The Giver

Clearly I need to go to a theater or a bookstore more often, because my posts have gotten more and more infrequent.  ANYWHO, I have a little announcement before I get into my book review today: my poem "Missing Language" has been posted on BOP Journal, so be sure to check that out.  Again, I'm under the pseudonym "Juliette Chavez."  What do you guys think of that?  Should I use it for future publishing?  If you're a writer, poet, musician, or artist from age 13-21, you are more than welcome to submit your works as well.  If you're not one, but you know someone who is, send them the link.  They're always looking for submissions.

Now we get to the serious business, namely THE GIVER by Lois Lowry.  (Note: this is the review of the book, not the movie, which from what I can tell is almost completely different.)  Jonas the main character lives in a "perfect" society where there is no war, no pain, and no memories (with the exception of one person - the Receiver of Memory).  Jonas is selected by the Elders to be the new Receiver of Memory, who is the only one who knows what life was like "back and back and back."  As Jonas learns just how much was sacrificed to make the sameness of current society possible, important questions emerge.  If people are allowed to choose, and they choose wrong, is it better to not let them choose at all?  Are all the good things (love, affection, beauty) worth giving away along with the bad things (war, suffering, pain) in order to make a society that experiences neither?  Besides these provocative questions, there is something even bigger that I noticed also woven into the world that Lowry has created.

Before I get into that though, I want to briefly establish what standpoint I'm speaking from.  Scripps has not been afraid to confront me with the violence that subtly persists in our society in ways that a lot of us take for granted.  In our society, there is a lot of systematic violence (i.e. people of color are disproportionately represented in incarcerated populations) as well as forms of micro-aggression (i.e. asking an immigrant when they're going back home).  This has been frequently pointed out to me during my time in college.  I was disturbed to see parallels between the completely government-run, decision-free, ordered society of Jonas and our society now.  For instance, the current Receiver of Memory (renamed the Giver) tells Jonas that people used to have different skin colors, but today genetic scientists have made it so that "flesh is all the same."  Given that Jonas has begun to see the "red tones" in people's faces (and the fact that the whole cast for the movie is white), I think it's probably safe to say that everybody in this universe is white.  I'm just going to let that sink in for a little bit.  All of the people of color have essentially been wiped out?  Yup, I think that's what it means.  Just like society has been trying to do since time began (if you disagree please look to Native American history for just one example)?  Oh yeah.

Are there any disabled people in the community?  If they "release" a baby from the community because of its lower birthweight, the answer is probably no.  Old people?  Also released, after a certain time.  Why is anyone who is different released?  Because we need to create order.  We can't have anyone shaking things up.  We have precise language.  We have rules.  We have safety.  We have sameness.  If you don't measure up to our standards, you're out.  As I learn more about the (invisible) racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, and other -isms that operate today, I realize that in our world minorities are removed/oppressed as silently, discreetly, and horribly as they are in The Giver world.  Perhaps the methods are different, but most of the characters are as unaware of the violence as many of us in the real world.

Now, I know this seems more like a rant about how society is terrible than an actual book review, but I actually think this is a good thing.  This book got me thinking.  A lot.  Perhaps not exactly in the direction that Jonas takes (although I certainly thought about that as well), but the book makes an impact either way.  If I'm still rolling my mind around the universe that Lowry magnificently fabricates in The Giver, I take it as a good sign that it deserved its Newberry Medal.  What's left for me now is to watch the movie whenever I get the chance to rent it.  I think I'll have to look at it as its own story, rather than an accurate adaptation of the book, in order to appreciate it when I review it.  If you have found anything in this post to be problematic or exclusionary (I left out quite a few things in my society rant), please comment below and let me know.

BOP Journal

Ermagersh, has it been more than a month since I've posted?!!!  I would have made this post weeks ago, but I waited for an important reason, I promise!  Okay, so y'all know how I submit my writing to journals, contests, etc. every once in a while and that sometimes I get published and sometimes I don't.  Well, during the summer, I heard about an online journal for amateur writers, artists and poets from the Career Planning & Resources office of my college.  It was being started up by an alum who was looking for pioneer posts, some from Scrippsies (like me!).

