Saw a movie on Netflix last night with my father, as we do every Friday night. Tonight it was Another Earth.
Short review: it sucked.
Here's my telling of it.
Summary: A girl, called Roda or something? She finds out she got a scholarship to a University. She celebrates, goes to a party. Gets drunk. Drives drunk. Hits a family - a mother, father, son. The mother and son die, the father goes into a coma. She goes to jail for four years. When she comes out, it turns out that they've discovered a second earth in our solar system - they're creatively calling it "Earth 2". You can write an essay and win a trip to Earth 2. Roda, who's always had a fascination with outer space, writes in and tries. Meanwhile, she finds out about the guy she hit those four years ago. He lives alone. She tries to ring his bell to apologize, chickens out, and tells him that she's from some sort of cleaning service. The guy buys it and actually gets her to clean his house. They bond, and eventually they have sex, even though that's kind of disgusting. NASA or whatever, they make contact with Earth 2. There are people living on it, and not only that - they're exact replicas of the people living on Earth 1. With the same names, birthdates, memories and occupations. Roda wins the trip to Earth 2. She tells the guy. They celebrate for her, then he stops pretending and begs her not to go. She tells him that she was the one that killed his entire family. He tells her to get out. She comes back, he tries to strangle her, she says stuff, and somehow or other she ends up giving her free trip to Earth 2 to him. Then as she's walking home, she sees a replica of herself - the her from Earth 2 came to Earth 1.
Now, as my father keeps saying, it told a decent story. And sure, I agree. But the telling of the story was really bad, and I'll tell you why.
First of all, we are not made to care about what happens to these characters. All we know about the girl is she's into space, and she got drunk once. All we know about the guy is his family tragedy. There is never any attempt to make us like these characters, or care what happens to them. Maybe if we saw any of the characters show emotion besides sadness, that maybe would have helped. Roda is a Bella (as in from Twilight. That bad). She's a shell. She shows no emotion besides vague sadness, and doesn't bother to interact with anyone. We didn't care. And as for the guy.... he was alright. He was alright because he actually showed a metamorphosis through the movie, as protagonists generally do. He started out very sad and directionless, then when he likes her he starts to be happy with himself again. Then, when he finds out her true identity (since "the one who killed your family" is really the only identity given her) he starts out sad, goes angry, and goes devastated. He doesn't want to hurt her. And then happy again as he goes to Earth 2. The point is, he changes through the story. And that's what a good story wants, quite often.
Second of all, the story moved SO. SLOWLY. Dad fell asleep through half of it and missed nothing significant at all. If you cut out all the stuff that doesn't move the plot at all, you'd have four minutes of movie left (okay I'm exaggerating.... but you see my point).
But here's my biggest issue; the movie focused so much on being weird, artistic and shocking that it really did sacrifice all those elements that a movie NEEDS in order to be good. The cutting in weird places and weirdly angled close-ups were quite artistic, sure, and all the rest of it. But it was focused so much on being memorably weird that it paid no attention whatsoever to more important things - things like characterization, plot development, theme. Movies should begin with a story. Stories should begin with an idea. Ideas should begin with an emotion. That's the chain as it should be. And maybe the story did have an idea, or a feeling in it. But that got completely lost when they decided that this movie should always keep you completely offbalance, and lets always have the camera cutting as if it's some kind of documentary, and let's do this over here and do that over here. It didn't need that, and frankly crumbled whatever hope I had for the movie.
Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with artistic movies. I find them fascinating. But not every movie can pull it off. Not every movie can do the whole artsy-fartsy bit and still be enjoyable. That's the problem.
But, on the other hand, there were some okay bits in this movie. Some parts of this movie were actually legitimately good. For instance, when the guy is playing the saw with a violin bow. It sounds ridiculous, but that's what happened. It was weird, but strangely drawing, and strangely pretty. And to see the Earth 2 hanging in the sky next to the moon, that was quite good. Some shots were quite striking - when Roda finds out she won, and on the dock. I very much liked that. And the story she tells the guy about the Russian astronaut and the ticking sound was something to bring shivers down your spine. But if not for these things, the movie would be nothing.
So, in general, sometimes the movie succeeded in the poetry it was obviously trying to convey - but most of the time, it was just boring and annoying. Wholly unsatisfying. Attempting to be thought provoking and really not succeeding at all.
0.5/5 stars.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Community: General Review
So, lately I've gotten really into a show. That show is called Community.
Maybe you've heard of it. Maybe you haven't. But I suggest you watch a few episodes. You'll probably like it.
Or....
Well, some people start out liking it and then get tired of it. I was the opposite. I started out not really thinking much of it, and then loving it.
Basic concept:
Seven very different people meet up at a crappy community college. They're all taking spanish, so they form a study group. And that study group becomes a kind of family.
The writing in this show is good, but what I really really love about it is that the characters all have their very own, very distinct identity:
Jeff: He was a bigshot lawyer before he got kicked out of his law firm for not having the proper papers for being a legitimate lawyer. He knew he didn't have the proper papers - Jeff is very used to scamming his way through life. So, in order to get back easy, he went to a crappy community college to get the easiest way back into being a real lawyer. Jeff is a master at manipulating people, and he will if he feels it will help him gain something. He seems to think - or at least tells people that he thinks - that he is the most deserving person on earth. He very rarely likes to admit he cares about something - he prefers to be extremely non-chalant and cool toward people. He's the one who starts the study group in the first place, but not for the proper reason - he did it so that he could get in Britta's bed.
What I like about this character is that he starts out, as you can probably tell, as a huge D-bag. But he does have a kind of evolution through the series, as does every character. He uses his "powers" to bring the group together. He starts thinking about other people - sometimes over himself. He starts to show that he does care about some things. But you need to be following the series to see this - if you start an episode without knowing what's going on, then he's just going to look like a D-bag.
Britta: She's what you would call a modern hippie. A rebel without a cause - or as the show once described her, the "needlessly defiant". She talks about being all for female empowerment, charity, organicness and naturality, to the point of being annoying to the others. She's attractive - she knows it, and uses it. She can be very immature - she has what one could call a brother/sisterly rivalry with Jeff, and they're often bickering and making fun of each other - but she can also be very mature. She and Jeff act as the mother and father figures of the study group, respectively. What Britta most cares about is putting others before herself, and helping others - even if some other people accidentally get hurt in the process. But she's also very defiant by nature, and if someone offends her, then she will do what she can to shove it back in their face.
Annie: A nineteen year old girl, very driven, very smart, very determined. She probably could have gone to a better college, but in high school she got addicted to pills and had a nervous breakdown. She had to go to rehab. Her mother didn't support her in rehab, and as a result they've turned their backs on each other and Annie now lives in an apartment by herself in a dangerous neighbourhood. You wouldn't be able to tell she ever had that problem now. She's quite by-the-book, though she does have the ability to adapt and be resourceful. She had a crush on Troy, and now appears to have a crushy thing on Jeff. She, like me, analyzes everything, though as a result she reads too far into things and ends up expecting more than people actually offered. She's an adult by her actions, but childlike by her morals - her distinction between right and wrong is very bold, and if someone lies or is disrespectful then she will be the one to "tell on them". Her friends are a top priority for her. She wants the best for the people around her, but her judgement of what's best may not be the same as others.
Troy: He and Annie went to high school together. He was the jock in high school, and was very popular then. Now he goes to Greendale...... for some reason. Troy is a believer in passion, and a believer in fun over work. His brotha-from-anotha-motha is Abed.... who I will get to. Troy is not smart.... in the traditional sense. He's not smart intellectually/academically, or particularly street smart..... but he knows instinct, and he knows motivation. And every once in a while he dazzles them with a good idea. Troy is a little bit like Jeff in some ways..... being the popular jock in high school left him under the impression that he was a little more entitled than the rest. But he also has a very dutiful sense of right and wrong, and he always corrects himself if he offends someone, and will tell someone if he thinks they're doing something wrong. He's a little childish - in fact, he's quite childish, but he knows when to be mature.
Shirley: She's a born again christian woman, single mother - her husband cheated on her, so she kicked him out, and then when he came back she forgave him because of her christian values. She fancies herself the perfect christian - she forgives everyone (or says she does) and works hard to always be considerate and nice to people. She responds to good news with an "oh, that's nice," in a very super sweet way and responds to bad news with questions about why that would happen. Shirley.... has thinly veiled anger issues hidden shallowly beneath the surface. If someone offends her, or someone she cares about, then forgiveness and turning the other cheek sort of goes out the window - she knows how to kick ass. She believes in perfection - she strives for it, and can't understand why other people wouldn't. I mean..... she accepts people for their imperfections, but she strives to make sure that nothing that would make people unhappy happens, and can't understand when other people let that happen. She's had some darkness.... she used to be an alcoholic. Which is probably one of the reasons she tries so hard to keep that kind of darkness out.
Pierce: Pretty much Community's equivalent of a crazy old man. Ah, wait, scratch that - that would be Leonard. Pierce is older than the others (like in his sixties) and has very... outdated points of view. That is, he's pretty much racist and homophobic. He thinks he can rule other people's worlds with his money and riches. He likes to manipulate people that way - he's not dependent on people, but he's dependent on people being dependent on him. He demands respect in spite of the fact that it's very hard to. At least in the second season, he was pretty selfish and self-centered, but he was mostly playing the antagonist in the second season, so........ What he wants is to be accepted somewhere, to be liked. He makes it hard for himself though, because if he has any negative feelings toward anyone he tends to blow it out of proportion and just make things worse. He's been married seven times, divorced every single one. When he meets someone he likes, he tests their boundaries. Pushes them. That's why most of them don't last very long. But he gives respect where he can see that respect is due.
Abed: Last but not least. Certainly not least. He's my ultimate favourite out of this show. He's just made of awesome.
