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The main character of the 1991 film My Girl is Vada Sultenfuss, portrayed by actress Anna Chlumsky in her breakout role.
Vada is an 11-year-old girl living in a funeral home in suburban Pennsylvania during the summer of 1972. She is characterized by her obsession with death, her hypochondria, and her deep-seated guilt over the belief that she caused her mother’s death during childbirth.
Her most memorable lines reflect her precocious, slightly macabre personality and the emotional arc of the film.
This is widely considered the most heartbreaking and iconic line in the film. Vada says this during the funeral of her best friend, Thomas J. Sennett (played by Macaulay Culkin). In her grief and state of shock, she becomes hysterical upon seeing him in the casket, fixating on a practical detail because the reality of his death is too much to process. It marks the moment her childhood innocence is fully shattered.
Vada says this early in the movie while visiting her local doctor. As a hypochondriac, she frequently shows up with imagined ailments—in this specific scene, she is convinced she has a "chicken bone" stuck in her throat. Her cynical, adult-like dismissal of medicine highlights her quirky personality and her desperate need for attention from her father, Harry (Dan Aykroyd), who is often preoccupied with his work as a mortician.
This line is delivered during an adult poetry class taught by her crush, Mr. Bixler. It is a rare moment of raw vulnerability where Vada voices the secret burden she has carried her entire life. This admission is the emotional core of her character, explaining why she is so fixated on death and why she struggles to connect with her father.
Known as the "Ode to Ice Cream," this is a poem Vada writes for her summer poetry class. While other students (and later her friend Thomas J.) write about deep or "meshy" topics, Vada’s initial attempt is endearingly simple and childish. It serves as a lighthearted contrast to her darker obsessions and shows her struggle to find her "voice" as a writer.
When Vada decides to "run away" from home—upset by her father’s engagement to the makeup artist Shelly (Jamie Lee Curtis)—she tells Thomas J. her plan. When he asks to come along, she tells him he can't because "they have enough kids," suggesting he should live with the Partridge Family instead. This exchange captures the whimsical 1970s setting and the charming, innocent bond between the two lead characters.
This dialogue occurs shortly before the film's climax. Thomas J. asks Vada if she would consider him as a romantic interest if her plan to marry her teacher falls through. Vada’s casual "I guess" followed by their first kiss (under a willow tree) is a pivotal coming-of-age moment that defines the film's legacy as a story of first love.
The summary mentions the 'Ode to Ice Cream' but omits the 'Weeping Willow' poem, which Vada reads at the end of the film. This poem is arguably more memorable as it signifies the resolution of her grief and her emotional growth.
The summary mentions the kiss but misses the immediate aftermath where, to break the awkward silence, Thomas J. recites the Pledge of Allegiance, a highly memorable and quoted moment.
The main character of My Girl (1991) is Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky). Her most memorable lines include: "Where are his glasses? He can't see without his glasses!" (spoken at Thomas J.'s funeral), "The whole medical profession is a crock" (spoken to Thomas J. after a doctor's visit), "I'm afraid I killed my mother" (confessed in poetry class), and the "Ode to Ice Cream" poem. Another key dialogue is "Would you think of me?" which Thomas J. asks Vada shortly before his death; notably, this exchange occurs after their first kiss, not before.