Speaking of Manic Pixie Dream People....

I stumbled upon this video today whilst browsing the internet. This chick has got it down pretty solidly. Solidly? Anyway. She does a great/entertaining job of explaining why Summer in "500 Days of Summer" is not a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and why this is good news for everyone. Plus, I think this girl would be one of my best friends ever if I knew her.

 

I think we are all guilty of fantasizing about our Manic Pixie Dream Person. And we should all stop. Post-haste.

Because someone real is better than a fantasy.

 

 

Manic Pixie Dream Girls

Alrighty, so being midterms week, I don't have much time to post anything. But I found this video about Manic Pixie Dream Girls on one of my favorite blogs "Dressed Up Like a Lady", by Cammila Collar. She's hawsome. But this concept of the MPDG as a stock character type coined by Nathan Rabin to describe Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown is a really interesting trend we see more and more in films today. So many classic movies exhibit this female character type, the more you look for it, the more you see it, even as far back as Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's, as Collar describes in her blog. The MPDG is that delightfully quirky creature who is used solely to bring that helplessly brooding young gentleman out of his dark coma and teach him to look for adventure and beauty in everything. Most of the time, the MPDG will also exhibit their own deep internal issues, but only as a way to get the male character to exhibit his "heroic" side by "saving" her. As Collar talks about in her video, there are several great examples of the MPDG as a REAL, tangible, realistic human being, and the classic film stereo-type is always called out in films like this. My favorite example is Kate Winslet's character Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. She's super fun, super quirky, super pretty and weird, simultaneously. But she is so very human, and we see that side of her. She does not exist solely to bring out the adventure in Jim Carrey's character Joel. We are aware of their issues, and she is not merely an ideal. The film also calls out the MPDG stereotype when Clementine says "Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive. But I'm just a messed-up girl who's lookin' for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours."

Anyway, take a look at Cammila's
video, and see what you think.


dressed up like a lady: Manic Pixie Dream Bitches - The Video!:

Don't Throw it All Away

I know we have not posted in positively ages. Many apologies. We've been terribly busy. I don't even have much time right now, but I though I would jot this down while it's fresh in my brain.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how confusing this notion of an ideal romance is. Is it what we think it is, or is something much different, subtler and more quiet? Is it something that truly eludes us day after day, year after year, until we chase it away through time and disappointment and shattered hopes? Or is it something that is standing in front of us, dressed in every day clothes, waiting for us to get our heads out of the clouds?

I think this quote made by a wise lady in the film Anne of Avonlea, which is the sequel to the delightful Anne of Green Gables, sums up the notion of our wandering hearts in a simple yet profound way:

"Anne, you have tricked something out of that imagination of yours that you call romance. Have you forgotten how he gave up the Avonlea school for you so that you could stay here with me? How he picked you up everyday in his carriage so that you could study your courses together? Don't throw it all away for some ridiculous ideal that doesn't even exist".

 

And in the spirit of Anne Shirley, and all the nostalgic joy this story brings back, the song of the day is the theme from the film. We both grew up with Anne, so I cannot convey to you what I feel every time I hear the theme from this movie. It makes my heart hurt. In the best way possible.

 

Song of the Day: So New

In honor of our post about "Disco Pigs", we have decided to include one of the songs from the credits as our song of the day. "So New" was written and performed by Cillian Murphy, who played Pig in the movie, as well as the stage play. The music is simple, and the lyrics are beautiful and heartbreaking, especially if you know the story. Which you should.

Disco Pigs

Disco Pigs Movie Review

WARNING: If you have not watched this movie, stop reading this post, go watch it, then come back. I realize that will be most people, but so help me if you find out what happens in this movie via a blog, I will punch myself in the face repeatedly.

This is my favorite movie of all time. I had never really had a favorite before. The Pianist was up there for sure, but there was no one movie that I could say with certainty was my favorite. Then I watched Disco Pigs. I now have a favorite movie. Hands down.

