Dear Steemit,
Justin Foley fits into the stereotype perfectly. His smile is mentioned a few times, it's one of the first things Hannah sees in him. It is an innocent smile. They're all kids when you think about it, they're in high school and that's a vulnerable time in anyones life. But Justin is simple. He has a bad home life. We see him mom and her current, abusive, partner, and it's mentioned that she goes through lots of them. Justin doesn't have a loving family or stability. He wasn't taught how to love. I doubt he was taught to respect women either. He's not a very assertive person. But when he met Hannah at a park he only kissed her, he was sweet. He took a picture, one I doubt he intended to be scandelous, and bragged to his friends. He didn't mean for the picture of Hannah to be sent around, but he should have tried harder to stop or at least discredit it. Or even own up to the fact that him and Hannah didn't do anything more than kiss.
One thing about him that I find interesting is his relationship with Bryce. I'm guessing that besides sports and his friends, Justin doesn't feel like he has anything in his life. Then Bryce comes around and gives him whatever he wants really. He gets him drugs, alcohol, let's him crash at his place whenever he wants. He starts to rely on him, and I have no doubt feels indebted to him. So when Bryce steals his phone to send a picture, when Bryce goes to see Jessica when she's passed out drunk, Justin is conflicted. He has a sense of loyalty to Bryce that allows him to look past how bad of a person he is. I liked that he went in the room later to try to stop Bryce, obviously realizing that he needs to stop standing up to his friend. Justin was still in the wrong and I'm glad Jessica turned against him in the end, but he is not evil to his core, out to do harm. It's obvious he is struggling, and that he loves Jessica, so one has to sympathize with him a little bit.
Honestly though, the actor makes the character more likable. He has a genuinely innocent air about him.
To be clear, none of this justifies how he wronged Hannah, and no one he hurt should just look past it because Justin has had a bad life. One can only hope he learns from his mistakes.
