Back Home.

     Hello, friends! As can be deduced from the title and the current date, I've been home for a few days. Europe was amazing, and though leaving the Berlin airport saddened me, I experienced a near-equal level of happiness as we landed in Washington D.C. Seeing a Wendy's in the airport made me far more excited than it probably should have. And sleeping in my own bed on the night of August 19th was such a relief.

     Over the next few weeks (I haven't decided exactly how I will space out my traveling posts), I will tell the stories of my journey through Europe this summer. First, I feel some film and music-related updates are in order. 

 On planes to Houston, Texas and to Frankfurt, Germany

1) Our plane to Houston was super swanky, and their selection of films was beyond compare. Though it'd never appealed to the animation-lover in me before, I decided to watch Wreck-It Ralph for a good portion of the flight. My first instincts were completely off on this one; IT WAS AMAZING. While it is true that it's been a month since seeing the film and I do not exactly remember why I loved it so much, I do feel this intense, lingering sense of adoration. It was adorable and heart-wrenching at some scenes. I highly recommend a watch! 

2) During the nine-hour flight from Houston to Frankfurt, I decided to watch Side Effects. I'd wanted to see this film for a long while, and ended up having a reverse-Wreck-It-Ralph experience. I was disappointed and almost angry about the ending. To avoid any spoilers (because it is a bit of a thriller), let's just say the person I was rooting for ended up being the villain. Which isn't always a bad thing. But in this case... the ending just made me roll my eyes a bit. And by a bit, I mean I finally know what the inside of my skull looks like.

3) Seeing as I had a lot of time to kill, I then flipped through the music catalog.
 All that is written in my travel journal is "Bjork - All Neon Like," so I'd gander it was a favorite. Listening now, I do quite like the song. Lend an ear for yourself:

     At some point, while most everyone was asleep and the plane was in near-complete darkness, I listened to the entirety of the Les Miserablés (2012 version) soundtrack and mouthed along to the few lyrics I knew haha. Watching people sleep on a plane while listening to a very emotional musical is quite the humorous contrast.

4) The last film I watched was Identity Thief, because my options were far more limited than the flight to Houston. The movie was much better than I expected, actually! And I'm especially grateful that it ended up being a story of friendship rather than romance. True, it'd be cool to have a comedy in which a traditionally good-looking guy falls in love with a woman who is what modern society considers "fat," but romance in this case would have been too predictable for my liking. It was refreshing to see a film where falling in friendship is just as important as falling in love. So I give it points for that. But on another note, the only two People of Color in the film were villains... which made me a bit uncomfortable, to be honest. Just things to consider. My verdict: I wouldn't watch it again, but Identity Thief is not the worst movie you'll see in your life.

5) Lastly, as we flew over Germany in the morning, the plane allowed me to tune into a German radio station. It played a lot of American music, but there were a couple of songs that I'd never heard before.

I particularly liked (oh my god, looking up the lyrics now, it is so weird to discover that this song is by The Script. I used to hear them sometimes in middle school, when I listened to "VH1 Jumpstart" every morning as I got ready for school.) If You Could See Me Now by The Script:



...and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SONG!! I totally jammed out in my seat at 6AM on a plane.
Liebe Ist Meine Rebellion by Frida Gold:



Gallivanting across Europe : 
     Before leaving, I put a bunch of random music on my phone, not knowing what I would want to listen to while spending a month away from my laptop. I went through two notable phases during my trip: the two-country-long Katy Perry phase, and the two-week-long Lights phase. And my Lights phase was extensive-- when possible, I just sat and watched interviews, becoming ever more fascinated with the way she speaks, or I flipped through dozens of acoustic performances to hear her development as a singer. For whatever reason, she captured my attention (hurhurhur, if you listen to Lights: get the reference?) on this vacation.   

     I also developed a habit of listening to music in museums when I could not handle tourists' constant buzzing. On my 8Tracks, I'm planning on putting up all of the beautiful, slow songs I listened to while watching the sunset from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and making a separate playlist of rockabilly songs Cathy gave me, which I ended up listening to (and literally dancing around to) in the Musée d'Orsay. Keep an eye out for those!

      So this post doesn't get horrifically long, I'll simply leave here the song I was infatuated with for the majority of my trip. I would get so elated when the Wifi in our hostels was cooperating, simply because I felt a constant NEED to listen to this. Here is a cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for" by Lights. 

 

On the plane back to Washington D.C.
      I only had the ability to watch movies on my eight-hour flight from Frankfurt to Washington D.C. (though I'm lucky I got movie options during the longest chunk of airtime), and the journey seemed to take forever! This time around, films didn't make the hours go any faster. 

1) The first movie I chose was Admission. I have a deep love for Tina Fey, which is why I was surprised when my main complaints about this film were on the basis of feminism. The mother in the film, who was actually a total fucking badass, was not treated as a feminist queen, but a constant joke. I couldn't shake thoughts of The Straw Feminist trope, as addressed by Feminist Frequency, while watching. In addition, the resolution left a strange aftertaste because the main character basically trades in her career for motherhood. This isn't inherently bad, but media is notorious for making women choose between one or the other! I know her arc was about not staying in the same place out of fear, but couldn't they have thrown in some kind of new and exciting job for her at the end, rather than having her new-found happiness defined by her boyfriend and the possibility of motherhood? In the end, this movie didn't just feel like a sub-par romantic comedy, it felt borderline offensive.

