Saved by the Bell was always so good at addressing teen stereotypes, wasn't it? In this episode, there is a date auction where guys and girls are auctioned off like cattle for a date to the dance. Wendy, an overweight classmate (probably the only overweight student I have ever seen at Bayside, and never to appear again), bids a whopping $100 for a good time with Zack Morris. I can't blame her for this. $100 is a small price to pay for that heartthrob.
Side note - I find it ironic that the date auction is held to raise money for the skimpy new cheer leading uniforms, which might be quite unflattering on someone like Wendy (see picture)
Zack is bummed because Wendy isn't exactly his type. He makes excuses to try to get out of going to the dance with her, but ole Wendy figures him out. She ditches him at the dance, claiming she would rather "hang out by the finger foods". In the end, Zack sees what a jerk he has been, apologizes and asks Wendy to dance. And then we never see Wendy again, I guess it didn't work out between them? I am not surprised, I mean, we all know that Zack and Kelly are two people destined for each other anyway, right?
The moral of the story is, don't judge a book by its cover. Which I guess doesn't exactly apply because Wendy didn't really show us that she was cool or funny or really anything at all, except for a portly adolescent with 100 extra dollars to spend.
This theme appears again in this episode when Lisa acts like a brainiac to impress a guy (who looks like he is straight from Boyz II Men) named Brian. It is in this episode where Lisa utters that famous brainteaser, "What is art? Are we art? Is art, art?" The world will never know.
So, I guess what we have learned here is this: be yourself. Another life lesson brought to you by Buddy Bands.
Friends Forever,
AC Slater
