Unscripted

Zelda Bailey-Cho is an incredibly talented and ambitious seventeen-year-old comedian who dreams of making it big before she turns 25. She is a young woman with a sharp wit, impeccable timing, and a passion for making people laugh. Zelda has always known comedy is her calling, and she is willing to work hard and persevere until she achieves her dreams.

As Zelda prepares to attend the Rocky Mountain Theater Arts camp, she is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. She sees the camp as the perfect place to start her journey and is determined to take full advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. At RMTA, Zelda has the chance to learn from some of the most experienced and skilled comedians and improvisers. She is eager to absorb as much knowledge and experience as possible. She believes that making the varsity improv team is the first step towards achieving her goal of being on Saturday Night Live. However, the reality of being on the varsity team at the camp is not everything Zelda expected. 

It turns out, the camp is plagued by toxic masculinity, sexual harassment, and misogyny, all of which make it difficult for Zelda to accomplish her goals. She faces many obstacles, including being the first female in fifteen years to make the varsity squad on top of being one of only five female campers that summer. She wants to make her other female campers proud, but it becomes increasingly difficult as she becomes the target for humiliation on her male-only team.

As Zelda struggles to navigate the obstacles at camp, her relationship with her coach, Ben, becomes increasingly complicated. While Ben reassures Zelda that he will stop the humiliation, he still allows the guys to tear her down during rehearsals. His sweet smiles and endearing touches leave Zelda’s head spinning. As the rehearsals become more and more heartbreaking for Zelda, so does her relationship with Ben. It all comes to a head one day when he pins her against a tree and unclasps her bra. 

Zelda feels betrayed and violated because she thought she could trust Ben. The incident leaves her questioning her own judgment, as well as the intentions of those around her. But despite the trauma she experiences, Zelda refuses to let it define her. Her fellow female campers — Paloma, Sirena, Emily, and Hanna — help Zelda learn the difference between abuse and affection. They help Zelda realize that she is a survivor who will not be silenced. Zelda finds the strength to speak out about what happened to her, hoping that her story will inspire others to do the same. 

Zelda’s journey is one of resilience, determination, and strength. She faces numerous challenges, including toxic masculinity, sexual harassment, and misogyny, but refuses to let them hold her back. She is a role model for young women everywhere, showing them that they too can achieve their dreams, no matter what obstacles they may face. 

Unscripted is a captivating and thought-provoking book that is sure to resonate with young women. In a where misogyny and sexual harassment are still prevalent, it is important for young women to be aware of these societal issues and learn how to navigate them. The book does an excellent job of exploring these themes through the experiences of its strong and inspiring female lead character. Furthermore, Unscripted is not limited to themes of misogyny and sexual harassment. It also delves into various other issues that young women may face, such as gender stereotypes, body image, and self-esteem. The author does a great job weaving together these themes in a way that is both informative and engaging. Overall, Unscripted is a great read for young women who want to empower themselves and learn how to overcome the challenges they may face in today’s society. It provides a positive role model and valuable insights that can help them navigate the complexities of the world. Readers who enjoy Unscripted should also read Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope by Jenna Bush Hager.

Sexual Content 

• During Zelda’s first rehearsal with her male counterparts, she plays a nurse. One of the boys opens her office door and says, “Well, hello there, lady doctor. How lucky am I? Should I drop my pants now, or now and later?” Zelda stays in character, looks at his chart, and says, “Ah! I see you’ve had a series of brain injuries that make you say inappropriate things. Well. We should get you some heavy drugs to suppress that.”
• In another scene, there were some allusions to Zelda’s character being a porn actress, but it wasn’t the focus of the scene so she “let it go.”
• In another scene, one of the males in Zelda’s group forces her to be a prostitute in the woods. “‘Oh, look! A woods hooker! I think I’d like to see a dance,’ Xander said. ‘I’ll be the pole.’” 
• Xander tries to make Zelda uncomfortable by making sexual comments. Xander began grinding on Jake and pitched his voice into a falsetto. “’Oh, Jakey!’ he tittered, apparently imitating me. ‘You’re so funny! I love it when you do me!’ The grunting sounds increased, reaching a fever pitch.”
• The girls at the camp tell Zelda that guys look at her as a sexual object. Hanna says, “See—you do that leaning in thing and your boobs just—” Hanna makes jazz hands.
• Ben utilizes his power as a coach to get Zelda alone for a one-on-one rehearsal. He makes her act out a scene in which he kisses her. “And then he was kissing me. A real, live boy was kissing me. Kissing ME. I hardly knew what was happening. He wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me closer.”  The kissing stops as Ben pulls away and calls the rehearsal to a close. It is the only scene that they “rehearse.”
• Another time Zelda is put in a demeaning position. “It was happening again. And Ben was doing nothing to stop it. I was numb as Xander marched with me over his shoulder and set me down off stage. ‘Woo! Quick, but satisfying!’ He mimed zipping up his pants. Bile rose up in my esophagus.”
• Ben sexually violates Zelda outside the cabins against a tree. “Before I had a chance to make a decision, the fingers of his right hand unclasped my bra and his left hand grabbed my boob. The moment he made contact, I knew I didn’t want it. I tried to step back, but I was still pushed up against the tree.” Zelda says, “‘Don’t. Please, Ben. Just—’” Zelda “tried to push him away with my hands, but he ground into me. ‘It’s okay,’ he murmured. ‘You’re so sexy. I can’t help myself.’” He only stops because Zelda knees him in the crotch and runs away. 

