1984

I'm reading 1984 in my AP Language and Composition class, and so far, I'm not impressed. Granted, I'm only on page 99 of the actual book, but everything is so dreadfully boring up to that point. I've heard that it gets more intense as you get farther into it, and I'm hoping desperately that it does, or finishing it for the deadline will be the ultimate struggle. So far, it contains a lot of background information on the society that Winston Smith lives in, which I understand is crucial to the plot, but it doesn't make it any more intriguing. I need a book that jumps right to the point from the start and keeps you hooked until the end, and this book is not doing that for me.

It was written in 1949 as a fictional prediction of the future, and how Orwell imagined the year 1984 would look like. When you think about it, so far the predictions he made are almost eerie. They aren't necessarily true or accurate, but bits and pieces come close, such as the idea that the government will one day control society. It seems of late that the government keeps trying to establish more and more control over the people, and if we aren't careful, it could turn into Orwell's book. Another interesting point is that he wrote that the government could watch your every move via a telescreen. That's not far off, actually. I mean, security cameras and speeding cameras and satellites are everywhere. Not to sound paranoid, but we really don't have any idea of what the government is using them for because we don't have to knowledge or access to that kind of information. Just a thought: they could monitor every phone call you make. Isn't that just a bit ominous to you?

Anyhow, I have to finish the book by the end of the week, and if nothing more exciting than Winston going to work--again--happens soon, I may end up throwing the book out of the window. And then cry and go pick it back up, because I really have to finish this book and do a project on it for my class. Wish me luck, I might severely need it by the end of the week.

Movie Preference

Trailer Park Boys has to be the dumbest show I've ever seen. Seriously.
Why would you willingly subject yourself to that? And there's like more than eight seasons! Gah. It actually hurt my brain to see that much stupid stuffed into a half an hour episode, and I only watched one, and only because my friend demanded that I view it. Of course, he is a dude, but that brings up the question of why guys seem to like really simple and really idiotic shows like that.

I'm not trying to be sexist with that comment, it's just something I've noticed. Whenever you ask a guy what he wants to watch on a movie night, usually its something that either has really sexual humor involved, extreme profanity, no actual plot, intense violence, or nude women.

I suppose that the stereotype could go both ways, however. Girls are notorious for picking out the tear-jerking, romantic, moral-packed movies that probably bore guys half to death.

But that doesn't answer the question of why we pick those specific genres of entertainment. I'm a girl who loves action or sci-fi movies as long as they actually have some sort of character development or plot involved in them (The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, or any Marvel movie are amazing examples). So, when I suggest those to a guy friend, usually they're immediately down for watching that type of movie. Many of my girl friends, however, normally look at me like I've grown a third eyeball. Don't get me wrong; I love John Green and Nicholas Sparks just as much as the next girl. Every once in a while I need a movie that's going to make me cry and contemplate life. I've also never seen any of the Fast and Furious movies, because I see no point in watching people chase each other around in fancy, fast cars while things blow up behind the. It's just interesting to me that we can usually predict the type of entertainment that our friends are going to want to watch just based on their gender.

It makes me wonder how much of that is nature vs. nurture as well. I'm inclined to lean towards nurture, because I grew up around Harry Potter and Tolkien, therefore I'd rather watch those than, say, Sharknado. But I suppose it also just depends on your personality and your sense of humor. What you're interested in largely decides what you want to watch in your free time, which makes a lot of sense.

May 1st!!!!!!!!!!!

Guys!!! Age of Ultron premieres less than a month from now!! Can you tell that I'm excited???!!! 'Cause I am! There are somany trailers and exclusive clips oit there on the web that its impossible to ignore the hype. One thing I've noticed a lot lately, however, is that with all the advertising and such, a lot of the time Clint Barton (a.k.a. Hawkeye) is excluded a lot of the time. I just want to know why Marvel thonks he is not as important as the rest of the Avengers. Isn't the point of them all being a team is that they wouldn't work without every single member? They have to all be together for them to be as effective as they need to be. I just thought that was curious... as well as extremely unfair. Just something for you guys to ponder when you stumble across merchandise or media footage that excludes our favorite archer.

Insurgent

Lately, I just haven’t been able to get excited about book-to-movie adaptions. I know that a lot of people say to view the adaption as something completely separate from the original work, but I just can’t do that. I feel like if the book was popular enough to be made into a movie, then they should stick to the true details of the book, not change them to try and “better” them. I mean, they have practically the whole script written for them! All we need is the visual effects, because as great as our minds are, it is completely different to actually see the stories presented before us on a big screen.

