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.