So, I submitted a short story (titled "The Day My Dad Wanted a Son") that I wrote for Father's Day (I am the fruit of your loins, Dad!).  I also submitted two poems that I had workshopped with my poetry class last semester at Pomona.  One can only imagine the thrill I felt reading the editors' positive feedback and the awesome news that my short story and one of my poems would be some of the FIRST EVER posts on their site.  The second poem may or may not be published later, and I'll let you guys know if it is.  The link to the story is here and the link to the poem is here.  The poem is a bit weirdly formatted because an image comes immediately after the first word of the first line.  Try to ignore that.  Just to let you know, I am under the pen name "Juliette Chavez," so when you see that name under the title, it's not a mistake.  If you're a writer or an artist, you should think about submitting some of your own stuff, too.

Again, I would have posted sooner, but the site literally just went live a couple days ago and I was on a retreat to Catalina Island until today.  At any rate, I'm really happy to finally have the chance to share the news with everyone who follows this blog.  God bless you and have a great day!

Guardians of the Galaxy

At first, I didn't intend on seeing this movie.  I had never even heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy before, and adventures in space were never my kind of movie.  However, because it was Marvel and Marvel hasn't yet disappointed me, I decided to give it a chance.  Oh boy, I am so glad I did!  In terms of other Marvel movies, I don't think it's my absolute favorite (it is going to be quite a feat to butt the Avengers out of first place for me).  However, it is at the very least on par in terms of action, humor, and awesome characters.

Let me start off with Peter Quill, the main character of the story.  My sum up: he is the Tony Stark of the Guardians.  Personality-wise the two are practically the same.  There's even a point where Quill acts really, really heroic… and then he ruins the moment by being cocky.  Thankfully Quill is given depth in ways that I won't spoil for you, and his story hit me in the chest several times in the movie.  Next is Gamora, who is a noble, strong, and all-around epic warrior.  With the severely low numbers of Marvel women, I enjoyed seeing her fighting skills and her strength of character, despite all the suffering she has endured under her adopted father Thanos.

Then there's Rocket, by far the one with the best lines.  He's funny, he's brilliant, and he's so skilled with his giant guns that he can blast EVERYTHING to smithereens.  Next is Drax, whom I personally don't find to be that memorable of a character, although he still was the cause of several good laughs during the movie.  This guy is really, really literal.  Finally, we have Groot.  FAVORITE. CHARACTER.  Groot is adorable and powerful and wonderful and selfless.  Dad, you should be proud of me for choosing a tree as my favorite character rather than the best-looking guy of the group…

… Speaking of which, I need to address this really quickly before I give my concluding thoughts: does Chris Pratt (who plays Star-Lord) look ridiculously like Derek Theler (who plays a character on a show that I watch but no one else does)?  Or is it just me?

Chris Pratt

Derek Theler

Whelp, either way...

My admiration of good-looking men aside, Guardians of the Galaxy is funny, entertaining, dramatic, and heartfelt.  It is worth seeing, especially if you are into the Marvel movies already.  The best part is that it is a continuation of the infinity stones plot line that we've seen in other Marvel movies (Avengers & Thor 2), yet it still works as a stand-alone film.  So go see it.  You'll have fun, I promise.

Begin Again

The movie Begin Again opens with a scene of Greta (played by Keira Knightley) reluctantly performing a song she wrote in a bar.  One of the only listeners is Dan, a down-and-out music producer (played by Mark Ruffalo) who appears just at the end of Greta's song, smiling like it's the best thing he's ever heard.  The movie rewinds to the beginning of Dan's day, to show him estranged from his wife and daughter, and being kicked out of his label by his longtime partner.  The movie goes right back up to the bar scene, and at first I was afraid that there was going to be a boring, unnecessary replay of the first scene.  Thankfully, however, I was pleasantly surprised with what turned out to be one of my favorite scenes from the movie.

