In the 1997 film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion , Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow) take their 10-year high school reunion as an opportunity to show their classmates how much cooler and successful they have become since high school. Their elaborate plan, which includes lying about their careers and claiming to have invented Post-Its, spins out of control, ultimately providing sticky notes full of reasons why attending your high school reunion may not be the greatest idea for some people. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion follows Michele, played by Lisa Kudrow (left) and Romy, played by Mira Sorvino (right) to their high school reunion.
Credit: Touchstone Pictures But in the real world, how do you decide to go or just stay home? Dr Rebecca Ray, a clinical psychologist and author of Difficult People , says it’s complicated. “Deciding whether to attend a school reunion can be stressful because it stirs up emotions and memories from adolescence, a time that is harrowing to relive for many people,” she says. Even receiving the invite can trigger negative emotions, says Ray, which is something she experienced personally when an invite to her 20-year reunion dropped into her inbox.
“[I became] very anxious. I had a physical reaction that involved shallow, quick breathing and feeling a little nauseated. I deleted the invitation immediately,” she says.
For Ray, it was a negative high school experience that generated her reaction and made the decis.