It seems like every time another book is made into a movie, I get so disappointed with the result. They all have so much potential, and yet they twist the plot and make the whole movie just seem ridiculous to me. Or they forget my favorite moments, or key scenes that are really important to the overall message of the novel, and I just can’t stand to watch the movie more than once.

The Hunger Games franchise was one that actually didn’t butcher the books. I was really impressed, and hopeful that maybe other companies and producers would see that sticking to the book can be a good thing—and make the movie really successful at the same time. I held high hopes for Divergent as well. I love Shailene Woodley, and I thought she would be the perfect Tris. And her acting was great—I just felt like the movie was lacking the appeal that the book presented.

Insurgent was the same way. It wasn’t a bad movie—it just wasn’t great either. I got bored throughout the middle parts, and I just couldn’t help but think that the ending was kind of a buzzkill. I mean, the movie itself didnt stray too far from the original work (except for that weird box. What was that about?!) Anyways, I just couldn't shake the feeling that something vital was missing from the heart of the story... but I just can't put my finger on it!
On the plus side, Shailene Woodley was just so freaking cute with her short hair. I loved it enough to cut my own the same way!

Criminal Minds

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a growing interest about mysteries. It started when I was young, from Blue’s Clues to my more current obsession with Sherlock Holmes. I love the thrill of all the unexpected things that can occur, and when your hypothesis is proved right, the satisfaction is wonderful. That intrigue led me to a Mock Trial program through my middle school years, and now I think I’m interested in an actual career in law.

            My point is, I totally love shows like Law and Order, or NCIS, or CSI. I would always find a random rerun on T.V. on a lazy Saturday afternoon, and watch it despite not understanding any of the ridiculous amount of subplots. The mystery was enough to capture my attention, and when I began noticing that one crime show seemed to be on all the time, I decided to check it out.

Criminal Minds, the title read, and because I’ve also been considering a psychology degree in my later years of schooling, the thought of the show appealed to me. I flipped on a few episodes and realized that I actually enjoyed the characters as well. I wanted to know their back stories. Luckily, all of the past seasons are available on Netflix. (Nine whole seasons! There goes all my free time…) So far, I’ve only made it about two thirds of the way through the first season (I don’t actually have as much free time as I’d like, between school and work) but I am thoroughly enjoying it so far.

The characters have a depth to them that I really feel like I could relate to. They are in these extreme situations, but they all have a deep sense of humanity as well. They need to in order to understand the criminals they are constantly hunting down. Jason Gideon, for example, is the team leader, and he feels like every failure is his fault exclusively. He’ll do anything to solve a case, and while it is sometimes surprising the lengths he will go to, I find it admirable as well.

Most of the episodes follow a different plot line, which is different than other T.V. shows I’ve watched, but it’s also refreshing because I don’t get bored. There’s a great attention to detail within the show, which is fun for the viewers because they can try to solve the case right along with the rest of the characters. It makes you actually think about everything that’s going on, as well as question what happens in your own life. It’s crazy to think that something so bizarre could occur to anyone, anytime. There are truly crazy people out there…

I think the most heartening thing about the whole series is that there are just as many girls on the team as there are guys. Penelope, Elle, and Jennifer are strong and capable women that the team would not prosper without. It’s important for representation like that, especially to young girls like me who watch the show, because it proves that females can be successful in that field of work.

I am really looking forward to finishing the rest of the seasons this summer!

Middlesex

While Middlesex was very strange, I think it was an important read as well.

I didn't know what a hermaphrodite was until I read this book, and I learned along with Cal as he discovered himself through the pages. It is not unimaginable to me to question who I am as I grow up, but to discover that you are really a completely different gender--that I cannot imagine, simply because I am a girl, and I will always be a girl, and I wouldn't want to be any different than I am.

However, it was interesting to read as the then-Calliope discovered her sexuallity and the changes her body did, or did not, make. I think a lot of her struggles were things that every teenager can relate to, if not to the full extent of the problems that she had. But it was great that it touched upon the acceptance of the people who are important to you and everyone else around you. Because no matter how hard we all try to deny it, other people's opinions do matter, and how they react to certain things can affect our lives forever.

Today's world has become more accepting of hermaphrodites, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, asexuals, transgenders, genderqueers, genderfluids, and any other variation of the labels we put on ourselves, so I feel like this book fit right in with the ways that a lot of people feel on the subject. For example, if my parents were to read this book, they'd find it much stranger than I did, just because of how their generation was raised. I think it's important for young adults to read books like this to discover that these people--even if they are a bit different than the "norms"--are just human beings too. They were born the way they are, and they shouldn't have to change just because society wants them to fit in. The more people who read first hand accounts--be it fictional or non-fictional--will understand that it is natural to be different. It's how we survive.