Abed is undiagnosable. Jeff's said Aspergers, but that's not the point. The point is Abed is..... weird. He doesn't know how to act around people, he doesn't understand people. He doesn't understand emotion, and he seldom ever really shows any emotion through any facial expression - the only emotion he shows is through cliches from TV that he happens to find relatable at that point in time. He likes TV more than he likes life - he understands TV more. To him, TV has more structure than life, and so because of this he's developed a kind of obsession with television. He's always making references to TV, slipping into blatantly obvious stereotypes or characters from TV and movies, because to him it just makes more sense to apply it that way. Abed does not understand people at all, and he does not know how anything he does will affect anyone, so Abed learns by observation. He observes how people talk to each other, and he usually makes the connections of their psychologies/personalities........ but he doesn't have the natural instinct for it that "normal" people do. He needs to work hard to act accordingly around people. Abed is used to not being understood, and though his facial expression never shows SIGNIFICANT change, one can tell when he's been hurt or doesn't understand something. The most enthusiasm Abed usually shows is a slight twitch at the corner of the mouth and a "Cool. Cool cool cool." People often think that Abed is incompetent because of this.... "disability", and then discover they're sadly mistaken when Abed swiftly and unexpectedly proves his point and make everyone rethink everything. Abed knows the difference between right and wrong, and though you wouldn't know it sometimes, he knows the difference between TV and real life. But Abed has difficulty expressing his emotions. Observations and thoughts, no problem. But emotions are hard for him. That's why he makes movies. People understand movies. They make sense to everyone. So Abed is working to become a filmmaker. He's also Troy's brotha-from-anotha-motha - they have lots of fun doing ridiculous things together.
Those are my summaries of the characters. I know I was supposed to be reviewing the show, but this is pretty much the Community rant I've been wanting to have. But, all in all, the show is wacky, fun, light-hearted, ridiculous at times, great if you like spoofs (courtesy of Abed) and hilarious. It's also great for analyzers like myself, because those wonderful writers are constantly adding dimensions to the characters.
There's always conflict, but it's usually light-hearted nonetheless. It's always wacky, but never nonsensical. It's ingeniusly balanced.
If you like to think, it's a fun show. If you just watch a show for the sake of watching it, then it's fine then too - it will provide you with the laughter you seek. All in all, it's a great show to watch, and you should all watch at least a few episodes.
5/5 stars.
P.S Did I mention that Abed is the best? Because Abed is like the best character. He's awesome.
Maybe you've heard of it. Maybe you haven't. But I suggest you watch a few episodes. You'll probably like it.
Or....
Well, some people start out liking it and then get tired of it. I was the opposite. I started out not really thinking much of it, and then loving it.
Basic concept:
Seven very different people meet up at a crappy community college. They're all taking spanish, so they form a study group. And that study group becomes a kind of family.
The writing in this show is good, but what I really really love about it is that the characters all have their very own, very distinct identity:
Jeff: He was a bigshot lawyer before he got kicked out of his law firm for not having the proper papers for being a legitimate lawyer. He knew he didn't have the proper papers - Jeff is very used to scamming his way through life. So, in order to get back easy, he went to a crappy community college to get the easiest way back into being a real lawyer. Jeff is a master at manipulating people, and he will if he feels it will help him gain something. He seems to think - or at least tells people that he thinks - that he is the most deserving person on earth. He very rarely likes to admit he cares about something - he prefers to be extremely non-chalant and cool toward people. He's the one who starts the study group in the first place, but not for the proper reason - he did it so that he could get in Britta's bed.
What I like about this character is that he starts out, as you can probably tell, as a huge D-bag. But he does have a kind of evolution through the series, as does every character. He uses his "powers" to bring the group together. He starts thinking about other people - sometimes over himself. He starts to show that he does care about some things. But you need to be following the series to see this - if you start an episode without knowing what's going on, then he's just going to look like a D-bag.
Britta: She's what you would call a modern hippie. A rebel without a cause - or as the show once described her, the "needlessly defiant". She talks about being all for female empowerment, charity, organicness and naturality, to the point of being annoying to the others. She's attractive - she knows it, and uses it. She can be very immature - she has what one could call a brother/sisterly rivalry with Jeff, and they're often bickering and making fun of each other - but she can also be very mature. She and Jeff act as the mother and father figures of the study group, respectively. What Britta most cares about is putting others before herself, and helping others - even if some other people accidentally get hurt in the process. But she's also very defiant by nature, and if someone offends her, then she will do what she can to shove it back in their face.
Annie: A nineteen year old girl, very driven, very smart, very determined. She probably could have gone to a better college, but in high school she got addicted to pills and had a nervous breakdown. She had to go to rehab. Her mother didn't support her in rehab, and as a result they've turned their backs on each other and Annie now lives in an apartment by herself in a dangerous neighbourhood. You wouldn't be able to tell she ever had that problem now. She's quite by-the-book, though she does have the ability to adapt and be resourceful. She had a crush on Troy, and now appears to have a crushy thing on Jeff. She, like me, analyzes everything, though as a result she reads too far into things and ends up expecting more than people actually offered. She's an adult by her actions, but childlike by her morals - her distinction between right and wrong is very bold, and if someone lies or is disrespectful then she will be the one to "tell on them". Her friends are a top priority for her. She wants the best for the people around her, but her judgement of what's best may not be the same as others.
Troy: He and Annie went to high school together. He was the jock in high school, and was very popular then. Now he goes to Greendale...... for some reason. Troy is a believer in passion, and a believer in fun over work. His brotha-from-anotha-motha is Abed.... who I will get to. Troy is not smart.... in the traditional sense. He's not smart intellectually/academically, or particularly street smart..... but he knows instinct, and he knows motivation. And every once in a while he dazzles them with a good idea. Troy is a little bit like Jeff in some ways..... being the popular jock in high school left him under the impression that he was a little more entitled than the rest. But he also has a very dutiful sense of right and wrong, and he always corrects himself if he offends someone, and will tell someone if he thinks they're doing something wrong. He's a little childish - in fact, he's quite childish, but he knows when to be mature.
Shirley: She's a born again christian woman, single mother - her husband cheated on her, so she kicked him out, and then when he came back she forgave him because of her christian values. She fancies herself the perfect christian - she forgives everyone (or says she does) and works hard to always be considerate and nice to people. She responds to good news with an "oh, that's nice," in a very super sweet way and responds to bad news with questions about why that would happen. Shirley.... has thinly veiled anger issues hidden shallowly beneath the surface. If someone offends her, or someone she cares about, then forgiveness and turning the other cheek sort of goes out the window - she knows how to kick ass. She believes in perfection - she strives for it, and can't understand why other people wouldn't. I mean..... she accepts people for their imperfections, but she strives to make sure that nothing that would make people unhappy happens, and can't understand when other people let that happen. She's had some darkness.... she used to be an alcoholic. Which is probably one of the reasons she tries so hard to keep that kind of darkness out.
Pierce: Pretty much Community's equivalent of a crazy old man. Ah, wait, scratch that - that would be Leonard. Pierce is older than the others (like in his sixties) and has very... outdated points of view. That is, he's pretty much racist and homophobic. He thinks he can rule other people's worlds with his money and riches. He likes to manipulate people that way - he's not dependent on people, but he's dependent on people being dependent on him. He demands respect in spite of the fact that it's very hard to. At least in the second season, he was pretty selfish and self-centered, but he was mostly playing the antagonist in the second season, so........ What he wants is to be accepted somewhere, to be liked. He makes it hard for himself though, because if he has any negative feelings toward anyone he tends to blow it out of proportion and just make things worse. He's been married seven times, divorced every single one. When he meets someone he likes, he tests their boundaries. Pushes them. That's why most of them don't last very long. But he gives respect where he can see that respect is due.
Abed: Last but not least. Certainly not least. He's my ultimate favourite out of this show. He's just made of awesome.
Abed is undiagnosable. Jeff's said Aspergers, but that's not the point. The point is Abed is..... weird. He doesn't know how to act around people, he doesn't understand people. He doesn't understand emotion, and he seldom ever really shows any emotion through any facial expression - the only emotion he shows is through cliches from TV that he happens to find relatable at that point in time. He likes TV more than he likes life - he understands TV more. To him, TV has more structure than life, and so because of this he's developed a kind of obsession with television. He's always making references to TV, slipping into blatantly obvious stereotypes or characters from TV and movies, because to him it just makes more sense to apply it that way. Abed does not understand people at all, and he does not know how anything he does will affect anyone, so Abed learns by observation. He observes how people talk to each other, and he usually makes the connections of their psychologies/personalities........ but he doesn't have the natural instinct for it that "normal" people do. He needs to work hard to act accordingly around people. Abed is used to not being understood, and though his facial expression never shows SIGNIFICANT change, one can tell when he's been hurt or doesn't understand something. The most enthusiasm Abed usually shows is a slight twitch at the corner of the mouth and a "Cool. Cool cool cool." People often think that Abed is incompetent because of this.... "disability", and then discover they're sadly mistaken when Abed swiftly and unexpectedly proves his point and make everyone rethink everything. Abed knows the difference between right and wrong, and though you wouldn't know it sometimes, he knows the difference between TV and real life. But Abed has difficulty expressing his emotions. Observations and thoughts, no problem. But emotions are hard for him. That's why he makes movies. People understand movies. They make sense to everyone. So Abed is working to become a filmmaker. He's also Troy's brotha-from-anotha-motha - they have lots of fun doing ridiculous things together.
Those are my summaries of the characters. I know I was supposed to be reviewing the show, but this is pretty much the Community rant I've been wanting to have. But, all in all, the show is wacky, fun, light-hearted, ridiculous at times, great if you like spoofs (courtesy of Abed) and hilarious. It's also great for analyzers like myself, because those wonderful writers are constantly adding dimensions to the characters.
There's always conflict, but it's usually light-hearted nonetheless. It's always wacky, but never nonsensical. It's ingeniusly balanced.
If you like to think, it's a fun show. If you just watch a show for the sake of watching it, then it's fine then too - it will provide you with the laughter you seek. All in all, it's a great show to watch, and you should all watch at least a few episodes.
5/5 stars.
P.S Did I mention that Abed is the best? Because Abed is like the best character. He's awesome.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
We Never Talk Anymore
So, lately I've been feeling really down on myself about... well, just about everything (except my looks... I'm not narcississtic, I just don't even think about it. My looks are something I've long since accepted). Obsessiveness is not something I'm proud of anymore. I'm ashamed to share my trivia knowledge about Whose Line. I'm ashamed to even bring it up anymore. I keep to myself because somehow I've gotten the thought that people don't care when I speak. At acting class, I do my best to not do anything, because when the attention's on me I always feel like I fail - I was never good at improv, and since the people at acting neither know me nor try to, I get the feeling they think I'm incompetent. I never speak up in class, because I'm always going to be wrong somehow. And I don't watch Whose Line to feel better because I'm ashamed and afraid of obsessiveness now.