2) While I was watching Admission, the woman next to me was watching Safe Haven. While I had no interest in checking it out before, catching glimpses of a few scenes (especially discovering that Cobie Smulders plays a minor character) peeked my interest. My viewing experience was simply lukewarm. I'm not sure how I feel about the film's portrayal of domestic violence; I liked the scene where Katie talks about her depression in relation to the abuse, but I felt a slight lack of continuity when she shows no signs of fear or nervousness when her new beau yells at her during their first fight. I've fortunately never experienced domestic violence, so I suppose I'm not in any position to talk on the subject. But the movie felt a little bit like "abuse is a one-time thing and then you meet your new boyfriend and he fixes you and it's totally fine," which seems wildly inaccurate to me. In summary, I won't be watching the film again. But, side notes: Julianne Hough looks gorgeous with that haircut. Live your dreams, girl. Also, I found it beyond amusing that Cobie Smulders and Julianne Hough had WAY more sexual tension and chemistry than the two main characters.

3) A favorite of my parent's, I decided to watch When Harry Met Sally..., circa 1989. I am obsessed with Meg Ryan's fashion over the course of the movie! Her post-high school 70s outfit is definitely my top pick. As said by my cousin, her fashion arc is crazy similar to that of our mothers', making it all the more enjoyable. I also really adored Carrie Fisher's presence! When her name appeared in the opening credits, I thought maybe she would be in a few scenes and blend in with the wallpaper, but she played a significant character! The Star Wars kid in me was rather excited. But I digress. To the important stuff: this movie was my favorite of the three I watched by far. It was such a great romance film, and Meg Ryan's character was so relatable and entertaining. It was quite elevating to have her high-maintenance qualities not be seen as crazy and in need of fixing, but aspects of her personality to be loved and appreciated. She had opinions, but some of them changed with her personal development. And when she faked an orgasm loudly in a restaurant to prove a point... flawless. Much love. Just... YES!!

     And that is a pretty comprehensive round-up of the media I consumed during the end of July and first half of August. I will be posting more about the films (most of which have been documentaries) I've watched and the music I've listened to since returning to California soon! I will also been working on travel posts as much as possible before starting training for my new job on September 4th. Feels good to be back at the keyboard! :) 

♥ Happy Watching / Listening ♥

Why I Am Not Going to See "The Lone Ranger"

     It's been a hectic 72 hours. With the Texas Senate Bill 5 situation a few nights ago, the repealing of some sections in the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court, the declared unconstitutionality of Prop 8 and DOMA, and the confusing results of the court case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (results confusing, at least, for me), following the political sphere in the United States has been a bit dizzying over the past few days. The emergence of these legislative and judicial conflicts has made me realize, more than ever, that I am ignorant to many of the things going on in this country. Though I prefer to stay away from politics, and though it's always extremely confusing when I try to dive in, my wish to ignore politics isn't necessarily okay. These political decisions reflect cultural values in the United States, and their results have real-life consequences. Being white, I can easily chose to be oblivious to these consequences if I'm just living my daily life, going about my own business. But just because I do have the privilege of ignoring politics and going about my day without trouble, does not mean I should. My ability to do so, while others are constantly struggling for their rights and watching them be taken away time and time again, is wrong in itself. It's time that I wake up and start educating myself about what's really going on.

     While I clearly am not the most educated person in the world, I'm thankful that I at least have some sense of right and wrong. Months ago, I began to see previews for Disney's"The Lone Ranger." For reasons I couldn't pinpoint or articulate, watching the trailer made me really uncomfortable. I knew there was something wrong with Johnny Depp's portrayal of Tonto. I felt it, even if I couldn't logically figure out why I felt that way. 

     Aside from the harmful, but typical, issue of a white man being the star of the film while a person of color is nothing more than a sidekick (in this case, "some lunatic Indian" who he's "got with him"), there is more under the surface here. I think my initial discomfort came from the blatancy of the stereotypes upon which Johnny Depp (and the writers, directors, and other members of the crew who brought this project to life) plays his character. In the midst of processing these feelings, a Tumblr post came out of the woodwork that validated my own concerns and illuminated several more troubling aspects to this movie.

More eloquent and informed than I ever could have been, here is aquietrevolutionary's take on "The Lone Ranger"

 

For more information, you can click on the links from the original post. My favorite of them is the angry response of YouTuber ASmilingMalice, titled "To Johnny Depp, from a 1/4 Ojibwa"

Also, here are two very on-point comments from the video:

     As the commenter claims, being white isn't necessarily about family lineage, but it can simply be about one's appearance. We live in a nation where having a lighter skin tone, even among people of color, is "preferred" by employers and more "accepted" by society in general. Simply having a fairer complexion can give a person an advantage in the United States. And I think it's incredibly damaging for white people, who already have that privilege, to dress up as a person of color when it is convenient for them, without having to deal with the everyday social consequences of it. In this role, Johnny Depp gains recognition and revenue, and yet off-screen he never has to deal with the discrimination that a Native American would be burdened with. He, along with everyone involved with this film, is using this fictional person of color to benefit himself. This portrayal does nothing for present-day or once-living Native Americans. In fact, I would say that it mocks them, not only because of the broken English and garish costume, but because in this film, Tonto is used for white people's gain in wealth, similar to the way Native Americans were used and slaughtered so white people could gain American land. This role doesn't tell anyone, "You're still warriors, man," it proudly pronounces, "Nothing has changed."

     Why is this act of Red Face seen as acceptable? My university was rattled (and rightly so) by an incident involving Black Face, and yet I haven't seen anyone publicly outraged by this movie. This incident has, firstly, made me realize that Native American oppression is often dismissed and ignored. I've realized that I don't really know anything about the conditions on reservations, or how the legal system treats Native Americans. I've never thought about how nations (a term that I hope I am using correctly, for three days ago, I wasn't even aware that 'tribe' was an incredibly imperialist word) are lumped into one idea about what it means to be "Native American." But it is so true. I think there is a lot of ignorance surrounding the reality of being a Native American, in the past and the present.