Even though I initially read the book as my language arts project, I really enjoyed the content. It was a fast read, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested on the subject. Even if you're not, it's good to experience other things so that maybe you can change your perspective on things you don't understand.

Big Hero Six

This movie completely blew my mind.

I mean, it had me crying over a damn robot, for God's sake. Not that it's hard to get me to cry over a movie, mind you, but still, the point is valid.

Not only does the movie have a phenomenal plot line, but it also represents a couple of different races too, which Disney isn't really big on doing. Plus, there wasn't really a romantic plot line to follow, it was again based on family, like Disney's Frozen did recently. I feel like this is monumental for kids because today's society is big on waiting to start a family. People go to college now, and become successful before settling down or having children. One of the big parts of the beginning of the movie was focused on Hiro going to school, which is so important nowadays if you want to be successful in a career.

One thing that did suprise me was that the movie did take a fairly dark turn. Though most Disney movies do incorporate the whole "revenge" thought process, usually the murderous aspects of that are just implied, or sort of misrepresented through magic or other means, but this movie was very upfront about the fact that Hiro definitely wanted to kill the Professor. He wanted revenge for his brother's death, and he was totally willing to make Baymax kill the man. But by his friends stopping that from happening, its another way of showing that friends can help you through your darkest times, and that even when you make bad choices, you can make things right again.

My favorite part of the whole film was Baymax, hands down. While his character didn't have much depth to it, he served as both the comedic relief and a heartwarming companion. He probably made me smile more than anything else during the film. As a medical student, the health care possibilities that Baymax represented were fascinating, as well as the moral aspect that the robot represented. He acts as more than a machine, and definitely becomes Hiro's closest and most unexpected friend. Baymax represented a good moral standpoint by refusing adamantly about hurting others and that his job was to be the caretaker. The scene where he showed Hiro the tapes of his brother just made me smile, and the scene where Hiro had to leave Baymax behind had me holding back tears.

The only thing I would have liked to see out of this movie was more of the bot fighting, just because the idea of it being an underground activity was interesting to me, but it wasn't really touched upon throughout the rest of the movie other than Hiro upgrading Baymax's exterior. All in all, it was another hit for Disney, and I didn't expect any less.

Proxy

I just love stumbling upon a book that I probably never would have picked up if I just glanced at in on a shelf. My mother, from whom I inherited my immense love of reading, has a knack of picking out the weirdest novels she can find. Most of the time, I look at the synopsis and decide that the book is not for me. The story simply doesn’t seem interesting enough for me to invest time in. When I read a book, I want something that will hook me so indefinitely that I become obsessed with knowing the ending. I love sitting down for a four hour period and reading a book straight through. Everything flows so much smoother, and the story seems so much better when it’s experienced continuously. But sometimes, there will be one book that sticks out to me, and I decide to give it a shot.

                I literally just experienced this about five minutes ago with a book called Proxy by Alex London. It’s about a society that is based on patrons owning proxies, which are basically their whipping boys. That is so intriguing to me, that you can sacrifice someone to pay for the bad deeds that you committed. But Knox, the patron, becomes great friends with his proxy, Syd, and they have this great adventure in an attempt to save Syd’s life. It’s a fantastic story about how two completely different people can form a connection and even a deep friendship in the weirdest of times.

                There’s hardly any romance in the book, which suited me just fine as I’m getting sick of the classic love story plot. The book itself does a good job of addressing stereotypes as well, as Syd is homosexual, and black, and in one of the lowest classes of their society. He is the brunt of a lot of prejudice, but he is a very strong protagonist in the story and extremely enjoyable to read. The story itself is a great tale of sacrifice and how prejudice and debt can completely ruin a civilization. 

The Hunter Games

SUPERNATURAL IS FINALLY BACK!

Man, this last month has felt like an eternity. I was going crazy about waiting for this show.

Let’s address the cliffhanger of last episode first. Dean going crazy and killing all of those men was scary. I mean, they were doing horrible things, but does that condemn them to die? In my opinion, no, and apparently Sam and Cas agree. There’s something seriously wrong with Dean at this point, and the Mark of Cain needs to go ASAP.

                This week’s episode was really good, in my opinion. After the mid-season finale, I was a bit disappointed. Usually, something more exciting or heartbreaking happens, something bigger and better than Dean simply slaughtering a bunch of dudes. I mean, the show had been hinting about this happening all season; it wasn’t a surprise to me at all. Last mid-season, they killed Kevin, and I was so taken aback and sad about that; it was a great (AND TERRIBLE) plot twist. Adding Castiel’s vessel’s daughter this year was a nice plot thickener; I enjoyed Claire’s roll in these last few episodes, but it wasn’t exactly carrying the plot. So she’s messed up, but there are bigger things to deal with right now than one teenage girl, though I do admire Castiel’s new humanity-based morals. It’s a nice change from when he was a cold, unfeeling Angel of the Lord.