The point is that my self esteem, just lately, has been absolutely rock bottom. The thing is, I've found, is that this starts with me thinking a lot about stuff, and then out of consideration for other people who will probably not be interested, I don't express those thoughts. And then I think more. And it goes into this whole thing of thinking too much and doing too little, and I end up feeling useless and alone and just all around bad about myself.
Now I've said time and time again that me and my mind can be friends for hours and hours before we finally get sick of each other. Hell, that's what the weekend is for - I very seldom ever hang out with friends on the weekend. But if me and my mind spend too much time together without taking a break, it just wreaks havoc on both of us.
And I've traced this affect back to its source - the feeling that I don't talk about things that are on my mind.
Now VERY VERY often the things I want to share are trivial, useless things that I've analyzed and that I find fascinating because if you analyze anything it'll end up being fascinating. I've learned from experience that people aren't interested in things like this, and that they may in fact get annoyed if I talk about it because it appears uninteresting, so I usually keep these things to myself.
But what I really desperately need is someone that I can just tell all my thoughts to. Well, maybe not all of them, but someone that will forgive me for boring them with tidbits that I for some unknown reason find unbelievably fascinating. But even more than that, more than someone who will listen, is someone who cares. And even more than THAT, is someone who will go the step further and DISCUSS it with me. I wouldn't say things if I didn't want to discuss it. I want to hear other people's thoughts. I want to take it into consideration. I want to DEBATE with someone about things. Debates are what I LIVE for. Not heated arguments, mind you. Spirited debates. We can get significantly excited about expressing our opinion, and listening to others and then working to prove your own point, and then be friends about it. I LOVE that.
The problem is that I don't analyze things enough to spark a debate - at least, not things that people would know or care about. Whose Line? Plenty of analysis involved, believe it or not. I would love nothing more than to debate with someone about Colin's style of improvising - I myself think he plays the straight man most of the time, but I know some people would disagree with me. THAT IS WHAT I WANT. I WANT someone to know enough about it to disagree with me.
But I also know that no one in my immediate vicinity will. So I keep it to myself. I crave debates, but I have nothing about which to debate. And thus it begins.
I really wish I had a whoser friend - I have a few friends who enjoy Whose Line, and know enough about it, but real genuine whosers like myself, who follow the cast members and know the scenes by their fan-given titles and actually spend time THINKING about it? That's a different story.
I just really wish there was someone who I could discuss things with. Some people can be fine without expressing every thought they have. I am not one of those people. And it's a problem.
I'm grateful for the friends I have, don't get me wrong. They always know how to cheer me up, and how to start a conversation I will listen to and get involved in. I just wish there was someone who I could discuss all my thoughts with. Every single obsessive one.
But there's not. *sigh*
P.S
I made a Wordle out of this post. In a strange way, it really speaks to me about how I'm feeling.
The point is that my self esteem, just lately, has been absolutely rock bottom. The thing is, I've found, is that this starts with me thinking a lot about stuff, and then out of consideration for other people who will probably not be interested, I don't express those thoughts. And then I think more. And it goes into this whole thing of thinking too much and doing too little, and I end up feeling useless and alone and just all around bad about myself.
Now I've said time and time again that me and my mind can be friends for hours and hours before we finally get sick of each other. Hell, that's what the weekend is for - I very seldom ever hang out with friends on the weekend. But if me and my mind spend too much time together without taking a break, it just wreaks havoc on both of us.
And I've traced this affect back to its source - the feeling that I don't talk about things that are on my mind.
Now VERY VERY often the things I want to share are trivial, useless things that I've analyzed and that I find fascinating because if you analyze anything it'll end up being fascinating. I've learned from experience that people aren't interested in things like this, and that they may in fact get annoyed if I talk about it because it appears uninteresting, so I usually keep these things to myself.
But what I really desperately need is someone that I can just tell all my thoughts to. Well, maybe not all of them, but someone that will forgive me for boring them with tidbits that I for some unknown reason find unbelievably fascinating. But even more than that, more than someone who will listen, is someone who cares. And even more than THAT, is someone who will go the step further and DISCUSS it with me. I wouldn't say things if I didn't want to discuss it. I want to hear other people's thoughts. I want to take it into consideration. I want to DEBATE with someone about things. Debates are what I LIVE for. Not heated arguments, mind you. Spirited debates. We can get significantly excited about expressing our opinion, and listening to others and then working to prove your own point, and then be friends about it. I LOVE that.
The problem is that I don't analyze things enough to spark a debate - at least, not things that people would know or care about. Whose Line? Plenty of analysis involved, believe it or not. I would love nothing more than to debate with someone about Colin's style of improvising - I myself think he plays the straight man most of the time, but I know some people would disagree with me. THAT IS WHAT I WANT. I WANT someone to know enough about it to disagree with me.
But I also know that no one in my immediate vicinity will. So I keep it to myself. I crave debates, but I have nothing about which to debate. And thus it begins.
I really wish I had a whoser friend - I have a few friends who enjoy Whose Line, and know enough about it, but real genuine whosers like myself, who follow the cast members and know the scenes by their fan-given titles and actually spend time THINKING about it? That's a different story.
I just really wish there was someone who I could discuss things with. Some people can be fine without expressing every thought they have. I am not one of those people. And it's a problem.
I'm grateful for the friends I have, don't get me wrong. They always know how to cheer me up, and how to start a conversation I will listen to and get involved in. I just wish there was someone who I could discuss all my thoughts with. Every single obsessive one.
But there's not. *sigh*
P.S
I made a Wordle out of this post. In a strange way, it really speaks to me about how I'm feeling.
Because I Commit to Appreciation.
So, today way Colin Mochrie's birthday. He turned fifty-five. Yep, he's an entire decade older than my dad. I still very much appreciate this man.
Let me please take a moment to appreciate him:
This man never fails to make me laugh. Even in the most boring parts in shows (I'm thinking of She's the Mayor - Scott the by-the-book clean-freak) he finds a way to make me laugh. This is because he is not only hilarious, he's intelligent. And the fact that he is so shy and quiet in real life, and that he goes on stage and doesn't care is inspirational to me (especially since I'm in an improv class and am the misfit of the group).
He (and Whose Line) helped me realize that a, though temporary, no less effective cure for my problems was just to be able to laugh. And since that is a major part of my entire life philosophy right now, I'd say that qualifies as actually changing my life.
I never even thought of it that way, but it makes sense, right? Yes. And this is why I love Colin Mochrie, and this is why I am taking time out of my day to wish him a happy fifty-fifth birthday.
Now that would be alright, okay, but as usual, I just don't know when to stop.
Today, since it was a pro-D day and I had nothing better to do (what a joke! I conveniently forget about that english project due on Monday, and that I'm way behind on my English assignments, and to work on my paper for French......) I made a cake.
Yep.
And after hours of slaving over a hot oven, and a chocolate bowl and the mixer-thingy, I managed to make a chocolate layer cake, made from scratch, with frosting, made from scratch.
I'm pretty darn proud of myself.
This was the result of my hours of toil:
My original plan was to make the cake recipe from Colin Mochrie's website, but that would have taken far too much work (irony). So, I made this. And there were complications. For instance, the original icing recipe I was using wouldn't thicken - in hindsight, it was probably because it was missing a vital ingredient, like icing sugar. Also, the first layer of the cake was very indecisive - it was feeling pretty fifty/fifty about leaving the pan and moving on to the plate. That is to say, half of it stuck the pan and the other half jumped to the plate. But, it resolved its issues, faced its fears, pulled itself together (that is to say, I put the pieces together) and you wouldn't even be able to tell anymore.
So, in conclusion, it's Colin Mochrie's birthday, and I made a cake. As you can probably guess (though I conveniently forget to mention this to my parents) it's dedicated to him. For his birthday.
Obsessive? Me? Naw.......
P.S Let's all appreciate Colin Mochrie, okay! I don't care if you've never even heard of the man (though if you're reading this blog, you probably have at least an idea of who he is) we should all just spend time appreciating him! (I swear to god, it'll also be therapeutic for you - I told you, he's hilarious, and laughing makes everything better for the time being).
Do you have any idea how many "Best Of" videos of him there are?! I'm being fairly gentle here!
Also, did you notice how it's also a "Colin Through the Ages" tribute, the way I set the post up? Yeah. It's pretty awesome.
P.S.S
Happy Birthday, Colin Mochrie.
This is your birthday song,
It isn't very long.
I wish him a long and fruitful life, full of love and laughter and happiness.
Let me please take a moment to appreciate him:
This man never fails to make me laugh. Even in the most boring parts in shows (I'm thinking of She's the Mayor - Scott the by-the-book clean-freak) he finds a way to make me laugh. This is because he is not only hilarious, he's intelligent. And the fact that he is so shy and quiet in real life, and that he goes on stage and doesn't care is inspirational to me (especially since I'm in an improv class and am the misfit of the group).
He (and Whose Line) helped me realize that a, though temporary, no less effective cure for my problems was just to be able to laugh. And since that is a major part of my entire life philosophy right now, I'd say that qualifies as actually changing my life.
I never even thought of it that way, but it makes sense, right? Yes. And this is why I love Colin Mochrie, and this is why I am taking time out of my day to wish him a happy fifty-fifth birthday.
Now that would be alright, okay, but as usual, I just don't know when to stop.
Today, since it was a pro-D day and I had nothing better to do (what a joke! I conveniently forget about that english project due on Monday, and that I'm way behind on my English assignments, and to work on my paper for French......) I made a cake.
Yep.
 |
| I'm looking dramatically into the distance. "I... I hear the sounds of baking in need!" |
 |
| Yeah, once in a blue moon, I can take a sincere picture. Usually I try to look like a demonic Doc Brown. |
I'm pretty darn proud of myself.
This was the result of my hours of toil:
 |
| Okay, it's not the prettiest cake you will ever see, but it's darn tasty, alright? |
So, in conclusion, it's Colin Mochrie's birthday, and I made a cake. As you can probably guess (though I conveniently forget to mention this to my parents) it's dedicated to him. For his birthday.