     Secondly, in this particular incident, I think Disney is intentionally keeping the already unaware majority in the dark. As said by Indian Country Today Media Network, Disney attempts to keep Johnny Depp's lineage "ambiguous," and "Disney relies upon the ignorance of the public to allow that ambiguity to exist" (as said by UCLA professor Hanay Geiogamah). At this point, I really think that Disney believes it can do whatever it wants (remember when it tried to trademark Dia de los Muertos?!? Who do the executives at Disney think they are?). This ambiguity is just one way of covering its ass so it does not need to take responsibility for racist actions. And what sickens me the most is that it won't need to take responsibilty. There has never been a widespread boycott of Disney, and realistically, this film won't change that.

 As said by a past film professor of mine, "It's always about money. ALWAYS." It's safe to say that Johnny Depp was chosen for this role because he is a big name, and there are drones of people who will go see this film simply because Johnny Depp is in it. I'm sure he's a lovely actor to work with, but he was given the role because he will make A LOT of money for the companies involved. With that in mind, I believe the rest of the film is secondary to that fact. The movie may have even been built around that fact. Hey-- it may be racist, but we've got JOHNNY!

     Besides the fact that it looks like a shitty action movie (let's be honest, nothing about this film is appealing to me, even if it weren't racist), the combination of Johnny Depp's casting and the multitude of stereotypes upon which the character is based means I won't be spending a dime on it. I just can't. It's similar to how I chose not to see the new Star Trek film in the theater because of whitewashing, despite how much I loved the first film and how much I want to see Benedict Cumberbatch succeed. Sometimes, knowing these issues ahead of time makes my interest in the film(s) dwindle completely. And sometimes it doesn't. I will probably see Star Trek Into Darkness at some point, but I certainly won't be spending money on it.

This is not to say that I've never watched and enjoyed troubling media, because that's nearly impossible. And this is not to say that you are a horrible person if you still want to see "The Lone Ranger" in the theater. A lot of media is really screwed up, and being personal aware of it does not change the fact that troubling shit is still being fed to the public (including me and you) in mass portions. In my opinion, you are only the villain in this situation if you are aware of this film's racism and claim that it isn't a big deal, or that media/our society lives in a post-racism space. Don't make excuses for this film, and don't try to defend it. And never tell someone they are overreacting because they are offended by it. It is possible to love a film and accept its flaws at the same time!!

For more words on this, please refer to the goddess Ceedling:

Also, topics like the -isms of our society are not a one-way thing. They are a discussion. So if there is anything you have a problem with in this post, or if you want to point something out in efforts to educate me, please comment!! I'm completely open to being corrected, for I'm still fairly new at this. 

♥ Happy Watching (Or... err.... Not Watching) ♥

The Invisible War (TW: Rape)

     Hello, friends! Though I'm sure very few noticed the prolonged absence, I do apologize. Spring Quarter was quite busy for me. Eventually, I just had to sort out my priorities, and between academics, my sorority, and applying for all of my involvements for next year, I barely had enough time to keep my head on straight. I even had to quit Her Campus, after only submitting one article... embarrassing. But I'm hoping that I can join up again next year, and I'm hoping to interject some feminism into the magazine. It's for college women after all!

But that is a discussion for another time. However, it does kind of transition into the wonderful and shocking documentary I watched last night: The Invisible War.

     Like all documentaries should hope to achieve, my eyes were completely opened by this film and the stories it told. On the surface, it's about the alarming rates of sexual assault of men** and women within the U.S. military. That itself is a terrifying thought. The recounts of rapes themselves are horrifying. Perhaps one can predict that abuse of power is a contributing factor to these attacks, but I was totally surprised to discover that soldiers go out drinking with their superiors and are ordered to drink until they are utterly incoherent. I didn't expect sexual assault to be something so widely accepted among the men of the military. Somehow, I just didn't expect this kind of conduct... probably because of all those propaganda-ridden ideals about soldiers being the most honorable citizens of the United States. 

 ** First of all, shout out for addressing the sexual assaults of both men and women, when the stories of men could have been ignored. I loved the way this documentary interlaced issues of masculinity in with the values of the military, and the dehumanizing and emasculating effects of rape.

     But what really boggled my mind was the institution in place that systematically dismissed (dismisses? The film implied that change had been made, but that these initial reforms were not yet "enough." What exactly does "enough" mean? That's perhaps my only complaint about this documentary-- it stressed that changed was needed, but didn't clearly specify what that change was.) rape cases and then accused the victims of lying and adultery. I didn't even realize that adultery could be a formal charge? I suspect its existence is, again, wrapped up in those ideas about honor and good moral character. But that seems more like an illusion than ever before. And it's very true that those who sweep these cases under the rug are not qualified medical professionals, because if they were, they would understand the extreme psychological impact of interrogating and dismissing a survivor of sexual assault. Like this film claimed, the military's reactions to the cases were/are equal to, if not worse, than the trauma of rape itself.

  Though this film only premiered in 2012, I'm very anxious to know whether significance progress has been made, or whether an appeal was successful in court. I don't really know where to get access to this information, but considering the website is still up, I'm assuming leaps and bounds are still required to mend this very broken system. A system so broken that female veterans in this film say they could never recommend other young women to join the U.S. military.

It's very important that people in the United States continue to be exposed to this film.