                Dean, on the other hand, seems to almost lose the last shreds of his humanity again. Throughout the entire episode, Dean was shrouded in shadows and made to look as menacing as possible; it was supposed to frighten you, to wonder what now he is becoming. He’s not a demon and more…and yet he’s not quite human, either. There’s something wrong, and it’s troubling that no one knows what it is, except Metatron, who cannot be trusted at any cost.

Metatron does make a good point, however. The show used to be about saving as many lives as possible, and somewhere along the way, we lost that element. It’s now more character central, which sometimes can be a good thing, but I miss the whole “Saving people, hunting things, the family business” vibe that I used to get from the show. It used to make me question whether or not they really were doing the right thing. Is killing a vampire okay because they are a monster? What if they don’t kill humans? Is that still okay? I miss the morality issues being addressed. They still come into play occasionally when Dean is off slaughtering innocents, but even then it’s just mentioned in passing. I don’t know, but I feel like that used to be one of this biggest points of the show, and now it has taken the backseat.

But the episode was good overall, and next week’s looks good as well. Charlie is back!! I love her because she is so fierce and adorable. But now the question is, why is she attacking Dean?!

Silver Linings Playbook

Over my gloriously long, much needed weekend, I watched Silver Linings Playbook with my friend, and I was surprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed it. What initially drew me to watching it is the fact that Jennifer Laurence is one of the main characters in the story, and I find her to be a brilliant actress in whatever role she plays. I love to watch her act, so I figured that the movie must be pretty good if she’s in it. But I started the movie with the assumption that it was going to be another cliché romance movie about how the guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. It was a nice surprise that it wasn’t like that at all.

                It does have a happy ending, that’s true, but the story itself is more complex than I had anticipated. It caught my interest as soon as the movie started, because you discover that the main character Pat had been admitted to a mental health institution. It’s not often that you see movies address mental problems so bluntly; mostly, they are glorified and made to seem like you can simply overcome them. That’s what’s so great about this movie: Pat goes through the story thinking that he’s just going to get better, but instead you see him continue to struggle with his bipolar disorder. Mental illness isn’t something you can wish away. You can learn to live with it, sure, but it won’t completely go away.

                And when he meets Tiffany, you see things go even more in depth with how depression can affect someone’s life. At one point in the movie, Tiffany makes a point of telling Pat that she’s not crazier than him, even if he thinks she is. I find that to be so true. Just because someone’s problems are different than yours, doesn’t necessarily mean they have it worse or better than you. It’s just different. It also makes a point of how no one can really understand what you’re going through unless they experience it themselves. People who have common experiences in life can connect through what they’ve been through.

It also emphasizes that even if you don’t understand, support is so, so important. You constantly see throughout the movie that Pat’s parents go back and forth between trying to control him and trying to support him. People who are imbalanced for whatever reason need stability, and they need someone who is willing to help them achieve that. Yelling and getting frustrated doesn’t help anyone; patience is huge.

As someone who is looking to go into the mental health field, this movie was refreshing and really made me excited to be that person who could improve someone’s life. 

OITNB

Orange is the New Black is highly inappropriate, hilarious, and a huge step towards feminism. It’s an amazing show. It’s so important in today’s media because the show is about primarily women: how often can you say that? The majority of the cast are female, in a society where everything is male dominant. Not only that, but the few male characters that are featured are great representatives of how flawed men can be. I’m not saying women are perfect; the show represents that too. There are plenty of ladies in that prison that are messed up and brutal. But this isn’t a “hero’s story” featuring a man saving the day. It’s all about the ladies.

                To be honest, most of the men in there are jerks. Most of the commanding officers or men in charge abuse their power to the extreme. They use the inmates for sex. They smuggle in and sell drugs. They threaten the inmates with rape. They’re cruel. And even when not in a prison setting, some men are like this in real life. They see women as inferior to them, and they use them to get what they want. It’s an important to show how corrupted men can be in a society that still features rape culture predominantly.