Obsessive? Me? Naw.......
P.S Let's all appreciate Colin Mochrie, okay! I don't care if you've never even heard of the man (though if you're reading this blog, you probably have at least an idea of who he is) we should all just spend time appreciating him! (I swear to god, it'll also be therapeutic for you - I told you, he's hilarious, and laughing makes everything better for the time being).
Do you have any idea how many "Best Of" videos of him there are?! I'm being fairly gentle here!
Also, did you notice how it's also a "Colin Through the Ages" tribute, the way I set the post up? Yeah. It's pretty awesome.
P.S.S
 |
| Approval |
 |
| Annnnnnd, he's asleep. |
 |
| Evil grin. Silent "Mwahahahs". |
 |
| Four out of six of these pictures are so adorable that my adorableness capacity is going to just downright freaking explode. The other two are epic in their own ways. |
This is your birthday song,
It isn't very long.
I wish him a long and fruitful life, full of love and laughter and happiness.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Because On the Weekend, I Can Wear Whatever the Heck I Want.
I decided that this Sunday's fashion statement would be to wear as much denim as humanly possible.
I think I succeeded.
Because usually it's a lot fun to be silly in just about everything you do. Heed those words, kids. This time, Megan is speaking the truth. As she usually does. I don't know why I said this time. Now it seems like I'm getting all defensive.
I'm just going to stop now.
Happy Denim Day.
I think I succeeded.
 |
| Skinny jeans underneath a dark denim dress with a jean jacket on top and a denim hat. I WIN. |
I'm just going to stop now.
Happy Denim Day.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
I Want This To Be Real So Gosh Darn Badly
Everyone remembers that show The Magic School Bus, right?
Someone made this fan made trailer type thing for a sequel sort of thing.
It looks pretty awesome and I would watch the hell out of it.
You'll get that joke once you see it. :)
It's just incredibly awesome just that someone made this. I want to see this movie. Really really badly.
Someone made this fan made trailer type thing for a sequel sort of thing.
It looks pretty awesome and I would watch the hell out of it.
You'll get that joke once you see it. :)
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
We Interrupt This Program To Bring You Information on the Coming Election
Of course, I'm canadian, but I care about american politics. Yes, it's influenced by the need to understand Jon Stewart's/Stephen Colbert's jokes. But it's also because America's politics has impact on our own government and I care about that.
I have come to this conclusion:
If Mitt Romney wins the election
I will lose all faith in the human race.
No joke.
Maybe Obama hasn't been doing a fantastic job, but it wasn't really like he had a lot to work with, thanks to George Bush screwing everything up. Rome wasn't built in a day, and in the same way, you can't rebuild a country in a day. So shut up, people who think Obama's doing an awful job. He's actually not doing half bad, and he's doing better than Romney could ever do. I have hope in Obama. I have nothing but contempt for Romney.
He's so damn rich, how can he possibly think he relates to the common man? What, cause he eats southern food? Good god.
He's a freaking sexist. One cannot have a sexist person as president. A president should represent what the country's citizens wants, and what ALL the country's citizens wants.
He was asked what he would do to help the women of America (or something like that).
He replied that he would make sure women got home in time to cook supper.
Thanks, Romney. Thank you for putting in your input about women's rights, thereby turning it into a fifties stereotype. That's not insulting at all.
He's also homophobic. And you already know my thoughts about that. Again, I say, the president should try to represent what ALL the country's citizens wants. As Greg Proops continuously says, we don't need or want all the rich, stuck up white males deciding things for people they cannot, and will not relate to or understand, such as gay marriage or whether or not abortion should be legal. If someone thinks abortion is unethical, they won't use it for god's sakes. But some people need it, like, I don't know, a fourteen year old girl who was raped. Let the stuck up corporation owners of god do their grumbling, but there is always benefit to things that people will often find unethical. Like a man getting to marry a person he loves who just happens to also be a man. I mean, Jesus Christ. Those guys need to shut up and listen to the citizens, not their own warped moral compass (even if some citizens have their own warped moral compass).
It's just...... god. Where is the appeal in Romney? There is none, he is stupid, in the debates he would not answer any of the questions, he was very redundant, and he just rambled for ten minutes on about absolutely nothing, things that people already know.
And Obama wasn't much better in that respect. But I have hope in him. He's not homophobic, and he's not sexist, and I like his vision of America a lot more than I like Romney's.
I just had to throw that out there.
And just to make light of it all, an Epic Rap Battle of History - about politics.
I have come to this conclusion:
If Mitt Romney wins the election
I will lose all faith in the human race.
No joke.
Maybe Obama hasn't been doing a fantastic job, but it wasn't really like he had a lot to work with, thanks to George Bush screwing everything up. Rome wasn't built in a day, and in the same way, you can't rebuild a country in a day. So shut up, people who think Obama's doing an awful job. He's actually not doing half bad, and he's doing better than Romney could ever do. I have hope in Obama. I have nothing but contempt for Romney.
He's so damn rich, how can he possibly think he relates to the common man? What, cause he eats southern food? Good god.
He's a freaking sexist. One cannot have a sexist person as president. A president should represent what the country's citizens wants, and what ALL the country's citizens wants.
He was asked what he would do to help the women of America (or something like that).
He replied that he would make sure women got home in time to cook supper.
Thanks, Romney. Thank you for putting in your input about women's rights, thereby turning it into a fifties stereotype. That's not insulting at all.
He's also homophobic. And you already know my thoughts about that. Again, I say, the president should try to represent what ALL the country's citizens wants. As Greg Proops continuously says, we don't need or want all the rich, stuck up white males deciding things for people they cannot, and will not relate to or understand, such as gay marriage or whether or not abortion should be legal. If someone thinks abortion is unethical, they won't use it for god's sakes. But some people need it, like, I don't know, a fourteen year old girl who was raped. Let the stuck up corporation owners of god do their grumbling, but there is always benefit to things that people will often find unethical. Like a man getting to marry a person he loves who just happens to also be a man. I mean, Jesus Christ. Those guys need to shut up and listen to the citizens, not their own warped moral compass (even if some citizens have their own warped moral compass).
It's just...... god. Where is the appeal in Romney? There is none, he is stupid, in the debates he would not answer any of the questions, he was very redundant, and he just rambled for ten minutes on about absolutely nothing, things that people already know.
And Obama wasn't much better in that respect. But I have hope in him. He's not homophobic, and he's not sexist, and I like his vision of America a lot more than I like Romney's.
I just had to throw that out there.
And just to make light of it all, an Epic Rap Battle of History - about politics.
UPDATED:
Obama won the election. Thank. God. Or, how about, thank the people of America. Even though I don't believe God is with Romney in what he stands for, it still sounds better to not say it. I believe Obama, now that he's in his second term and has nothing to lose, can really make a difference now. I have faith that that will happen.
It just feels good to breathe again... I was so relieved, I swear to you.
And a message to anyone who's upset about how this turned out:
P.S
A bunch of states have officially legalized gay marriage as well. We were way ahead of you, America, but congratulations for that anyways. Good job guys. We're proud of you. Keep it up.
P.S.S
This could be the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I teared up. I bet you will too.
WE NOW RETURN TO OUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING:
Enjoy the rest of your life. *breathes out all the worry I had before*
Sunday, November 4, 2012
And Now Back to Our Regular Programming.
Colin Mochrie: Improv superstar, funniest man on earth, adorable, intelligent, by all accounts gentlemanly, shy, quiet and humble.
Debra McGrath: Funny, sweet, intelligent, actress, all around great person.
Luke Mochrie: Funny, cute, screenwriter, online movie reviewer, intelligent, awesome.
THESE PEOPLE
ARE LIVING PROOF
THAT PERFECT FAMILIES DO EXIST.
IMPROVISER
ACTRESS
SCREENWRITER
ALL IN ONE FAMILY.
YOUR ARGUMENT
IS INVALID.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
It's Not Poetic When It's Real
I know, this is yet another serious topic, but it's on my mind and I need to speak about it. This is not a rant. This is something entirely different.
Lately, many people have been talking about a certain girl who killed herself recently because of bullying. Her name was Amanda. Amanda Todd.
You all know where I'm going with this now probably, but let me continue.
You can look up this girl's story on Youtube - if you do, you are a lot less cowardly than me, I absolutely can't stand that kind of stuff and I can't bring myself to watch her video - but it explains why she killed herself.
Long story short, the girl made one mistake. A foolish mistake, certainly, but nevertheless she only made one serious mistake. And no one ever forgave her for it. She tried to continue on, but everyone - bully is not a strong enough word. It's disgusting what they said. They told her to kill herself. They told her no one loved her. Everywhere she went for sanctuary, the vicious comments followed her. And after she was beat up by a group of them, after her father found her in a ditch, she went home and she drank bleach in an attempt to end her life. She was rushed to the hospital and she lived.
Instead of taking this as a warning sign and trying to make amends, the people told her to try again. The vicious words continued. And eventually, when she couldn't take it anymore after many ways of trying to distract herself, she hung herself.
She is gone from this world. She never got another chance. She ended her life believing that no one loved her. It's absolutely horrifying that this happens in the world that we live in.
This girl never got a chance to make it up. She never got a chance to live her life - she had so much potential. I never knew her but I know she did, because everyone does. And now she'll never get a chance. She'll never get married, she'll never find her calling, she'll never..... live. And it's not her fault, not really. She was trying to escape. It's the people around her that drove her to it.
She had no one.
I just hope that she finds more peace wherever she is now than she ever did on Earth.
But I respect her because she had the courage to put her story up where everyone could see it. Because though I like to tell myself otherwise, we do need to be aware of this. Only by awareness can we ever deal with it.
I am spouting realities here that I myself am in denial about. I am surprising myself right now.
The thing is, suicide is never something to be taken lightly. It bothers me when people say things like "Oh, if this happens, I'm going to kill myself." And I admit, I'm guilty of saying things like that. I did. But I don't, not anymore. Because it's real. It's not showing dedication or commitment to anything. It is ending one's own life, because hope does not exist anymore. You don't turn to suicide when you just happen to have had a bad week. Because it will get better. It always gets better. And it may take a while. But it does get better, I promise. Meanwhile, find someone you can talk to. Talking makes it better. I know - when I'm feeling bad I have plenty of people I can turn to, because I'm lucky. And they are lucky because in return they know that they are always welcome to talk to me, and they do. If not a friend or parent, there are hotlines that I would urge you to try. Sometimes it's even easier when you don't know the person.