     I can honestly say that I had no idea about any of these issues within the military until watching. But if that isn't enough for you to check it out immediately, also know that it is incredibly compelling and well-made. The format and transitions from sexual assault of women, to men, and to individual stories was seamless. I also loved the various interviews and typography to keep the statistics both visually interesting and comprehensible. I highly recommend this documentary, and I'm hoping to get much more into Netflix documentaries this summer. Hopefully the rest of my finds will be as thought-provoking and emotionally impacting as this one.

♥ Happy Watching ♥

Published for the First Time!

     I've written an article about Spring Breakers for UC Irvine's edition of Her Campus, which is a nation-wide online magazine for college girls. I joined last quarter, but never got the courage up to interject my ideas. So last week, I finally emailed one of the editors about writing an article on Spring Breakers, and she was all for it! I submitted the piece, and it's been published!! Though I'm not sure how I'll fit into the site in general, I'm hoping to get more involved this quarter. It's my first time ever having something of mine published. I was never brave enough to join my high school's newspaper, and I never looked outside of school to promote and improve upon my writing. Media journalism is what I want to do with my life, but actually trying to do it is beyond anxiety-inducing. I'm happy that I finally forced myself to submit something. So this is all very exciting!

     Though I definitely did not chose the title, and one sentence that I really liked ("Selena Gomez does a great job playing the girl who wants more than anything to break out of her comfort zone, but is the first to retreat when things start to get too risky.") was edited out, I'm really proud of this first article. 

So if you want to read it, that'd be cool.

Spring Breakers: A Break from your Regular Spring Break Movie

(Again, didn't chose to the title haha)

 (from Pinterest - Alina Pena)

♥ Happy Reading and Watching ♥

Marie Antoinette (2006)

  ON CRITICISM AND THE WOMAN HERSELF:
  I actually saw this film about three years ago, when I was in high school and really into history. In my quest for knowledge about the world's famous figures, I acquired an intense hate for Marie Antoinette. I saw her only as "Madame Déficit," the girl who became queen and spent all of France's money on clothes and scandal while her people starved. Which is true to some extent; obviously, the French people felt similarly about their political leaders, and started a revolution. It also annoyed me to no end that Marie Antoinette was so idolized by the fashion world. And so, when I saw this movie for the first time, I really was just not into it.

     That is the reason why, I think, I first perceived Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette as boring, extravagant, and vain... After seeing it a second time, I still do not think this movie is the best thing ever made. However, it definitely made me a hell of a lot more sympathetic towards Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI. I don't know why I was unable to understand the amount of pressure they were under, before their reign and during. Marie was stripped of her home life, shipped off to a new country, and expected to produce an heir to secure the alliance of their two nations. And then she became queen while still a teenager. Though I don't think one should react to such pressure by gambling, drinking, and buying material luxuries at the expense of the nation, how am I to know how I would react? What would I do in that situation, when personal freedom has been crushed under the weight of political expectations and horrible, unbearably routine monotony? Obviously this is a much better position to be in than a poor beggar on the streets of 18th century France, but it's still important to consider the difficulties forced upon royalty. Especially women like Marie Antoinette, who were not seen as valuable until an heir to the throne could be produced. To be barren was to the ostracized by the political sphere.

     Plus, Louis XVI was not yet 21 when his father died and he took the throne. He was forced into a marriage just like Marie Antoinette for political harmony, and clearly had some insecurities about sex that he was not ready to deal with at the time. But he had the pressure of producing an heir as well. And let's be honest, who knows what they're doing as young adults? Certainly not enough to rule a country?

     What I'm saying is: political rulers though they were, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI (and any other popular historical figure, whether highly idolized or hated by the public) were just people. Though it makes sense to dislike their choices or extravagant lifestyles, you have to consider the struggles they went through. You have to consider that every historical figure was once a toddler who had no grasp on their class position, or what was expected of them. They laughed and cried and fucked up just like the rest of us. The mistake I made when I first saw this movie, of which I committed a lot in those days, was seeing these human beings as two-dimensional, cardboard cut-outs who were never as fully alive as I am.

     And that has been a concept I've been obsessed with ever since reading "Atonement" by Ian McEwan. In that novel, a little girl named Briony confronts her troubles with writing by realizing how incredible difficult it is to understand that every person you see, interact with, or dismiss is equally as alive as you are. She discusses this in one of the early chapters, and it remained my favorite part of the book throughout. That idea has stuck with me ever since. Now, I always try to remember that no one who has ever lived has one dimension (like a partying queen who betrays the starving subjects by buying herself nice things) to be criticized, or devotedly worshiped from afar. Everyone holds an entire universe within, with a million different personalities and multitudes. That is always something worthy of considering before you make judgements about other human beings, especially if they live in a time or place incredibly different from your own. I still wouldn't call myself a fan of Marie Antoinette, but I'm glad this film made me confront my feelings and misconceptions about her.

     ON THE FILM: 

     The second time around watching this film, I really appreciated the mixture of past and present elements. Sometimes the music was modern, and at other times it appeared to fit with its surroundings. And sometimes, there was a pair of Converse hightops in the background. I always find it really interesting when movies obviously disregard all historically accuracy, and this film did it with such intent, I couldn't help but fall in love with that dimension. It made the movie so much more stylistically appealing, and brought it out of the typical period drama format. 

      Going along with the dismissal of historical accuracy, I loved that no one cared about the diversity in accents among the actors. In fact, I enjoyed that both the king and queen had American accents. In my opinion, it was done for a purpose: I think that Marie Antoinette's foreign voice among the many proper British-accented servants made her stand out right away as the rebellious teenager who doesn't understand the point of rigorous routine. It gave her a bit of an edge. But that just goes along with the weird and very untrue stereotype, really, that Americans are wild, while the British are uptight, reserved, and cold. So that's also something to take into consideration. And though I don't necessarily agree with Marie Antoinette's insistence on material goods and frivolity, the clothes in this film are stunning. Again, the clothing really highlighted the combination of past and present style elements. I was absolutely swooning over Kirsten Dunst's pink hair. The cinematography of the film complimented its emphasis on style, making it a film with a lot to look at, and a lot of visuals to get inspired by, even if it is not the most entertaining movie in general. 