                The show also does a nice job of showing that convicts are people too. Everyone has a reason for why they are in there. Most of them did some bad things, made a mistake or two in their life, but it doesn’t mean that they’re horrible people. It just drives home the fact that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

                But back to the ladies. HELLO, REPRESENTATION. There are so many kickass, devious women in there that I respect and enjoy watching on screen. They’ve got sass, and they aren’t afraid to stand up to people in their way. And there are women of color that feature a ton of screen time. We so need more of that. Every big blockbuster movie is full of white people, and oh, that one black best friend that has ten minutes of screen time by themselves. Not in OITNB. Women like Tastee and Claudette are fierce and have stories all their own. It’s just fantastic.

                And one of the main characters is transgender! THIS IS SO AMAZING BECAUSE THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO. THEY EXIST AND THEY’RE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST. But the show addresses the struggle of being a trans-woman and how people view her because of it. It shows how it affects her family, and how everything changes after she became who she was meant to be. Sophia is confident and fabulous, and she is one of my favorites.

                This show is such a huge step forward for representing everyone who deserves it. 

Secret Agent Woman

               

For the purpose of this post, I’m going to assume that everyone had seen Captain America: The First Avenger.

               I’ve talked about the awful graphics and the cheesy effects in a previous blog post, but that’s not why                

               I’m bringing this back up.

               I’m talking about Peggy Carter, and how UTTERLY BADASS SHE IS.

               Because she is, there’s no denying it. She’s exactly the woman that the media needs to portray.

                Marvel’s Agent Carter premiered last Tuesday night on ABC, and it was everything I had hoped it would be. Even with the intriguing plot aside, there is just so much potential for this show. I mean, a female protagonist that can handle herself? Hell yes! We need more women like this onscreen! We see so many men kicking butt in the media that it’s become a norm to see on a daily basis, but it’s so important that we get the females represented as well, and as more than eye candy or love interests. Women can save the world too! (cough, we need a Black Widow movie, cough. I can’t wait for Captain Marvel to come out in the future as well. Say yes to the ladies!)

                Not only does Agent Carter prove that women can even one-up the men in extremely dangerous situations (in a pencil skirt and heels, no less), but that show also denounces any sort of sexism that was common in that time era. Peggy takes that BS from the men with a smile, and turns it right around to get what she wants. I love the part where Peggy mentions that she’s menstruating (cue all the men in the room getting grossed out and freaking about a NATURAL BODY FUNCTION), and then uses it to get a day off in order to do an undercover mission. Which she got away with, by the way. She’s a queen.

                She makes sure that Jarvis, who ended up being her side kick along the way, know that she doesn’t need him to save the day. She can do it all on her own. That’s fantastic. Usually the woman is the damsel in distress, begging for the man to save her and steal the spotlight. But instead, Peggy kicks the boys around, asking “Is that all you’ve got? Really?”. It’s such a wonderful change from what we normally see in the media, and hopefully it will keep getting better and better. I look forward to seeing what else they can make Peggy accomplish aside from forming S.H.I.E.L.D.

P.S The Ant-Man trailer looks awful. God, I am not looking forward to that movie. What can possibly be more embarrassing that a superhero riding a freaking ant into battle? Not much.

The Genius Game

                Have you ever noticed that the life of a genius is usually heartbreaking? Because I have, and it frustrates me. We alienate people for being different; we ridicule them for thinking outside the box. And yet, we want all of society’s problems to be fixed, but when a genius offers us the answer, we turn our noses up and make fun of their life’s work. I don’t understand human beings sometimes, because we so readily ruin each other’s lives.

                Over winter break, my friend and I journeyed to our local theatre to see The Imitation Game, starring the brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing. Turing, who I’d never heard of before in my life, helped to invent the computer, and wasn’t considered a genius to the public until years after his suicide. That’s devastating. He worked so hard at ending the second World War, and nobody appreciated his work. People today probably didn’t even know his name until they saw the movie. That’s not even counting the people who haven’t seen it, and may never see it. His legacy has died as tragically as he did.

                The movie spoke to me deeply throughout his story, because not only did Turing gain my sympathy, but also my respect. Cumberbatch played him with such intelligence, as well as innocence and vulnerability. He had spent his whole life feeling like an outcast because his mind thought differently, and even after breaking ENIGMA, he was prosecuted for being homosexual despite his part in ending the war.

                So that brings back the question: why do we hate brilliant people? Why does everyone target those who have potential and shoot them down? Why is everything new or different clouded in conspiracy, when instead it should be embraced? I don’t know. I probably will never know, because I refuse to try and understand those who hate others simply because their different. Different is not synonymous with weird or wrong. People who think that way are most likely the reason society’s progress is constantly stunted. There are always people out there who mean to oppress others. We need more people like Turing to prove them wrong; to prove to society that smart is the new sexy, or whatever.

                We can’t better ourselves if we don’t accept change, and that’s something the world needs to learn before we can create the future we deserve.