The reason I'm blogging about this issue is because it is very close to me. I have two friends in particular, who both suffer from depression and bipolar disorder, and anxiety I think also. Last year, one of these friends would get drunk with her friends, and then try to kill herself in her drunken state - thank god she never succeeded, though she still cuts herself. My other friend, for as long as I've known her, has always said that suicide and cutting was a coward's way out, and it was selfish - and I tended to agree. She would say that you needed to be strong, you needed to build a mental backbone. And I respected her for saying these things, because she had horrible horrible issues and I had absolute respect for her and for her way of thinking. And then, about two weeks ago, she told me that she had attempted suicide ten times in the previous two weeks. I was in shock. And I cried. Because I love this girl. She has been my closest friend for years now, and she has told me more than once that I saved her. Have you ever heard that? That you saved someone? It feels like nothing else. And then she told me about the attempted suicides. And I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that things had gotten that bad. I couldn't believe that she thought no one loved her, and I couldn't believe that she was serious. Not only was my best friend trying to remove herself from this world, as if she were a stain on the Earth, but I had failed as her friend. And people try to help her, they tell her - beg her - not to do these things. And she pushes them away with annoyance, saying they don't understand, not believing that anyone could care about her that much. Her friends, including me, ask her how they can help - they want desperately to help her. I don't know what I would do if she succeeded. And she says that no one can help her, and changes the subject. She treats it like it's nothing. She sees a therapist, and she's been to the mental ward of the children's hospital. None of it seems to have shown any significant improvement, and I don't know what to do anymore. She won't let anyone help her. So I sit at home, praying for her safety with tears in my eyes, because that's all I feel I can do.
Do people understand that once they make the decision to kill themselves and they actually succeed, it's not a second chance at life? Because it's not a second chance at life. People get a second chance at life in the life that they started. But ending the life you started doesn't give you another one. It doesn't work that way. And I am frankly baffled that suicide is such an issue in this generation - sure, we feel depressed at times. Of course we do. We're human. But that is not an excuse. We were all born to become something, like I said. It doesn't matter what - writer, mother, wife, whatever. We can choose what to become. But everyone on this earth is meant to become something. And I do think that if we cut ourselves off midway through life, we never truly become what we were meant to become. If the journey is cut short then how can we truly get to the destination?
My point is that if people would simply give their lives a chance that a second chance would probably reveal itself eventually. And I understand that I can't understand. I've never been told to go kill myself, I've never made such a critical mistake as Amanda Todd did. I've always had people who love me. I've been lucky that way.
But I also know that nothing is made to last. It may seem like forever and a day until the people who oppressed you and made you feel so horrible are out of your life. But I promise that it will happen. You just need to be patient and wait. And I promise you that if you do, you won't regret it. Because living is good. The human experience is good. Because we need to know what sadness is to appreciate happiness. We need to know what hatred is to appreciate love. It's all part of the human experience.
Suicide.... and I feel wrong saying this in the light of Amanda Todd - but it is selfish. Selfishness is human, of course. But suicide is very selfish. Because nothing you do only affects you. You cannot isolate an action so that it only affects the ones you want it to affect. If you kill yourself, thinking that no one will be affected by it, you are wrong. Can you imagine what the parents of Amanda Todd are going through right now? In fact, this whole community has been shaken to its core because of Amanda Todd's tragedy. It didn't only affect her, not only her family. This whole community knows about it, and this whole community is shaken and some are sobbing and some are angry and some are being on the opposite end of hatred because they were the foolish ones that said those things to her. It's not just her family, it was everyone around her. And it will be the same with everyone. Because everyone knows someone, and that someone knows people - don't you see that people are made in chains? When one chain link shakes, so does the whole chain. And when one chain link disappears, the chain inevitably breaks, and it may take a very long time for it to repair itself.
That was all I wanted to say. Death is awful, but suicide is the most horrifying thing I've ever heard of. So, without further ado, a poem I found online that I find....... insightful. Scary, but insightful.
And as it doesn't belong to me, here's the link.
This has all been on my mind and I had to write about it. Thank you for reading, because unlike most of the other posts, this one is actually meaningful to me. If you read this, thank you. Just thank you.
Lately, many people have been talking about a certain girl who killed herself recently because of bullying. Her name was Amanda. Amanda Todd.
You all know where I'm going with this now probably, but let me continue.
You can look up this girl's story on Youtube - if you do, you are a lot less cowardly than me, I absolutely can't stand that kind of stuff and I can't bring myself to watch her video - but it explains why she killed herself.
Long story short, the girl made one mistake. A foolish mistake, certainly, but nevertheless she only made one serious mistake. And no one ever forgave her for it. She tried to continue on, but everyone - bully is not a strong enough word. It's disgusting what they said. They told her to kill herself. They told her no one loved her. Everywhere she went for sanctuary, the vicious comments followed her. And after she was beat up by a group of them, after her father found her in a ditch, she went home and she drank bleach in an attempt to end her life. She was rushed to the hospital and she lived.
Instead of taking this as a warning sign and trying to make amends, the people told her to try again. The vicious words continued. And eventually, when she couldn't take it anymore after many ways of trying to distract herself, she hung herself.
She is gone from this world. She never got another chance. She ended her life believing that no one loved her. It's absolutely horrifying that this happens in the world that we live in.
This girl never got a chance to make it up. She never got a chance to live her life - she had so much potential. I never knew her but I know she did, because everyone does. And now she'll never get a chance. She'll never get married, she'll never find her calling, she'll never..... live. And it's not her fault, not really. She was trying to escape. It's the people around her that drove her to it.
She had no one.
I just hope that she finds more peace wherever she is now than she ever did on Earth.
But I respect her because she had the courage to put her story up where everyone could see it. Because though I like to tell myself otherwise, we do need to be aware of this. Only by awareness can we ever deal with it.
I am spouting realities here that I myself am in denial about. I am surprising myself right now.
The thing is, suicide is never something to be taken lightly. It bothers me when people say things like "Oh, if this happens, I'm going to kill myself." And I admit, I'm guilty of saying things like that. I did. But I don't, not anymore. Because it's real. It's not showing dedication or commitment to anything. It is ending one's own life, because hope does not exist anymore. You don't turn to suicide when you just happen to have had a bad week. Because it will get better. It always gets better. And it may take a while. But it does get better, I promise. Meanwhile, find someone you can talk to. Talking makes it better. I know - when I'm feeling bad I have plenty of people I can turn to, because I'm lucky. And they are lucky because in return they know that they are always welcome to talk to me, and they do. If not a friend or parent, there are hotlines that I would urge you to try. Sometimes it's even easier when you don't know the person.
The reason I'm blogging about this issue is because it is very close to me. I have two friends in particular, who both suffer from depression and bipolar disorder, and anxiety I think also. Last year, one of these friends would get drunk with her friends, and then try to kill herself in her drunken state - thank god she never succeeded, though she still cuts herself. My other friend, for as long as I've known her, has always said that suicide and cutting was a coward's way out, and it was selfish - and I tended to agree. She would say that you needed to be strong, you needed to build a mental backbone. And I respected her for saying these things, because she had horrible horrible issues and I had absolute respect for her and for her way of thinking. And then, about two weeks ago, she told me that she had attempted suicide ten times in the previous two weeks. I was in shock. And I cried. Because I love this girl. She has been my closest friend for years now, and she has told me more than once that I saved her. Have you ever heard that? That you saved someone? It feels like nothing else. And then she told me about the attempted suicides. And I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that things had gotten that bad. I couldn't believe that she thought no one loved her, and I couldn't believe that she was serious. Not only was my best friend trying to remove herself from this world, as if she were a stain on the Earth, but I had failed as her friend. And people try to help her, they tell her - beg her - not to do these things. And she pushes them away with annoyance, saying they don't understand, not believing that anyone could care about her that much. Her friends, including me, ask her how they can help - they want desperately to help her. I don't know what I would do if she succeeded. And she says that no one can help her, and changes the subject. She treats it like it's nothing. She sees a therapist, and she's been to the mental ward of the children's hospital. None of it seems to have shown any significant improvement, and I don't know what to do anymore. She won't let anyone help her. So I sit at home, praying for her safety with tears in my eyes, because that's all I feel I can do.
Do people understand that once they make the decision to kill themselves and they actually succeed, it's not a second chance at life? Because it's not a second chance at life. People get a second chance at life in the life that they started. But ending the life you started doesn't give you another one. It doesn't work that way. And I am frankly baffled that suicide is such an issue in this generation - sure, we feel depressed at times. Of course we do. We're human. But that is not an excuse. We were all born to become something, like I said. It doesn't matter what - writer, mother, wife, whatever. We can choose what to become. But everyone on this earth is meant to become something. And I do think that if we cut ourselves off midway through life, we never truly become what we were meant to become. If the journey is cut short then how can we truly get to the destination?
My point is that if people would simply give their lives a chance that a second chance would probably reveal itself eventually. And I understand that I can't understand. I've never been told to go kill myself, I've never made such a critical mistake as Amanda Todd did. I've always had people who love me. I've been lucky that way.
But I also know that nothing is made to last. It may seem like forever and a day until the people who oppressed you and made you feel so horrible are out of your life. But I promise that it will happen. You just need to be patient and wait. And I promise you that if you do, you won't regret it. Because living is good. The human experience is good. Because we need to know what sadness is to appreciate happiness. We need to know what hatred is to appreciate love. It's all part of the human experience.
Suicide.... and I feel wrong saying this in the light of Amanda Todd - but it is selfish. Selfishness is human, of course. But suicide is very selfish. Because nothing you do only affects you. You cannot isolate an action so that it only affects the ones you want it to affect. If you kill yourself, thinking that no one will be affected by it, you are wrong. Can you imagine what the parents of Amanda Todd are going through right now? In fact, this whole community has been shaken to its core because of Amanda Todd's tragedy. It didn't only affect her, not only her family. This whole community knows about it, and this whole community is shaken and some are sobbing and some are angry and some are being on the opposite end of hatred because they were the foolish ones that said those things to her. It's not just her family, it was everyone around her. And it will be the same with everyone. Because everyone knows someone, and that someone knows people - don't you see that people are made in chains? When one chain link shakes, so does the whole chain. And when one chain link disappears, the chain inevitably breaks, and it may take a very long time for it to repair itself.