A lot of people do not understand the story in the movie, and fewer still understand the character Pig, played by Cillian Murphy. I am not going into any elaborate plot details, because if you are reading this it means you have finished the movie.I believe the ideal of the story is two young people, born in the same hospital on the same day, brought up next door to each other, connected with a cosmic spell from birth are forced to grow up. Cillian Murphy’s character Pig is perfectly contented to spend his days with Runt. As he says so beautifully in his melancholic tone “You’re my life, Runt”.  

The deep attachment that Pig and Runt have for each other is the stuff of fairy tales. They dash around on the beach together having long talks about the “color of love”. They play jokes on other people and laugh about it to each other. They are completely in sync, and at night they hold each other’s hands through holes in the walls of their two houses, Pyramus and Thisby style. Kinda. But then one day Runt discovers that she wants more, and she has to break away from Pig who is deeply in love with her, and quite literally wants nothing more out of life than to be with her. This is where people begin to misunderstand Pig. Yes, he is a bit psycho crazy. Okay, he’s a lot psycho crazy. But the common misconception is that Runt has to kill him to escape him. This is incorrect. Pig wants her to kill him because he knows that she wants, and needs, a life outside of their relationship with each other. He asks her to give him the ending to the story that he has always dreamed of: Pig and Runt, King and Queen. And so she does. After she gives him his fairy tale ending, he is able to let her go, even though it means he cannot exist in the world without her. He feels complete; he has had the ending of his dreams, and now he has to let her go by letting himself go.

It’s kind of interesting to note how different the original play and the movie are from each other, but how the mood and the general, I guess, POINT of the story is the same for both. In the film, SPOILER ALERT Pig dies at the end, after a sequence of events not even sort of present in the play, which is about 1/4th as long. And that might seem to change things a bit (like, maybe I wasn’t crying buckets and feeling like I had lost all purpose in life after the play), but a lot of the more important things are still present, like the fact that in both, Pig is removed from Runt’s life and she is finally able to accept her individuality and embrace her freedom from Pig’s smothering love. But the movie does emphasize the contrast more, by removing Runt from Pig’s life first and showing us how he dealt with that: by going stark raving mad and chasing after her. Which was totally adorable for about five minutes. Because the point of the story is that Pig’s love for Runt, while real enough, was too selfish to be sustainable. And when his love finally became selfless, he wasn’t sustainable any more (does that make any sense) and so he was willing to give up his life.

I also think that while most people do not understand Pig’s character, we all have a little bit of him inside us. We are all a little Pig, and we are all a little Runt. We all have something we need to let go of, and something that needs to let go of us.

But in the end, all we know is that we love this film. Enda Walsh weaves a magically tragic tale of young love that left us feeling weepy, and loving Cillian Murphy even more than before. This movie definitely is not for everyone, but it is for us.

 

I think I really do want for something else.

But where to, eh pal?

Where to...

A Poem

 

 

                          Aqueous Death

 

Water
 

In my lungs and
 

Choking my life coldly

The river eager to wash me

            Away.

 

To Olivia, a Few Days Late

Today I’ve decided to talk about friendships, and about one in particular, since it is this human’s birthday today. This human’s name is Olivia. And I just looked up the meaning of her name, and it’s pretty boring and obvious, so I’m just going to make one up instead, aight?

Olivia ­ proper noun: an inexplicably complex human being with ethereal good looks and a love of K­pop.

I feel like that sums it up nicely.

I’d like to tell you the story of myself and Olivia. I find it amusing, and you will too,because I’m going to tell it awesomely.
I think I knew Olivia all through my childhood, because we hung out with the same people and were both homeschooled and went to the same piano recitals etc. etc. I always thought she was like 5 years younger than me because she’s positively tiny, and therefore totally beneath my notice.

But then we went to the same birthday party, a party at which our true natures would be revealed. And nobody liked what they saw. Except for us. Which was all that mattered.