Instead of just seeing Greta play the song on the guitar all over again, I saw Dan mentally adding other instruments to the song, enhancing it to a whole new level.  This brief description doesn't do the scene justice, but I assure that it was both beautiful and impressive storytelling.  Dan and Greta's friendship begins here, and together they produce an album - not in the studio, but in random outdoor places all over New York City.  I couldn't guess where the story was going, which was great because that made it unpredictable enough to keep me interested.  Their characters - Dan's especially - were more complex than I had initially guessed.  Their love stories with their respective partners were painful and complicated, which makes them very different from the usual rom-coms I go for.

In addition to all this, there was the music.  Oh, the music!  My parents saw this movie before I did, and I already fell in love with the songs when Dad starting playing them from the Begin Again album.  I liked them even better in the context of the movie, when my dad went to see it again with me.  If you don't watch the movie, you should at the very least listen to the music to hear what I'm talking about.  "Lost Stars" and "Tell Me If You Wanna Go Home" are my personal favorites.  Have I mentioned that Adam Levine from Maroon 5 is in this movie?  Well he is, and I will tell you now that while he is a great singer, he does not look good in a beard.  Random, but true.

The only complaint I have with this movie, and the warning I give to you now before you decide to see it: there is a lot of cursing in it.  My dad didn't notice (even after watching it the second time) that they say the s-word or the f-word in basically every other sentence.  It makes me wonder how good of a Christian he is :P  Kidding, Dad!  You were probably right when you said that I most likely noticed because I'm a writer and I pay close attention to the dialogue.  Anyway, the cursing aside, Begin Again is quite a movie if you like stories about music, complex characters, and, well, beginning again.

The Fault In Our Stars

Cassius:
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

In his novel The Fault In Our Stars, John Green sets out to prove Cassius wrong (which I applaud, because from what I remember from 10th grade English, Cassius is a total poop-face).  Hazel and Augustus' story is not one about cancer, which has at least at some point been a major fault in their stars, yet has not been the maker of who they are.  Many people have said this story isn't about cancer, and after reading the book and seeing the movie for myself, I must concur.  Hazel's voice throughout is authentic, and honest, and realistic - without becoming pessimistic.  While I'll freely admit that although I have spent a lifetime consuming the sappiest kind of romances that Hollywood and authors have to offer, it was refreshing to experience the tragic yet truthful storytelling in The Fault In Our Stars.

Even though there are plenty of heartbreaking aspects to TFIOS, I found a surprising amount of humor as well.  The characters are funny people, people whom I believe I would genuinely enjoy hanging out with if they were real.  If the romance between Hazel and Gus isn't Hollywood-perfect (turns out the world isn't a wish-granting factory), it is still a beautiful and well-developed relationship.  There are a multitude of really great lines and moments woven throughout TFIOS.  One moment in particular is when Augustus explains to Hazel why he always has a cigarette in his mouth without lighting it: "It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing."  Augustus is really big on metaphors, which as a literary geek I can definitely resonate with.

Finally, there's the matter of Movie vs. Book, the Battle of the Ages.  It's rare when I find the film to be a good/accurate adaptation of the book: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Hunger Games, and most recently The Fault In Our Stars.  There are some details changed, but they are minute and do not make or break the movie.  The most interesting thing was that both my Grandma and I cried at different parts in the movie than in the book.  I suppose you experience scenes and emotions differently when you see them take place on the screen instead of a foggy corner of your mind.

So all in all, I'd say both the book and the movie are genuinely great, and as long as you have a box of tissues nearby, I say you should definitely go to experience both.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Let me say right off the bat that if How To Train Your Dragon 2 isn't better than the original as a lot of people have been saying, it is at the very least on par with it.  It's been too long since I've seen the first one for me to give a definitive opinion on which is better, but I can say each movie is great in its own way.  In the thrilling, heart-squeezing sequel that I saw this past week, Hiccup is trying to figure out who he is as he's caught between his father's expectation of the perfect future chief and the mystery of a mother that he's never met.  While he's having identity issues, a new villain is gathering a dragon army, rivaling Hiccup's unofficial status as the master of dragons.