That was all I wanted to say. Death is awful, but suicide is the most horrifying thing I've ever heard of. So, without further ado, a poem I found online that I find....... insightful. Scary, but insightful.
And as it doesn't belong to me, here's the link.
This has all been on my mind and I had to write about it. Thank you for reading, because unlike most of the other posts, this one is actually meaningful to me. If you read this, thank you. Just thank you.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
God Is Not A Magician, And Jesus is Not a Zombie.
If I could be serious for a moment, which I never seem to be on this blog. I do have some serious opinions, but if I mention this to anybody it's really not going to mean anything.
As I've said, I consider myself a fairly religious christian individual, in spite of my regular frustrated cries of "Jesus Christ!" and "God damn!" or "What the hell....?"(these are all flaws that I've been trying to work on, but they're also fairly deepseated habits that I feel bad about everytime it happens).
I believe that God created the world. This is what I believe in. I have no hatred for people who disagree with me, though I do get ruffled feathers if someone shows contempt to my beliefs.
But I need to clear things up for people who think they understand christianity, but don't.
The story is that mankind condemned themselves to death/hell when they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge - the tree God said not to eat from. God said they could eat from any tree except that one. They ate the apple, and before that moment they had no understanding of wrong. Wrong did not exist, they were literally living in a heaven on earth. But when they ate the apple, they saw the possibilities of where wrong could happen. They noticed they were naked and for the first time in their lives, they felt shame. God punished them, but they knew He would. They had condemned themselves, you see, to sin.
Now, the hard part of that piece of the story is that God is eternal. He knew that they would eat from the tree. So, why did he let them? What was the point?
Because, goodness and love, truly committed goodness and love, cannot exist without a knowledge of their opposites.
Mankind condemned themselves to this.
But, God loves the people. He had animals, but he made people with souls, and he loves them because they are his children. So, he told his prophets that he would send a saviour to save people from their sin. And two thousand years later, Jesus, his son, was sent to save us. He taught the people what the church was doing wrong - (ahem, and two thousand years later the church is still discriminating against gay people) and hung out with..... the "wrong crowd" I guess, because God loves EVERYBODY. The sinners and the saints.
And then, as God said he would, Jesus saved mankind, because he died on the cross. The punishment for sin is death. Jesus died. He didn't only die for the people before him, but for everyone who would live for eternity. He felt the weight of every sin that was commited by every person who ever existed or would exist ever. That is why he cries out "God, why have you forsaken me?" Because he felt the separation from God. He took the sins from us and laid it on himself.
Then he rose from the dead and continued to teach three days later. Because God is cool like that.
And it's because Jesus died that we as people are offered eternal life in heaven with God - because heaven is for people without sin. And if Jesus took away our sin, then we can get there, but only if we believe/accept that that did happen.
I'm not stating this as fact, just saying that this is the actual story that christians subscribe to, and this is how it works. Because lots of people seem to get the wrong impression about what christianity is about.
It's about the values. God FORGIVES everyone. God LOVES everyone. Are you seeing a continuation from my philosophy post? It's about believing that there is always someone who loves you, and there is always someone who is there to help you and save you.
It is NOT about discriminating against other people because of their life choices. It is NOT about starting arguments about how the world started, or calling other people idiots or any of that crap that goes on. That is a wrong interpretation of the Bible that for some reason many people recount as truth.
This is what I believe. Again, I'm not saying it as fact, but it's what I believe and I respect you if you believe something different. I have no reason not to.
I mention it because last summer I was experiencing a lot of doubt in my religion. It seemed to me just as hokey and ridiculous as it does to lots of people. But the speaker (Strider) said something that really brought me back to belief.
"If people are just animals, like other animals, then that means that we have no real purpose." And I believe that. If we were not created to be something different, then what is our purpose? We don't have one.
I do believe that every person has a purpose. If you take religion out of this for a second, I still believe that every person has a purpose. We have ambitions and thoughts and talents. We were all meant to become something, but we can decide what that is. We. Are. Meant. To become. SOMETHING. Everyone is. Which is why I feel it is such a waste when people decide to throw themselves and all their potential away. But that's a different thing altogether.
I need to believe everyone has a purpose. I need to believe people have individual purposes. My life has been dedicated to the idea that I have an individual purpose and I need to follow that purpose with all my heart, even before I became religious. THAT is why it struck such a chord with me, and that is why my doubt, while not completely disappearing, did decrease significantly.
And I like to fancifully think that God was telling Strider what to say then. Because it did strike me. Hard. It spoke to me on a much more fundamental level of self. That doesn't happen to me everyday - it hardly happens at all, I think too much and I've usually thought what people are saying before. Not this time. I was actually stunned for a minute. But I agreed immediately.
People think they understand christianity - the ones who sneer at it snidely and say things in a contemptuous tone of voice - but they don't. Heck, I've been christian for at least three years, and I learn things all the time.
And even if it isn't true - even if there is nothing, and we're all random groups of particles floating in a random universe with no purpose at all, even if everything that ever happened in history happened for no reason at all, just by chance, I still prefer to believe in God. Not because of the rules - as I've said, even if I break them, Jesus has taken my sins away. But because it gives me hope. It fills me with love for people. It makes me happy. Religion is supposed to be a source of love, peace, hope, fulfillment. It's a philosophy, surely, but it's also a kind of sanctuary. And the fact that others have gone and butchered this idea, making it a source of hatred and rage, disgusts me. Because that's not what religion is supposed to be about, and they are misinterpreting it in the most idiotic way I can possibly think of. The life lessons christianity teaches are actually valuable. But you need to transpose some of the scripture, especially the angry Old Testament, to modern times, that's all.
What frustrates me is that people see religion in political news and think they understand it. But religion is not supposed to about politics (which is why I don't subscribe to the catholic church - there are a lot of politics involved in who becomes the Pope, who is supposedly the closest one to God, although anyone can be extremely close to God in my opinion). And you need to actually hear what a religion is actually about in order to judge it truly.
I write this because the misinterpretation or christianity frustrates me, and the misunderstanding of it. I'm tired of it.
I'm done now.
Peace.
As I've said, I consider myself a fairly religious christian individual, in spite of my regular frustrated cries of "Jesus Christ!" and "God damn!" or "What the hell....?"(these are all flaws that I've been trying to work on, but they're also fairly deepseated habits that I feel bad about everytime it happens).
I believe that God created the world. This is what I believe in. I have no hatred for people who disagree with me, though I do get ruffled feathers if someone shows contempt to my beliefs.
But I need to clear things up for people who think they understand christianity, but don't.
The story is that mankind condemned themselves to death/hell when they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge - the tree God said not to eat from. God said they could eat from any tree except that one. They ate the apple, and before that moment they had no understanding of wrong. Wrong did not exist, they were literally living in a heaven on earth. But when they ate the apple, they saw the possibilities of where wrong could happen. They noticed they were naked and for the first time in their lives, they felt shame. God punished them, but they knew He would. They had condemned themselves, you see, to sin.
Now, the hard part of that piece of the story is that God is eternal. He knew that they would eat from the tree. So, why did he let them? What was the point?
Because, goodness and love, truly committed goodness and love, cannot exist without a knowledge of their opposites.
Mankind condemned themselves to this.
But, God loves the people. He had animals, but he made people with souls, and he loves them because they are his children. So, he told his prophets that he would send a saviour to save people from their sin. And two thousand years later, Jesus, his son, was sent to save us. He taught the people what the church was doing wrong - (ahem, and two thousand years later the church is still discriminating against gay people) and hung out with..... the "wrong crowd" I guess, because God loves EVERYBODY. The sinners and the saints.
And then, as God said he would, Jesus saved mankind, because he died on the cross. The punishment for sin is death. Jesus died. He didn't only die for the people before him, but for everyone who would live for eternity. He felt the weight of every sin that was commited by every person who ever existed or would exist ever. That is why he cries out "God, why have you forsaken me?" Because he felt the separation from God. He took the sins from us and laid it on himself.
Then he rose from the dead and continued to teach three days later. Because God is cool like that.
And it's because Jesus died that we as people are offered eternal life in heaven with God - because heaven is for people without sin. And if Jesus took away our sin, then we can get there, but only if we believe/accept that that did happen.
I'm not stating this as fact, just saying that this is the actual story that christians subscribe to, and this is how it works. Because lots of people seem to get the wrong impression about what christianity is about.
It's about the values. God FORGIVES everyone. God LOVES everyone. Are you seeing a continuation from my philosophy post? It's about believing that there is always someone who loves you, and there is always someone who is there to help you and save you.
It is NOT about discriminating against other people because of their life choices. It is NOT about starting arguments about how the world started, or calling other people idiots or any of that crap that goes on. That is a wrong interpretation of the Bible that for some reason many people recount as truth.
This is what I believe. Again, I'm not saying it as fact, but it's what I believe and I respect you if you believe something different. I have no reason not to.
I mention it because last summer I was experiencing a lot of doubt in my religion. It seemed to me just as hokey and ridiculous as it does to lots of people. But the speaker (Strider) said something that really brought me back to belief.
"If people are just animals, like other animals, then that means that we have no real purpose." And I believe that. If we were not created to be something different, then what is our purpose? We don't have one.
I do believe that every person has a purpose. If you take religion out of this for a second, I still believe that every person has a purpose. We have ambitions and thoughts and talents. We were all meant to become something, but we can decide what that is. We. Are. Meant. To become. SOMETHING. Everyone is. Which is why I feel it is such a waste when people decide to throw themselves and all their potential away. But that's a different thing altogether.
I need to believe everyone has a purpose. I need to believe people have individual purposes. My life has been dedicated to the idea that I have an individual purpose and I need to follow that purpose with all my heart, even before I became religious. THAT is why it struck such a chord with me, and that is why my doubt, while not completely disappearing, did decrease significantly.
And I like to fancifully think that God was telling Strider what to say then. Because it did strike me. Hard. It spoke to me on a much more fundamental level of self. That doesn't happen to me everyday - it hardly happens at all, I think too much and I've usually thought what people are saying before. Not this time. I was actually stunned for a minute. But I agreed immediately.