I think the turning point in the story came when Olivia, whilst playing a really gripping game of Balderdash, defined a Tinschel (probably not even a real word) as: a mustache so large that it can be seen from behind a person’s head.

Mind. Blown.

Up until that moment, I had been doodling on my pants, but I snapped to attention, boy, I probably had whiplash after that. Because I had suddenly realized that this person sitting beside me in a Snoopy tshirt and rip off chucks was the single coolest being I’d ever
laid eyes on.

My suspicions were only confirmed when she dyed her hair pink half a year later.

So we went to the mall, and discussed vloggers and social anxiety and drank a frappechino and panicked about whose straw was whose and that was the beginning of what may be the most wonderful and totally creepy friendship of all time ever.

Basically, I’ve always wanted to tell the world how wonderful Olivia is, not only because I think maybe not everybody appreciates that fact quite as much as they should, but because sometimes I think I might explode from the feels if I don’t let them out.

Olivia is as constant as the northern star. Olivia is freakishly talented and yet able to boost your confidence through her own talent. Olivia is ambitious and honest. She’s like the perfect combination of Slytherin and Gryffindore. She’s Snape, if Snape were super hawt and had better fashion sense.

Thank you, Olivia, for being around. Yer the best.

Happy Birthday to.... Charles Dickens!

Today marks the 202nd anniversary of the birth of dear old Charles John Huffam Dickens.

Now, from what I can tell, a lot of people have trouble reading Dickens. He is too dense. Too long-winded. And thus, we have given up on him.

Of course, back in the day when Dickens was writing, people would generally read his work in weekly or monthly installments, not just picking up Bleak House and muddling through it for hours at a time. Perhaps this is how we should attempt to approach his longer more intricate texts today.

But however wordy Mr. Dickens may have been, he wrote some of the most touching, most endearing stories in literature. A Christmas Carol, for example, single-handedly revived Christmas traditions in England, and around the world. I watch the George C. Scott movie version of it every year, and when the Ghost of Christmas Present speaks the words “It may be in the sight of Heaven that you are less worthy and fit to live than millions like this poor man’s son” my eyes always fill with those tears that only Dickens can bring.

Dickens truly created some of the most outrageous and touching characters I have ever come across. From Miss Havisham’s ghostly haunting existence, as she forever mourns her lost wedding day, to Little Dorrit’s patient and self-sacrificing nature, Dickens weaves tales of love and loss, good and evil.

And yes, I know he was kind of really not nice to his wife. I know. But I just wanted to focus on the good that he did do and the influence his stories continue to have in the world of literature.

So stop being scared of Dickens. Read his books. Or at least watch all the fantastic BBC adaptations of them. They are pretty wonderful.

"Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely. In great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest." -Charles Dickens

Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely; in great aims and in small I have always thoroughly been in earnest.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_dickens.html#Y8cl1YPdFCvIXdoL.99

Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely; in great aims and in small I have always thoroughly been in earnest.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/charlesdic121245.html#YiTGtjeFlGvJ0ZvY.99

Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely; in great aims and in small I have always thoroughly been in earnest.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_dickens.html#Y8cl1YPdFCvIXdoL.99

I Live in the Right Side of My Brain and I Want to be Evicted.

I wish that I could be a rocket scientist. Or an astrophysicist.
Anything having to do with both math and science.
But I can’t. I’ll give you two guesses as to why.

I’M NOT ANY GOOD AT EITHER OF THOSE THINGS.

It legitimately hurts my feelings sometimes, how I’m doomed to one kind of career.

It makes me sad that I will never understand logarithms (I actually spend time trying to understand, because I WANT TO SO BAD). It makes me sad that, no matter how much I enjoy my physics class, I still can’t grasp 75% of the materials, and I never could.

Well, maybe I could, if the textbook were made into a miniseries. But that will never happen.