      I have to say that I really loved the ending. Instead of focusing on Marie Antoinette's death, it was about saying goodbye to the palace that she came to call home and invested so much of her life in. Even though it was at the cost of her people, she invested so much time and money into the improvement of that physical space. And because the film was so focused on the stylistic elements of Marie Antoinette's life, I think it was a very fitting choice to end with her leaving behind all of that luxury. She finally saw the cost of reveling in all of that luxury, using it to keep her warm in the isolation of royal life and its immense expectations, and at last is forced to let it all go.

(all movie images from kirstendunstweb.com)

♥ Happy Watching ♥

Spring Breakers!!

     I really cannot empathize with the waves of people claiming that this is the worst movie they have ever seen, because honestly I LOVED SPRING BREAKERS. It's definitely not plot-driven, but it is an art film with breathtaking visuals, stunning use of color, and mesmerizing repetition. The main problem people had with it, I think, came from their expectations. People thought it was going to a mindless spring break movie, when really, it's much more thought-provoking and twisted than a two-hour ragefest. This may have been intentional - drawing in an audience wanting instant gratification and thoughtless fun, then pulling a bait and switch, similar to what the girls experience in the film. Ultimately, I think this film is about trying to figure out the balance between living in the moment/to the fullest/having fun in the present vs. staying in your comfort zone and looking out for your well-being in the long term (i.e. staying out of trouble, doing well in school, etc). I think it's about figuring out at what point you reach "enough." How much of this destructive fun can you take? At what point does destruction get too destructive? That balance is something I think about quite a lot, and it's something I've been struggling with recently, so I'm 10000000% in favor of this movie. So brilliant.

     Cathy and I saw this film together over my spring break, at 12:30 in the afternoon in a nearly-empty theater. The one other occupant left immediately when the credits began. And the end credits song was "Lights" by Ellie Goulding. So naturally, we ran around the whole theater and full-on danced until the guy came in to clean up the theater. Afterward, we filmed a review in my car, and I think it turned out really well (:

♥ Happy Watching ♥

Les Miserables: A Video Review

     As you could probably guess, the video below was filmed in my car, in the movie theater parking lot, during Winter Break. I actually love this review as a whole. And after a week, my lasting impression of this movie is that it is excellent! However, it is also quite long with A LOT of singing. I'll admit, I found myself missing spoken dialogue. If it's your first musical, be prepared! Watching Les Miserables is definitely a marathon, not a sprint. The emotions are also something to brace yourself for, because most people experience a flood of them. I'll admit it: I cried. And really, if a viewer cries in a theater full of strangers, I feel that the film has done something very significant indeed. But the film definitely ended on an uplifting note!!

My excitement for this movie has been a bit of a rollercoaster: first, I cringed at the prospect of a musical, then the previews made me really excited, then I forget about its existence, and finally, I started hearing people's positive comments about Les Miserables and grew more intrigued as Winter Break wore on.

I caved, and here is the aftermath! I personally am in love with this video.

Also, here's a tiny Outfit of the Day for that fine film-reviewing day (: A dress from H&M about a year ago, ditto for the cardigan, my new Forever 21 necklace, a non-working watch that I acquired from Cathy's older sister, and my new flats from Urban Outfitters!

     I've got plans for some wordy posts coming up soon! I just need to find the time to write them! (: Plus, this weekend I will maybe get to see Gangster Squad with my friends, so we'll see if that results in a review. I have mixed feelings on the film at this moment, mostly because of the way the film looks in its trailers. Is it just me, or do the visuals look extremely fake? Even the actors on screen look like a hybrid of animation and reality. Very curious indeed... But Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were heaven in Crazy Stupid Love, so we shall see! 

Also, shameless plug: The entire time I was writing this post, I listened to Cathy's Feminism playlist.

♥ Happy Watching ♥ 

Faintly French: Films #2 and #3

Well........ this project has certainly been a bit of a fail, hasn't it? I'm now one day away from finishing Winter Break, and I've seen a total of three French films. Although the original goal was two French movies a week, and though I've certainly had the time to easily achieve that, I've only managed to see one each week of the break. Hopefully I'll squeeze in one more before I get back to school tomorrow. But I also, in theory, have the entirety of Faust to read before I resume classes this Monday, so we'll see how that goes.

Last week, I watched a film called Heartbreaker for Faintly French #2.

(Photo from nynatas.org)

 
  Overall, I'd say this is a solid romantic comedy, but unfortunately for me, the romantic comedy is not really a genre I enjoy. Which is why it's stupid that I've chosen two French romcoms so far to review... But Netflix said I would like it! And for whatever reason, I kind of assumed that French romantic comedies would be a cut above American ones. However, I found it to be extremely predictable, and more than a tad bit boring. But I also think that Heartbreaker is a least a little bit funnier than other romantic comedies! I even laughed out loud during one scene. Despite how much I love films, I rarely laugh out loud during them, and so I'd say that's quite an achievement! 

Also, I thought there was a very interesting blend of English and French in this film. To me, it felt as though the filmmaker assumes that the viewer is a native French speaker, but knows English as well. The dialogue is mainly in French, but the fiancee (Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead?! No idea he was British?!?!) spoke English for the most part. Also, all of the music featured English vocals and a large portion of the movie centers around the American film Dirty Dancing. I haven't seen many French films obviously, but is this integration of English and American culture common? Let me know! It's quite interesting!