People think they understand christianity - the ones who sneer at it snidely and say things in a contemptuous tone of voice - but they don't. Heck, I've been christian for at least three years, and I learn things all the time.
And even if it isn't true - even if there is nothing, and we're all random groups of particles floating in a random universe with no purpose at all, even if everything that ever happened in history happened for no reason at all, just by chance, I still prefer to believe in God. Not because of the rules - as I've said, even if I break them, Jesus has taken my sins away. But because it gives me hope. It fills me with love for people. It makes me happy. Religion is supposed to be a source of love, peace, hope, fulfillment. It's a philosophy, surely, but it's also a kind of sanctuary. And the fact that others have gone and butchered this idea, making it a source of hatred and rage, disgusts me. Because that's not what religion is supposed to be about, and they are misinterpreting it in the most idiotic way I can possibly think of. The life lessons christianity teaches are actually valuable. But you need to transpose some of the scripture, especially the angry Old Testament, to modern times, that's all.
What frustrates me is that people see religion in political news and think they understand it. But religion is not supposed to about politics (which is why I don't subscribe to the catholic church - there are a lot of politics involved in who becomes the Pope, who is supposedly the closest one to God, although anyone can be extremely close to God in my opinion). And you need to actually hear what a religion is actually about in order to judge it truly.
I write this because the misinterpretation or christianity frustrates me, and the misunderstanding of it. I'm tired of it.
I'm done now.
Peace.
In Which I Realize My Utter Lack of Subtlety
Grandma: Megan is obsessed with a bald fifty year old man. Obviously she doesn't go for looks.
LATER
Dad: Colin Mochrie...?! Why can't you be like a normal kid and like stupid singers with horrible music?!
LATER
Mom: Megan, just ease up on your crush on Colin, okay.......
LATER
Dad: My daughter idolizes a fifty year old man.....!!!
Me: I don't idolize him.....
Mom: OH PLEASE.
HAVE I BEEN MAKING IT THAT OBVIOUS?!?!?!?!!
Oh well. Hey look..... Colin. That's new.
LATER
Dad: Colin Mochrie...?! Why can't you be like a normal kid and like stupid singers with horrible music?!
LATER
Mom: Megan, just ease up on your crush on Colin, okay.......
LATER
Dad: My daughter idolizes a fifty year old man.....!!!
Me: I don't idolize him.....
Mom: OH PLEASE.
HAVE I BEEN MAKING IT THAT OBVIOUS?!?!?!?!!
Oh well. Hey look..... Colin. That's new.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
ARGH MY LIFE HATES ME AND ALSO MY MOTHER ENJOYS CRUSHING ALL MY DREAMS.
Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood, Jeff Davis, Jonathan Mangum, Heather Anne Campbell and Laura Hall are all performing in Vegas tonight.
And Mom won't take me to Vegas.
IT'S LIKE THE WHOLE GANG PLUS AWESOME PEOPLE LIKE JONATHAN MANGUM AND HEATHER ANNE CAMPBELL. TO SEE THIS WOULD BE A FREAKIN' DREAM COME TRUE.
WHY CAN'T I JUST LIVE IN LIKE A VAN FOLLOWING THEM EVERYWHERE.
And you know what the worst part is?
RYAN AND COLIN TOGETHER AGAIN!!!!!! ARGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I HAVE TO MISS ALL THIS AWESOMENESS JUST BECAUSE MOM WON'T TAKE ME TO VEGAS. *sobs* WHYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
First I miss Colin Mochrie live in Calgary. And I thought that was a big deal.
BUT RYAN AND COLIN AND DREW AND BRAD AND JEFF DAVIS AND JONATHAN MANGUM AND HEATHER ANNE CAMPBELL AND THE ONE AND ONLY LAURA HALL ALL DOING A SHOW TOGETHER?!?!?!!? THAT'S A BIG FREAKIN' DEAL.
*goes in a corner and cries*
WHY WON'T MY MOM LET ME GO TO VEGAS?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Pretty In Pink: Movie Review
Cause I review movies from thirty years ago. Don't judge me.
Honestly, I was expecting to be blown away by that John Hughes movie magic. Well, I wasn't. It was kind of mediocre.
I guess at that time, John Hughes was kind of the "magic director", where everything he made was pure gold (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, etc.). But I really had trouble with this one.
First of all, a short John Hughes general analysis (not just for this movie, but in general). John Hughes seems to enjoy experimenting with breaking the rules of screenplay writing. For instance, a fairly well known rule is that you NEVER address the audience/camera. Because that breaks the reality of the movie. Well, not only was Ferris Bueller all ABOUT addressing the audience and talking to the audience, he also did the same thing in Sixteen Candles (right before the King of Nerds starts making out with the popular party girl, he looks at the camera and says "THIS is getting interesting") AND there's even a short little nod to the audience in Pretty In Pink (when the girl at the prom is inviting Duckie over to her, Duckie looks at the camera incredulously, then looks back at the girl).
Another fairly well known rule is not to stereotype characters - characters should be three dimensional, not one-sided. But the John Hughes SCHTICK is to stereotype characters. In the Breakfast Club, you had the jock, the princess, the rebel, the nerd, and the weird emo girl. They of course fill out and dimensions are added by the end of the movie - that's kind of the whole point of that particular movie - but in other movies, not so much. In Sixteen Candles, you have the stuck up rich kids, the awkward nerds, the weird asian kid...... and a lot of them never fill out.
A lot of John Hughes movies seem to like putting "normal characters" (usually played by Molly Ringwald) in a sea of stereotypes. I think it's supposed to be because to that character, they ARE stereotypes - it's not reality reality, it's the main character's reality, and I THINK that's what is trying to get across. John Hughes uses that device to hit the audience over the head with the moral of the story.
But Pretty In Pink kind of bugged me.
First of all, a short synopsis of the film:
Andie is kind of a poor girl, living on the wrong side of the tracks. She makes her own clothes because they can't afford to buy her clothes. She has a deadbeat dad who doesn't have a job and her mom left them when she was quite young, but her dad still loves her mom even though he hasn't seen her since she left. Andie's best friend is Duckie, who she's known since they were children. Duckie is in love with her, but doesn't know how to tell her. Andie's other friend is the girl who works at the record store she works at, and she's gotta be I guess around thirty or forty in that movie, but they're still friends. Andie goes to a high school where the poor kids and the rich kids are all separated in different social groups. She likes a rich guy called Blaine who actually likes her back. They go out, but are shunned by both their friends because the rich kids hate the poor kids and vice versa. Feeling pressure from his rich friends, Blaine blows her off after he asks her to go to prom with him. Then Andie goes to prom anyway, escorted by Duckie, then somehow makes up with Blaine and Duckie finds another girl at the prom and somehow they all live happily ever after.
It was better put together than I made it sound.
The thing is, Blaine was supposed to be the love interest, but he's actually a really blah character. He's a really boring person. The only interesting thing he did was somehow send her a picture over a computer chat - which back in the eighties was not easily done. Besides that..... I mean, one minute he's saying "You know what, this could work. This will work. We can do this," and the next day he's avoiding her in the hallways and not returning her calls, and then he's all sad because she got mad at him. Uh, HELLO? YOU blew HER off, not vice versa!!!! Gosh de gosh, as my french teacher would say. And there's this part at the end where he delivers this one-liner to his friend that's supposed to be like sticking it to the man or something, but it's actually really lame.
It was actually kind of awkward for me, because Duckie was the best character in the entire movie, and I realize that it would have completely screwed up the moral of the story, but the whole movie I was rooting for Andie to end up with Duckie (even though the moral of the story would have changed from "Social class doesn't matter" or something like that, it would have changed to "stick with your social class because relationships that cross that line don't work out") but Duckie was actually such a better character than Blaine! Not just because he was funny, but because he was just all around the better man.
For instance, Andie and Duckie had a fight about Blaine because of the whole social class issue, but Duckie forgives her and escorts her to the prom anyways. Then when Blaine comes up and apologizes to Andie, and Andie's looking back at him, she looks pleadingly at Duckie. And rather than Duckie getting mad at her again, he says "You came to this prom alone." And he lets her go to him.
Duckie was also hilarious, and Andie was almost constantly mad at him, but he's awesome. For instance, he's trying to figure out how to tell Andie he loves her, and he starts like singing a song really loudly and dancing around Andie's room. And when Duckie got thrown into the girl's washroom by the guys he pissed off that were bigger than him, at first he's about to run out of the room, then he stops and looks around. "So, this is what it's like in here? What the heck?! Look at all this stuff! We don't have this stuff! Doors on the stalls! A candy machine! (pointing at the tampon dispenser) I'm not leaving until I see the principal in here right now! This is ridiculous!"
And Duckie was the character in the movie that was the most developed. You see him goofy, you see him angry, you see him in despair. He's a character that you can actually understand as a human being. You'd think Andie would be the most developed character, but it was Duckie. And he doesn't get the girl. Come one.
But the thing is, I am prepared to believe that Blaine actually had some character development, but that all the scenes that DID develop him just ended up on the cutting room floor (even though they kept in Duckie's random irrelevant musical interlude that has nothing to do with anything). It seems to me that John Hughes focused a lot more on Duckie than Blaine. Which would be fine, if Duckie were one of the main protagonists. But he's not, in fact he kind of plays the part of an antagonist through a bit of the movie. Blaine should be one of the main protagonists, but he's boring and not very likeable. So it's a very unbalanced movie that way.
What me and my mother decided was that Blaine was actually probably supposed to be kind of an intellectual rich kid - he did the cool thing on the computer chat, and he was an heir to a large electronics corporation. He's also rather awkward, like he doesn't quite fit in with the cool kids, but was thrown in with them because of his social status. All these threads were there, but they didn't serve any purpose to his character. They were just..... there. And as a result, his character simply didn't make a lot of sense, and was generally unlikeable (though he does have one or two charming moments).
Another thing that didn't make a lot of sense in that movie was the catty rich girls. Sure, Andie's clothes were handmade and weird and such, but it's kind of implausible that the main rich girl would go out of her way to insult her - it would make more sense if she just didn't care, if they sort of ignored each other. But the rich girl actually went out of her way to insult Andie, whispering insults to her in Calculus even though she didn't even know Andie's name, and then acting insulting to her while she and Blaine are there, and being insulting in gym..... she just seemed to go out of her way to be catty and nasty to her, which seemed weird because it would just make more sense if they just sort of didn't care about each other.
