavior and grades aren't really reflective of who she is, while her real-life counterpart's insights and empathy eventually emerge.

In Add It Up, the most loosely biographical episode so far...the centerpiece scene occurs after CeCe runs out of the apartment, embarrassed by the revelation of her dyslexia.  As Rocky reassures her that she has much more inner resolve than she realizes, and that "everyone has baggage," CeCe hears what Rocky feels is her own big secret getting revealed:

feet as large as her brother's.

...wait, what?

The first few times I've watched it, I always thought it was a silly response, not uncommon to the show. After all, the Break It Up prayer monologue contains some light-hearted moments plus a goofy resolution.  Seems though that the sheer gravity of working through CeCe's dyslexic situation really dwarfed something as absolutely ridiculous as...yeah, shoe size.

More on that specific wrinkle in time later.

From the aforementioned biographical interview, Bella related that show creator Chris Thompson said...

When he saw me he just knew that I was CeCe, that there would be nobody else for that part because I was actually that character.

That being said...where does that leave Rocky?  Is Rocky basically a fictional version of Zendaya...or something entirely else?

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Some characters are pretty obviously not representative of their actors' real lives, most exemplified by the Hessenheffer siblings and their faux-Old World accents.  (I'm always amused when I read of fans being shocked that Kenton and Caroline have voices more reminiscent of the average Californian!)

Some are a little bit more derivative of real life.  Beyond the continuous parallels between CeCe and Bella...I think of the video game scenes in Add It Up and compare it to Davis Cleveland's own on-set gaming time (which he's gotten Zendaya into!).

Certainly the fashion aspect of the show provides some clues - apparently Bella's wardrobe matches that of CeCe, while Zendaya's off-seat look contrasts from her attire in character as Rocky.

Yeah, differences for once.  I'm not sure if it's a conscious contrast to the taken-from-Bella's-life-story CeCe Jones, or an attempt to match that energy with wit and sarcasm, but certainly the simplistic takes on her character as "generous, helpful, and friendly" (as seen in the character list on Wikipedia) overlook so much of the moment-to-moment redirection of motives that often occur.

Sure, Rocky says she "wants to be liked" by the crotchety senior in Give It Up, but is she really trying to be kind here?   (CeCe seems to see through the pretenses.)

CeCe predicts Rocky's lack of grace in responding to the unfavorable Andy Burns commentary in Review it Up, even before the meltdown actually happens.

For all of Rocky's protestations in Shrink It Up that CeCe pressures her into trouble-creating situations...doesn't she choose to participate, ultimately?  She's shown her independence from CeCe after all, i.e. in Kick It Up, and she herself has made irresponsible decisions on her own (the entire plot of Wild It Up) with her friend suddenly becoming the more reasonable one.

The intellect may lead to a heavier book bag and more impressive grades, but it sure isn't always a direct correlation for maturity - while adorable, I can't help but find Rocky's behavior at the very end of Glitz It Up a tad hypocritical (if played for laughs).

Why do I mention all of these foibles of Rocky?  Because it's so important to contrast that with the real Zendaya - a stepping stone to then examine how much the character does show hints of Zendaya's off-set personality.

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Caroline recently brought up Z's boot collection in a recent video blurb. So that's where the whole shoe-size discussion comes from in Add It Up!

Beyond that trifling detail, the overall direction of that episode - and that of Start It Up, CeCe's very first watery-eye appearance - involves Rocky taking the role of the big sister with an open ear and a mixture of compassion and encouragement.

Easy to say that that simply is a reflection of how the characters are supposed to be, after all.  A little bit more than a mere notion, though...when it's reflective of the bond between Zendaya and Bella, as the latter has tweeted and expounded on.

Zendaya herself is so much about being positive and making the most of her experiences - evidenced here and here.  And when she and Kenton brightened Bella's day recently with a goofy video...I think that she is just as much of a cheerful, energetic, quirky persona too.

If anything, the varying approaches to the two leads highlights slightly different acting approaches at work:

- Bella Thorne basically method-acts as herself when walking around as CeCe Jones.  The serious moments she has in the show tend to draw very much from personal experience.  And between the Reunion It Up flash-forward and the entirety of Meatball It Up, maybe the goofy scenes do, too!

Given her lack of comedic acting experience prior to the show, I often wonder how much of it is a truly liberating position for Bella, in that her offstage silliness is just as much of her role as her ability to deadpan and to get serious in a hurry.

- Zendaya's not entirely playing against type as Rocky - her vulnerability in Break It Up and her "big sister" moments elsewhere speak to this - but in the role, even while she questions CeCe's motives at times (such as the first ten minutes of Up Up And Away, or the entirety of Shrink It Up)...she's not unwilling to sometimes think of herself first, particularly at the end of Glitz It Up, and the competitive atmosphere of Show It Up.

Even with her from-the-heart moments in the series, much of her ability mirrors that of Caroline and Kenton having to essentially play heel on the show, when they're equally just as likable off-set.

And sometimes you see elements of both: her willingness (compared to CeCe) to get vindictive towards Tinka and Gunther in the cupcake-sale scene from Auction It Up mixes a little bit of sass with her own loyalty to her best friend!

Rocky isn't characterized anywhere as antagonistic as the Hessenheffers but she's not a direct representation of Zendaya at all.  I'd speculate that comes out of trying to provide contrast between the CeCe and Rocky roles, of adding a tad more grit and conflict in their friendship.

CeCe may have the big personality and loud mouth (I'm thinking of the brash, hilarious first portion of Break It Up, where she admonishes Rocky for her excessive focus on academia during summer vacation!) but Rocky can match those things when needed.  The Shrink It Up episode would have been entirely impossible without this tension, and does much to highlight the paradoxes of Rocky's persona, especially when compared to real life Zendaya.

In short:

It's not so much the individual quirks and actions of CeCe and Rocky that anchor the show, so much as it is how often they are able to make up their (relatively minor) differences and remain best friends, through so many ups and downs.  If they simply got along 100% of the time, those realizations of how important their bond is would be so much less.

While CeCe is a much closer representation of Bella Thorne herself than Rocky is of Zendaya...both characters are simply a shade too complex to classify that at face value, and their skill at translating their off-set personal chemistry into on-set magic ultimately is the heartbeat behind Shake It Up.