As cool as all the action is, this movie had a way of making my heartstrings sing (with all kinds of emotions, and in all kinds of ways).  Be prepared for things to get emotional, my readers.  I won't say anything else for fear of giving away spoilers.  I wasn't laughing my butt off for the whole movie or anything (in fact it was a preview of Penguins of Madagascar that really had me cracking up), but if the movie is not primarily known for its comedy I think that's okay.  I know I at least laughed a few times.  Hiccup and Astrid's interactions were cute, although they didn't have as much as they did in the first movie.  I can definitely forgive that though, because there was so much else going on that there was really no time or energy to have more Hiccup/Astrid stuff.

The coolest part for me was the continued parallelism between Hiccup and Toothless that you could see in the first HTTYD.  You can see both of them coming into their own as the movie progresses, which I really appreciate.  Fun fact: they are actually the same age!  No wonder they get along so well, am I right?  So, if you haven't seen the epic sequel to How To Train Your Dragon yet, what are you doing still reading a movie review on a screen?  Go, watch it, and tell me what you think!  This is Bridgette signing off, but stay tuned for when I review. . .

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS *weeps hysterically because I already know the emotional wreck I'm going to be after seeing this*

Maleficent

Do you know how long I was looking forward to Maleficent?  I had big expectations for Disney's rewrite of its own film of Sleeping Beauty, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed!  There are so many things I want to rave about but can't without giving away spoilers, so I'm doing a compromise: the first part of this review will be spoiler free, and the second part will be SPOILERS GALORE.  I will give a warning before the shift happens.  So the first rewrite is the character of Maleficent, the famous villainess turned sympathetic anti-villainess.  There is not a moment in this movie that I dislike Maleficent, because even though she does bad things, I understand why.  My mother and I noticed that after the big betrayal that hardens Maleficent's heart, her costume changes from earthy brown colors to midnight black.  It's a great symbolic representation of the shift in Maleficent's attitude, but at the same time there are still many hints that she has not lost her inner goodness despite her pain.

Even though she calls Aurora a "beastie," she is shown to be the one who really watches over and takes care of the princess, not the three (incompetent) other fairies.  Maleficent (and her crow friend whose name I'm sorry not to remember) work behind the scenes to make sure Aurora is safe.  Meanwhile, I laughed out loud several times during this movie, which I hadn't expected but I was pleasantly surprised by. Maleficent has all the good comedic lines, which thrills me.  In so many ways, the movie reverses the traditional roles of fairy tales that Disney itself has promoted in the past.  Y'all know how much I appreciated that after taking Core 2: Approaches to the Fairy Tale at Scripps.  In the fairy tales, any woman with power is evil and ugly, while all the good women are beautiful but entirely passive.  With Maleficent, things get a little more (way) complicated than that.  Between her character arc, the amazing special effects, and total revamp of the tale we used to know, I'd say Maleficent is a MUST-SEE.

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

At this point, probably only my dad is reading this because Maleficent literally just came out this weekend and so he's the only one following me who's probably seen it.  That's okay.  Hey, Dad.  Anyway, so the best part for me is actually something that I really loved about Frozen: namely, the true love's kiss being turned on its head.  I was really hoping that we wouldn't get a regurgitation of Prince Philip's kiss saving Aurora, so I was glad that Maleficent was the one who ended up doing the rescuing.  Not only was it an ironic twist that the one who cast the spell breaks the spell, but also, it is a delineation of feminine power in a much more positive light in comparison to fairy tales and old Disney princess movies.  In the meantime, the ambitious Stefan becomes the villain that's very reminiscent of Macbeth.  His doomed romance with Maleficent and his slow descent into insanity leave me nothing to sympathize with by the movie's end.  Unlike Maleficent, he was a relatively flat character that really isn't worthy of further comment.  I think I've at last finished my ranting about Maleficent, so I'll end the post with this: the movie is awesome, and DOWN WITH THE PATRIARCHY! :P