Violence 

• Before Zelda goes to camp, her father tries to teach her about life. He recounts the story of what led them to this point, but this time he includes a part Zelda had never heard. He loves his new wife and stepson, Will, but they were not deterring him from the negative thoughts inside his head. It was Zelda that ultimately saved him. “‘Zelda-belle.’ He exhaled sharply, folded and unfolded his arms, then took my hands. ‘Your mom loved Will, and I . . . I couldn’t take the sadness anymore. I was thinking about . . .’ He raised his eyebrows, willing me to fill in the blanks . . . Did he mean . . . he was thinking about killing himself?” He lets Zelda know it was her birth that brought light back into his life. She was the one to pull him out of his depression.
• The owners of RMTA, Paul Paulsen and Paul Deluca (P1 and P2), lay out the ground rules upon everyone arriving at the camp. “’Lastly, we have a very strict physical violence policy. If you get in a physical altercation, you will be sent home. No exceptions.’ Paul Paulsen said . . . ‘Well,’ Paul DeLuca drawled, ‘unless it’s in a scene.’”
• There is a scene in which Jake 2 and Trey, other members of the varsity improv team, fake punch one another. “‘A punch in the face for not freeing the slaves earlier!’ Jake 2 called. He turned to Donovan and clapped him on the back. ‘Right, my brother?’ My eyes grew huge. Anger flashed in Donovan’s eyes, but it was gone so quickly, I thought I might have imagined it.” This scene upsets Donovan as a biracial individual. It is one of the first times Zelda realizes that it isn’t just sexual comments that are being made and hurting someone.
• Zelda knees Ben in the crotch to avoid him going further in his sexual advances. “A switch flipped in my head. A message flashed in my mind with lightning speed and clarity: Ben was not what love looked like. He was what danger looked like. And that’s when Dad’s voice shouted in my head, Prime attack zones: spectacles and testicles! I jerked up my knee as hard as I could and rammed it into his crotch.”
• Ben, the varsity coach, punches a Boy Scout that Zelda is hiking with, Jesse, in the face which causes a fight to break out between the three of them. Most of the violence comes from Ben. “But it took a cracking sound, blood pouring out of Jesse’s nose, and Ben shaking out the hand that had punched Jesse to set off a bomb inside my body…Ben charged at me, and I barreled toward the steps…’How dare I?’ He caught up with me in two strides and grabbed my arms. ‘How dare you?’ He spun me to him. Fury contorted his face. ‘I let you onto Varsity and this is how you repay me?’ His hands dug into my upper arms, and he shook my body…I tried to break out of his grasp, but he growled, ‘Shut up!’ and shook me again…I twisted around, but still gripping my arms, Ben kicked Jesse in the knee as he lurched toward us, which sent him stumbling back down into the gravel. Jesse’s nose was bleeding so freely, the front of his shirt was a lake of blood…’Stand UP, bitch,’ he demanded, digging his fingers even deeper into my forearms. Whimpering from the pain, I listened…Turning around in shock, Ben dropped my arms, so I grabbed his shoulder to force him back to face me, then spectacles-testicled him, and he collapsed to the ground.”

Drugs and Alcohol 

• None

Language 

• Zelda is in a conversation with two girls who are discussing how the males on their improv team tend to stereotype them just because they are female. For example, “Then when guys do a scene together, do they call it ‘Dick-prov’?”
• Sexism and misogyny are heavily discussed throughout the book.
• The terminology surrounding the LGBTQ+ community is brought up multiple times as both Zelda’s brother and bunkmates are a part of the community. In one scene, the two bunkmates, Sirena and Emily, are telling the girls what they feel comfortable being called. “Sirena says, ‘We like ‘gay.’ And ‘lesbian’ is fine, too. In certain contexts, ‘queer’ makes the most sense. Right, Em?’”’
• Emily, one of the few females at the camp,  brings up her weight multiple times on her own volition and discusses the stereotypes she faces because of it. This scene is a wonderful example of the adversity she faces daily due to her weight. “Unfortunately, Emily was too anxious to be her best self. At one point, she played a really funny newscaster who was so nervous, she couldn’t remember any of the news, and later managed a spot-on Irish accent, but the guys she was performing with mostly sidelined her. After the third scene, where she played someone’s mom, a guy behind me whispered, ‘That fat girl is really bombing.’”
• The terminology “asshats” is used several times. 
• There are also multiple instances of the males making derogatory symbols and expressions towards the girls. When Zelda glares at a group of boys, they “flipped me off. I looked to the coaches to see if anyone was paying attention to the cretins, but the coaches were spread around the room, eyes on the stage.”
• Zelda’s varsity group is called up to the stage for one of the improv games, but she is joined by the two guys who continue to humiliate her. “I took a deep breath and trotted up on stage. Unfortunately, Crotch-grabber and Finger-flipper stood on either side of me. My weakest aspect of improv next to two sexist body-shamers. Awesome.”
• The word damn is used several times.
• The words prostitute and hooker are used multiple times, often in improvisational scenes where they are forcing Zelda to be one.
• Zelda stands up to some of the negative comments being made towards her during rehearsal. Zelda says, “You know, improv has always made me feel good. Like I was strong and funny and smart. I was a part of something. But you guys — What you do isn’t improv. It’s a lot of one-upmanship and dick waving and you don’t need me for that.” 
• Ben, the varsity improv coach, calls Zelda a bitch multiple times. Zelda thinks, “It took a long time to fall asleep, but when I woke the next morning, I was sure about two things: 1) Ben was never getting me alone again. And 2) If I was a bitch, I was going to be the funniest bitch that asshole had ever seen.”
• Ben calls Zelda a whore one time.
• Nina Knightley, Zelda’s idol, says, “There’s a lot of crap out there. . . and I’ve seen my fair share of it. But the way you get through it is together. Find your people. And then keep helping people up. It’s the only way. Got it?”

Supernatural

• None

Spiritual Content 

• None