So, overall, I would say that Heartbreaker is quite an average film. I don't think I would watch it again, but it was certainly not a cringe-worthy experience. I definitely need to break out of the romantic comedy genre!! I've been trusting Netflix, which isn't exactly the smartest approach. Netflix is composed of the rejects of society, with a few extremely good films mixed in. It's definitely gotten more quality with time... Still, you can't expect to find gems every time!

But sometimes you do. The next film I watched is called Tomboy. 

(Photo from IMPAwards.com)

I'm trying to decipher my feelings about this film, mostly because I wasn't expecting to get into it, but I got much more emotionally invested than I intended. A simple movie like this would normally bore me, yet this film didn't at all. Coming away from it, I'm harboring a bundle of mixed emotions.

     First of all, I feel it's really important to point out how much I loved the camerawork in this movie!! There was something very simple and sweet and tender about it; the shots were discreet and to-the-point at the same time. And they did one of my favorite things to do with a camera: make ordinary activities beautiful. Just have to get that out of the way before I start discussing content (:

     After finishing this film, I felt quite sad for Mikael (I will be referring to Laure/Mikael as Mikael because honestly I think that is who he truly wants to be and I'm going to respect that). First of all, on a very basic level, it must be quite difficult to battle with the fact that you may have been born into the wrong sex. Then imagine moving to a new town, a completely new start, and you get this opportunity to be who you really want to be. You make this great group of friends that you can act like yourself around, though on the surface, it's a lie. You find this girl you really like. Your sister finds out you're pretending to be a boy, but instead of fighting this the whole way, she actually gets really accepting really quickly. She tells grand stories of her "older brother" and loves playing along. And for a while, things are going okay, even though you still spend every moment alone struggling with your gender identity. And then... everything falls apart at once.

     It was never an ideal situation to begin with, because Mikael had to essentially lie to his friends in order to be as close to himself as he could be. But to see his mother appalled at her daughter pretending to be a boy, and to see Lisa call their romance 'disgusting', and to see all of Mikael's friends abandon him kind of broke my heart. The entire movie, I was petrified about someone revealing Mikael's born sex and having to see him humiliated. And then all of my fears came true. 

    Though I suppose, his family was more accepting than they could have been. Even his mother told him that pretending to be a boy didn't make her sad... She just couldn't see a way of continuing the lie. I wish she could have acted more understanding, especially because this couldn't have been a complete surprise, honestly! She must have done some observation over the last couple of months. Though she could have assumed her daughter was just a "tomboy," isn't it fair to speculate that the idea must have crossed her mind at least once? True, it's wrong to assume that a girl wishes she were a boy just because she doesn't wear dresses. And keeping with that concept, I think that when a kid is trying to figure out who they are, as a parent, it's very important that you show support for whatever your kid does. If your daughter is a tomboy, support that. If your daughter is experimenting with makeup (I got made fun of by my aunt one time when I was in elementary school and trying to figure out makeup, and I spent like a half hour in the bathroom crying and trying to wipe it all off! We don't forget that shit! Even if I'm far past over the incident, haha.), let them experiment. If your daughter wants to be a boy, maybe you should have a conversation with your child, rather than slapping him and forcing him into a dress. I agree that a lie is a lie, and honesty is the best policy, but perhaps a more gentler approach could have been taken by Mikael's mother when dealing with the situation. 

From my experience, self-acceptance is fragile, and you've got to treat it as such.

(Photo from angrydance.tumblr.com)

My favorite relationship in the movie was that of Mikael and his little sister. There was so much love there. And being six years old, his little sister was one of the most understanding a loving characters of the film. But after all that happened in this story, I have quite a bit of respect for Lisa as well. I mean, if you think about the movie from her perspective, finding out Mikael's secret probably confused her to no end. She's only in the fourth grade, and for the first time, Lisa probably had to step back and ponder about her sexuality. If I liked Mikael, does that mean I like girls? But I thought he was a boy... But he's a girl. But I didn't know. But I still liked... her? Big things to be wondering at such a young age, for Mikael and Lisa both. And yet, when all of their friends abandoned him, Lisa still wanted to be in his life. She wanted a new start. Something to keep this great person in her life, though if she were an adult perhaps this would have been seen as insensitive, rejecting the name Mikael identifies with. But for Christ's sake, she's doing fabulously for her young age!

     Which brings us to the ending of this film. And the final line, "Je m'appelle Laure." Honestly, that moment left me incredibly dissatisfied. Somehow, after all of this, I had hoped that Mikael would be able to "find" himself and express himself accordingly. Instead, he presents himself as a girl. And I don't know what the smile at the end means: it cannot possibly mean that this kid now accepts the identity of Laure, after all of that questioning? I just don't think that could be so, that this child is simply a "tomboy" and that's it. I'm thinking that perhaps the smile signifies a freedom from having to lie anymore to this person he cares so much about. That is the only explanation that makes sense to me.

     But that conclusion means that for the time being, Mikael has to present himself with an identity that is not true to who he really is. And that... that is disheartening. But that is the struggle of the transgendered community, when they realize their true identity at such a young age and the environment around them is not accepting. Maybe I'm not making the right conclusion about this film, but that's my take on it. I think my mixed emotions are highly appropriate.

Wow, that was longer than intended! But after talking it out, I actually am kind of in love with this film. Great camerawork, great acting from such young children, great subject matter, great intellectual wheels turning in my head! This is the first new movie I've seen in 2013, and I'm thankful for it.