The most IRRITATING thing about all of this is that, while I can grasp the concepts behind art, music, literature, etc. but can’t grasp those behind anything even remotely math/science related, all the really math/science oriented people I know are well read, like
both art and music, and maybe even create both of those things.
It hurts my feelings and it isn’t fair.

IT ISN’T. FAIR.

That’s my tantrum for today.

Song of the Day: Pearl Jam- Just Breathe

I adore this song. And I'm trying to learn it on the mandolin, but it is difficult gosh darn it. Pearl Jam is just so very great. Their simplicity is beautiful. I hope to hear more songs like this by them soon. Also, Eddie Vedder's voice.

Sylvia Plathing

I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.

-Sylvia Plath

I  understand this quote to almost a disturbing level. Having an unquenchable desire to experience every experience-able experience and not being able to and being so keenly aware of your own limitations is kind of crappy. The result is a person who is restless. Incredibly restless. I hope I can find an outlet for this restlessness rather than stick my head in the oven and give up, like dear old Sylvia here, but she was right you know. We are all horribly limited. Now everyone stop judging Plath for always just wanting to die all the time and go read her stuff. It's real good.

Dearest Darlingest Mr. Hoffman

I will miss Philip Seymour Hoffman. His family will miss him. His friends will miss him. It's all so painful and sad. 

 

But, you know what. He was a good actor. He made movies worth watching and remembering. And that's a whole lot more than most people can say for themselves at the end of the day. 

 

So, here's to you, Mr. Hoffman.

 

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman - July 23, 1967 - February 2, 2014

Song of the Day, In Honor of Breaking Bad

In honor of Breaking Bad, which I finally just finished watching, the song of the day is "Baby Blue" by Badfinger. When I heard this song, I was completely overwhelmed with the biggest feeling of nostalgia I have ever experienced, combined with the knowledge that Breaking Bad was over, left me sobbing on the couch for a good thirty minutes. If you have not watched this show yet, please do.

Angsty Angst

“And so, being young and dipped in folly, I fell in love with melancholy” - Edgar Allen Poe


This quote kind of summarizes my thoughts over the past few months. Being a bibliophile in the biggest way, I’ve gone through basically every literary phase a person my age could possibly go through. Including the teen cult fiction phase. 
Don’t get me wrong. There are zero things wrong with books like The Perks of Being a Wallflower or The Fault in Our Stars. They are thoughtful books. They make people thoughtful. This is a good thing. 
Not the mention the fandoms. 
But there are some things I’ve noticed in my own responses to these books that made me think that it’s possible to go overboard with the quotation filled, deeper than the ocean, angsty literature.
After reading Perks, I kind of became a recluse. I WANTED to have some sort of disorder, I wanted people to think I was quiet and weird. (which I am, but mostly just weird.) I avoided socializing. I tried NOT to make a ton of friends. 
And yet, I was not happy. HOW COULD THIS BE. I was mimicking Charlie perfectly, sans the traumatizing childhood experiences. 
Basically, I think it’s very possible to become TOO obsessed with knowing your feelings. You become obsessed with the state of your own emotional wellbeing. You overanalyze everything that happens to you, searching it for some deeper meaning or significance, when, in reality, you’re just living your life like everyone else is. You spend all of your time crying because nobody gets you or because for some reason you're not having amazing Life Experiences. 
This is kind of a selfish mindset, too. I, for one, kind of felt that my feelings were so much deeper and important than everyone else's. The things they said were sooooo vapid and soooo void of the big generalized Thoughts About Life that I wanted to hear all the time. It was dreadful. 
Sometimes you need to just feel what you feel. Just feel the feels and stop making them out to be bigger than they are. You feel so much in your life, if you stop to think over every individual emotion, you end up missing some of the best ones.

(this is more of an open letter to myself from last year than anything else. please don't take this uber seriously, I'll probably see this in a year and want to punch myself in the face.)