There were just a few pieces in that movie that were kind of lazy and strange. Kind of a mediocre movie, all in all. I give it 3/5 stars.
There, my longwinded review.
Thank you for your time.
Honestly, I was expecting to be blown away by that John Hughes movie magic. Well, I wasn't. It was kind of mediocre.
I guess at that time, John Hughes was kind of the "magic director", where everything he made was pure gold (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, etc.). But I really had trouble with this one.
First of all, a short John Hughes general analysis (not just for this movie, but in general). John Hughes seems to enjoy experimenting with breaking the rules of screenplay writing. For instance, a fairly well known rule is that you NEVER address the audience/camera. Because that breaks the reality of the movie. Well, not only was Ferris Bueller all ABOUT addressing the audience and talking to the audience, he also did the same thing in Sixteen Candles (right before the King of Nerds starts making out with the popular party girl, he looks at the camera and says "THIS is getting interesting") AND there's even a short little nod to the audience in Pretty In Pink (when the girl at the prom is inviting Duckie over to her, Duckie looks at the camera incredulously, then looks back at the girl).
Another fairly well known rule is not to stereotype characters - characters should be three dimensional, not one-sided. But the John Hughes SCHTICK is to stereotype characters. In the Breakfast Club, you had the jock, the princess, the rebel, the nerd, and the weird emo girl. They of course fill out and dimensions are added by the end of the movie - that's kind of the whole point of that particular movie - but in other movies, not so much. In Sixteen Candles, you have the stuck up rich kids, the awkward nerds, the weird asian kid...... and a lot of them never fill out.
A lot of John Hughes movies seem to like putting "normal characters" (usually played by Molly Ringwald) in a sea of stereotypes. I think it's supposed to be because to that character, they ARE stereotypes - it's not reality reality, it's the main character's reality, and I THINK that's what is trying to get across. John Hughes uses that device to hit the audience over the head with the moral of the story.
But Pretty In Pink kind of bugged me.
First of all, a short synopsis of the film:
Andie is kind of a poor girl, living on the wrong side of the tracks. She makes her own clothes because they can't afford to buy her clothes. She has a deadbeat dad who doesn't have a job and her mom left them when she was quite young, but her dad still loves her mom even though he hasn't seen her since she left. Andie's best friend is Duckie, who she's known since they were children. Duckie is in love with her, but doesn't know how to tell her. Andie's other friend is the girl who works at the record store she works at, and she's gotta be I guess around thirty or forty in that movie, but they're still friends. Andie goes to a high school where the poor kids and the rich kids are all separated in different social groups. She likes a rich guy called Blaine who actually likes her back. They go out, but are shunned by both their friends because the rich kids hate the poor kids and vice versa. Feeling pressure from his rich friends, Blaine blows her off after he asks her to go to prom with him. Then Andie goes to prom anyway, escorted by Duckie, then somehow makes up with Blaine and Duckie finds another girl at the prom and somehow they all live happily ever after.
It was better put together than I made it sound.
The thing is, Blaine was supposed to be the love interest, but he's actually a really blah character. He's a really boring person. The only interesting thing he did was somehow send her a picture over a computer chat - which back in the eighties was not easily done. Besides that..... I mean, one minute he's saying "You know what, this could work. This will work. We can do this," and the next day he's avoiding her in the hallways and not returning her calls, and then he's all sad because she got mad at him. Uh, HELLO? YOU blew HER off, not vice versa!!!! Gosh de gosh, as my french teacher would say. And there's this part at the end where he delivers this one-liner to his friend that's supposed to be like sticking it to the man or something, but it's actually really lame.
It was actually kind of awkward for me, because Duckie was the best character in the entire movie, and I realize that it would have completely screwed up the moral of the story, but the whole movie I was rooting for Andie to end up with Duckie (even though the moral of the story would have changed from "Social class doesn't matter" or something like that, it would have changed to "stick with your social class because relationships that cross that line don't work out") but Duckie was actually such a better character than Blaine! Not just because he was funny, but because he was just all around the better man.
For instance, Andie and Duckie had a fight about Blaine because of the whole social class issue, but Duckie forgives her and escorts her to the prom anyways. Then when Blaine comes up and apologizes to Andie, and Andie's looking back at him, she looks pleadingly at Duckie. And rather than Duckie getting mad at her again, he says "You came to this prom alone." And he lets her go to him.
Duckie was also hilarious, and Andie was almost constantly mad at him, but he's awesome. For instance, he's trying to figure out how to tell Andie he loves her, and he starts like singing a song really loudly and dancing around Andie's room. And when Duckie got thrown into the girl's washroom by the guys he pissed off that were bigger than him, at first he's about to run out of the room, then he stops and looks around. "So, this is what it's like in here? What the heck?! Look at all this stuff! We don't have this stuff! Doors on the stalls! A candy machine! (pointing at the tampon dispenser) I'm not leaving until I see the principal in here right now! This is ridiculous!"
And Duckie was the character in the movie that was the most developed. You see him goofy, you see him angry, you see him in despair. He's a character that you can actually understand as a human being. You'd think Andie would be the most developed character, but it was Duckie. And he doesn't get the girl. Come one.
But the thing is, I am prepared to believe that Blaine actually had some character development, but that all the scenes that DID develop him just ended up on the cutting room floor (even though they kept in Duckie's random irrelevant musical interlude that has nothing to do with anything). It seems to me that John Hughes focused a lot more on Duckie than Blaine. Which would be fine, if Duckie were one of the main protagonists. But he's not, in fact he kind of plays the part of an antagonist through a bit of the movie. Blaine should be one of the main protagonists, but he's boring and not very likeable. So it's a very unbalanced movie that way.
What me and my mother decided was that Blaine was actually probably supposed to be kind of an intellectual rich kid - he did the cool thing on the computer chat, and he was an heir to a large electronics corporation. He's also rather awkward, like he doesn't quite fit in with the cool kids, but was thrown in with them because of his social status. All these threads were there, but they didn't serve any purpose to his character. They were just..... there. And as a result, his character simply didn't make a lot of sense, and was generally unlikeable (though he does have one or two charming moments).
Another thing that didn't make a lot of sense in that movie was the catty rich girls. Sure, Andie's clothes were handmade and weird and such, but it's kind of implausible that the main rich girl would go out of her way to insult her - it would make more sense if she just didn't care, if they sort of ignored each other. But the rich girl actually went out of her way to insult Andie, whispering insults to her in Calculus even though she didn't even know Andie's name, and then acting insulting to her while she and Blaine are there, and being insulting in gym..... she just seemed to go out of her way to be catty and nasty to her, which seemed weird because it would just make more sense if they just sort of didn't care about each other.
There were just a few pieces in that movie that were kind of lazy and strange. Kind of a mediocre movie, all in all. I give it 3/5 stars.
There, my longwinded review.
Thank you for your time.
Monday, September 24, 2012
It's Entirely Too True
Found this while surfing Tumblr.
It was too true for me to not screenshot.
Seriously. It's so true. Made me laugh out loud. xD
It was too true for me to not screenshot.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
I Understand This is Totally Obsessive, But it Makes Me Happy.
I have two folders on my desktop. One is labeled WLiiA Screenshots. The other is labeled Not Whose Line. Still Epic.
I'm going to give you a peek into the latter, just because I really want to show someone because it makes me so very happy inside.
I realize it's mostly Colin. I admit, I have a huge crush on him. There I said it. Good thing no one reads this blog anyways.
I'm going to give you a peek into the latter, just because I really want to show someone because it makes me so very happy inside.
 |
| I saw this ad on the top of Youtube and was like "Wait...... what?" |
 |
| Thought this was funny, with the Whose Line and Improvaganza all down my Reccommended Videos. |
 |
| This is made of I don't even know fgdagadkladsgas. |
 |
| I dare you to deny the awesomeness of this exchange. |
 |
| It was too good to not save. |
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| I believe this was after Colin had persistently complimented Craig on being an extremely attractive man. |
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| Talking about upping the ante once the crowd starts getting tired of the old two men kissing improv trick - improvised Shakespearean gay porn, live on stage! |
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| Craig: Well, maybe Ryan's avoiding your call, Colin. Colin: That's not possible. I'm adorable. |
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| After Colin got the audience awwing when he was talking about his wife and son. |
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| My friend Jacey's Wattpad status! I was so proud. :') |
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| Brad Sherwood: Twitter's voice of reason, tolerance, acceptance and equality. He actually goes on Twitter and preaches about homosexual equality. He's actally made of awesome. |
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| Before the 100th episode taping of Whose Line. Apparently they kept the studio freezing cold. |
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| Love Colin's "Is failure contagious?" look at Drew. |
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| I realize I already posted these on here, but SERIOUSLY. COLIN USING A GUN. WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL. |
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| ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! |
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| It's funny because I actually do this now and if I were using alcohol I would be so incredibly drunk. |
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| Not as good, but still funny to consider. |
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| Turns out I didn't give you all the Colin on Corner Gas in that one post! There was the one bit at the end where he's talking about how cool reading is. xD |
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| ..... because I can. |
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| My two favourite Whose Line boys. I love it. |
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| Another exchange made of epic. |
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| The picture that went with Jeff's post about Ryan Stiles peeing on corn. |
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| WHY IS THERE NO FILM OF THIS ANYWHERE?!?!?!? |
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| I know it's sad, but it struck me. |
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| A FRICKIN' MOCHRIE OF FRICKIN' STILES. REMEMBER? THE ONE I FRICKIN' MISSED? |
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| For some reason I just love this. |
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| HE HAD HAIR AND HE LOOKS SO FRACKIN' ADORABLE. |
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| I honestly don't know what to say about this, but ohmygod. |
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| I love whenever that happens. |
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| The voice of reason. |
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| It's hilarious. |
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| Sicko fantasies. You have a way with words, Colin. |
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| COLIN AND DEB ACK THEY ARE SO PERFECT TOGETHER I'M GOING TO DIE FROM ADORABLENESS. |
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| COLIN AND DEB AGAIN OH MY GOD AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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