IN SHORT: I HIGHLY RECCOMEND THIS FILM!

♥ Happy Watching ♥

Cathy's OotD! And a Mini-Review of Django!!

 

     Perhaps you've already seen the music video thing I made about Cathy and my's day together... now enjoy her Outfit of the Day! As always, Cathy was looking extremely cute when I hung out with her last Saturday, and so I had to document it, as annoying as it may have been for her. Basically, I want to steal everything Cathy owns and then her sense of style so I can build glorious outfits for myself. But for now, enjoy the way she looks! Goddamn, woman!!!! Also, at the very bottom, enjoy a talky vlog about our day together!

Cathy's Outfit of the Day: 12/29/12

I actually filmed an incredible amount of footage on Saturday, and I included a lot less into the vlog than I originally intended hahaha :P It's only comprised of three clips now... of us talking and joking about the most random of things. I can't even tell if an outside viewer would enjoy it or think it is the slightest bit interesting?! At least the bit at the end about Django Unchained is intelligible... maybe? Cathy and I had quite a long conversation about the film (though there's only a little bit in our vlog), even though she hasn't seen it yet, and why I'm not even going to try and properly review it.

     But if you're really curious: I LOVED IT!! I saw it with my boyfriend and honestly it was incredible. The soundtrack makes me swoon. The cast was marvelous. The editing is a bit different, obviously, but there's nothing we can do about that :/ Sadly, Sally is gone and we have to give this new editor the benefit of the doubt!! There were parts that made me rightfully uncomfortable, there were parts that made me laugh (it's okay to think the bit about the extremely racist asshole's eyehole struggles was hilarious, yeah?), there were parts that I had to close my eyes during, and there were parts that made my heart swell and inspired me! I loved the blend of Western style, mis-matched genres of music, and badassery. Yep. I'm a big fan of Quentin Tarantino, and watching cast videos, it seems like they had a great time on set, which I always love to hear (:

     I'm not going to go much more into the movie and the controversy surrounding it, because I don't think I'm educated enough or naturally in the best position to do so! But please check out my favorite review I've seen so far: "Django Unchained" by queenofthewest on Tumblr.

Anyways, enjoy the video!! Haha I didn't mean for this to turn into my Django thoughts, but might as well!!

♥ Happy Watching ♥

Interesting Reviews on Silver Linings Playbook

     I have this problem as a person who likes movies, where I get really self-conscious about my preferences very quickly. If someone disagrees with me on a film, especially someone who actually knows what they are talking about and is not an eighteen year-old little kid who can barely put her opinions on the internet without dissolving into a puddle of nerves, I honestly get very insecure very quickly. Especially because talking about movies is something that I really like to do... I kind of want to make it my career one day. Idiotic and overly-ambitious as that feels to me. I could never!

     Therefore, I generally try to avoid other reviews of films in general. Because if that person's opinion differs from mine, I get anxiety. This is not the time or place to talk about my strange in-between anxiety where it's worse than the average person's but not bad enough to actual seek some help with it (or maybe it is, considering the film in question is about mental illness?! To be clear, I didn't realize I had brought up my own mental skews within a post about mental skews until I was revising it...), but just know, I really don't want to read about negative reviews regarding Silver Linings Playbook. This is due to the fact that I liked and have already recommended it to a few friends... But here's the thing: I don't know very much about mental illness. I do not have a mental illness. No one really close to me in my personal life suffers from a mental illness to the degree addressed in this movie. And, shameful as it is to admit, every time I have been confronted with a problem revolving around mental illness, I have no idea what to do and surrender that person to someone who can help them more than I. I'm a useless friend when it comes down to it, and somehow that leads me to this conclusion: I think it's worth reading a lot of different reviews on Silver Linings Playbook. So I tried my best to find some gems through the Google search bar, and here lie my findings.

Let's play Pro-Con-Con-Pro. I'll start with a positive review, follow with two critiques, and to end on a positive note, we'll examine another instance in which the reviewer has some nice things to say.

( Top Photo from FanPop.com)

     My favorite positive review I've read so far about this film is one by arizonagirldiary on Tumblr, specifically because she can give the point of view I never can. She has appropriately titled her post, "A Bipolar Film From a Bipolar." Here's a little sneak peak: 

[About Excelsior]: "Not such a bad coping skill for the ups and downs of bipolar. His struggle, and resistance, to the idea of a life sentence of meds to level his ups and downs is painfully familiar and a common rite of passage for the newly diagnosed.

[...] Tiffany saves Pat. Pat saves Tiffany. This was as realistic of a scene of two mentally ill people trying to find a way to each other in cinema that I’ve seen. They’re fresh, modern, and believable as they ride their own individual roller coasters and collide with the challenges of mental illness, mixed in with the many other complexities of falling in love.

The ending is disappointing, formulaic, and predictable. But the characters, stories, and excellent film score (My Cherie Amour—Pat’s trigger; Girl from the North Country; and the pensive Maria from West Side Story) is worth an overpriced theater ticket. If you are bipolar—it’s a must see. If you have a bipolar in your life—go see and try to understand. Although just like in real life, some will and some won’t get it. In my own “n” population size of two—one got it and one did not. Just like in real life."

      This post is very personal in nature, and I like that it is an amateur review, much like mine are on this blog. It's just a girl blogging about a movie. Because of this, the review certainly provides a very interesting viewpoint; one that is kind of perfect, in my opinion.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE:

http://arizonagirldiary.tumblr.com/post/38196927556/a-bipolar-film-review-from-a-bipolar

(Photo from Fanpop.com)

    

     And here's a negative review, mainly critiquing David O. Russell's change in filmmaking, and the "lazy writing" in the construction of the story and the characters themselves. The writer, Calum Marsh, claims that this film has a multitude of flaws that are ignored, because they are attributed to the 'quirky' nature of the director. Though I do not necessarily agree with the review as a whole, I quite like this passage:

"That the star-crossed love story at the center of the film is drawn between two characters defined by their respective mental illnesses is clearly its high-concept selling point, and insofar as it single-handedly transforms an otherwise entirely conventional screwball-comedy pairing into something at least marginally novel, if not exactly original, the setup alone qualifies as quintessential Russellian quirk in action.

The brand of safe, marketable mental illness brandished by the screenplay as a dramatically meaty "issue"—the kind that affects the well-being of attractive individuals without significantly reducing their attractiveness to us except in a superficial, "fixable" way—furnishes Silver Linings Playbook with the requisite passive liberalism of any well-meaning prestige picture, making it "about" something meaningful without it having to put in the work of actually meaning anything."

      It is definitely valid to speculate that this film appears to get into the grits of mental illness without actually dealing with the consistency and unfixable nature of the problem (the main reason I love the ending of Black Snake Moan, a film, in part, about a couple's struggle with anxiety and sex addiction. Sidenote: please God don't judge a book by its cover when it comes to that movie. Whoever was in charge of marketing made it look like a porno). At the end of the movie, everything is silver linings; Pat's hallucinations are gone, Tiffany's unnamed illness seems cured, everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. I can imagine that living with a mental illness, especially one so prevalent as to send a person into a psychiatric hospital less than a year ago, is a daily struggle. On the other hand, maybe David O. Russell just wanted a happy ending for his characters, though perhaps only for the time being. Maybe he wanted to show that it is possible for families to have blissfully happy times in spite of their many hardships.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE:

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/silver-linings-playbook/6677

(Photos from MyDailyNews.com and BlackActors.net)

     I quite like the review I'm about to introduce, though it is a negative one. It is a well-put together article with a lot of excellent points! One of my main praises for Silver Linings Playbook was that it could help us talk more about mental illness, and so I'm very open and interested in this discussion. I like L.V. Anderson's take on the matter; the filmmakers could have gone deeper with their representation and analysis of mental illness. At the same time, it could have made for a much more dramatic movie. But perhaps that is what's really needed when you're going to take on this topic. Also, I love the title of this review: "Is Silver Linings Playbook Really A Movie About Mental Illness?"

"Russell doesn’t seem particularly interested in the question of what distinguishes a person’s mental illness from his or her personality, or the question of whether medication is as effective a treatment for bipolar disorder as a pretty girl and a dance competition. Russell doesn’t highlight whether or not Pat is medicated at any given time in the film’s narrative. Though we hear Pat complain of lithium’s side effects—sluggishness, weight gain—early in the film, we don’t see him actually experience any of these side effects once he starts taking his meds.

[...] Tiffany can only win Pat by lying to him repeatedly about the goal of their dance sessions—but is nonetheless presented as a perfect romantic partner for him at the end of the film, implicitly because of her own, unnamed illness. (Silver Linings Playbook falls into the annoying trope of implying that mentally ill people can only truly be understood by other mentally ill people, the details of their respective illnesses be damned.)

[...] As messages about mental illness go, this is a sloppy one." 

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/11/29/silver_linings_playbook_mental_illness_movie_not_really.html

(Photo from Popmatters.com)

     Finally, we end with a reviewer who found Silver Linings Playbook to be "hugely enjoyable." This review by Philip French praises both the writer/director and the actors for their work on this project. He acknowledges that Jennifer Lawrence's character is a popular one in Hollywood, but the actress's performance is what gives her depth and sets this movie out from the rest. Though ending with a slight criticism of the movie, I like this overview of the film as a whole:  

"The great strength of Russell's writing and direction resides in the way he consistently manages to retain a comic tone without losing touch with the characters' pains and anxieties. There are numerous scenes that in other hands would be as excruciatingly embarrassing on the screen as they would be in real life: a row in a diner, for instance, that spills out into the street on Halloween night and involves a crowd in fancy dress outside a cinema. But Russell involves us so closely in what we're watching that we become emotional participants. And that's because he cares for these people in a wholly unpatronising fashion."

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/nov/25/silver-linings-playbook-review

 (Photo from zimbio.com)

And there you have it! The search for differing opinions actually turned out to be a lot easier than I expected it to be. After a little bit of searching, I started to get used to it. I started to get comfortable in the insecurity of my own thoughts, and in a way, it was a really positive experience. I don't think I was wrong in my review. But I feel like my opinion on the film has extended, into something that now bears multiple dimensions. At the same time, I'm really glad I already got to express my initial thoughts on the movie, without the influence of other reviewers, because it was my honest opinion. I think if I were to read other reviews before I made my own, I would feel this need to "correct" my own opinions, because of those anxieties and insecurities I have. Which is wrong!! That is not something I want for myself, at all. And somehow, even after facing other opinions, I'm still proud of the thoughts in my original review, and I don't take any of it back (:

The point of this post is not to tear down the film I raved about a few posts ago, but to point out that even the things we enjoy are not beyond criticism. Nothing is flawless. And it is possible to acknowledge the faults of a piece of work without disliking it altogether. Overall, I still think Silver Linings Playbook is a great movie! And I hope the actors in this film get the recognition they deserve in this upcoming award season. The outlook certainly looks promising on that front!  Whether the reviews above sway your opinion or not, I hope you at the very least keep an open mind while reading them. I'm doing my best not to fear a difference of opinion. And if I can do it, trust me, you certainly can too.

♥ Happy Watching ♥