Brave (2012)

I found out about the Pixar movie Brave when I saw the first teaser trailer, which was released in 2011.  From the first few seconds of the trailer, I guessed it was something Celtic.  I was so excited when I discovered that Pixar was going to do a Scottish story, with a Scottish heroine.  Not only a Scottish heroine, but one with a bow and arrow and brilliant red hair.  I was even more excited about Brave, because the trailer gave the impression of it being a fantasy and adventure story of epic proportions.

However, as trailers frequently are, it was very misleading.  The movie was not how the trailer made it seem at all.  Although a fairly simple, personal, and heart-felt story about the relationship of a daughter and her mother is not at all a bad thing, it's difficult not to be disappointed when something is very different from what you expected.  Although Brave is a perfectly nice film the way it is, the misleading trailer did far more harm than good.  If the trailer had been more accurate in its portrayal of the movie, I think fewer people would have felt so let down by it.

Despite the issues I have with Brave, I feel that overall it is a gorgeous film, on multiple levels.  One of the most stunning and impressive aspects of the film is the completely amazing animation.  The scenery of Scotland is shown in lush detail with vivid splashes of color.  I mean, just look at the waterfall in this scene.  It's almost as if you could touch it and feel the spray of water on your face.  I love the way the sunlight makes the water gleam.  It kind of looks like liquid sunlight.

Then there's Merida's epic strands of bright red hair.

And of course, there is the mother and daughter relationship, which I find so incredibly refreshing.  I appreciate that it isn't black and white - neither the mother or daughter are completely wrong.  They need to listen to each other and learn from each other, because both are right about some things and wrong about some things.  It seems so rare for a Disney/Pixar film to have the focus of the story be on the mother and daughter.  In fact, many Disney films don't have a mother present at all.  There is also no romantic interest, which brings me to one of the messages in Brave.  Merida is a heroine that feels she isn't ready for marriage, she doesn't want it, and she is not interested in it at all.  And that's perfectly okay.  She's happy the way she is, and she is pursuing a dream that does not include a male romantic interest.  That is very important.

What I love about the characters in Brave is how lively they all are.  Their voice actors bring so much life to them.  They all have colorful personalities that are well developed.  I think my favorite part of the film may be the family aspect.  I love Merida's family and how close they are, and how well they know each other.  The way they interact feels so real.  Although the relationship between Merida and her mother (Queen Elinor) is the focus of the film, I completely adore Fergus and Merida's interactions.  They seem to understand each other so well, not to mention they have the same sense of humor.

"I bet he wishes he was tossing cabers."  "Or holding up bridges."

I love Fergus and Elinor's relationship as well.  Their understanding of each other is demonstrated so well throughout the film.  In more than one scene Elinor merely has to look at Fergus for him to understand how she feels or what she thinks.  At times Merida's family is a completely disjointed, wild, and crazy mess, but they all love each other deeply, and I absolutely love that about them.

Another part of Brave that I find to be refreshing is the humor.  I guess some people found it to be immature, or disapproved of the instances of nudity, but for me, the humor was one of the best parts of the movie.  Brave had my mom laughing a lot, and my cousins enjoyed it as well.  If you don't like the humor in Brave, chances are you aren't accustomed to Scottish (or Irish) humor.  I was impressed Pixar had the guts to include some of the humorous scenes that were in the movie.

Although I found the plot to be slightly lacking, the atmosphere in Brave is excellently done.  There is a strong sense of mystery and enchantment.  The story easily could have been a Celtic fairy tale instead of being about bears.  There was a story behind the evil bear Mor'du, but the film hardly went into it at all.  I wish it could have delved into the element of magic far more.  The will o' the wisps should have had more involvement with the story, and the witch should not have been reduced to comic relief when she could have been a more intriguing, dark, mysterious, and magical character.  There are times when comic relief works well (for example Olaf in Frozen) but the witch was not a good character to assign that role to.

Even though Brave did not go into the fairy tale aspect as much as I had wished, the atmosphere was there and it was done well.  The soundtrack helped accomplish this.  One of my favorite songs from the soundtrack is Noble Maiden Fair (or A Mhaighdean Bhan Uasal).  This song is sung beautifully in Scottish Gaelic.  It makes me so happy that the soundtrack featured a song in the Scottish language.

Another song I love from the soundtrack is Touch the Sky.  The scene that plays this song in the background is one of my favorite scenes.

I'll put another one of my favorite scenes here as well.  This is when Merida rips her dress, symbolizing that she is breaking away from her constrictions, and she shoots the arrows in defiance of her mother.  I always get chills when she shoots the last arrow.

I like that Merida is a strong and confident female character, but I don't understand why the suitors lined up for her have to all be shown as complete dorks.  It would have been cooler if they were on the same level as Merida, but Merida still had no interest in marrying any of them.

I have recently noticed, though, that the suitors seem to be trying to match the image their fathers are projecting of them, but not all of them are completely comfortable with this.  I think Brave may be showing how gender roles are constricting and hold you back from being your true self, not just through Merida's character, but through the suitors also. 

I really appreciate that Brave delved into Scottish culture as much as it did, but there is a historical inaccuracy that has bothered me a lot ever since I noticed it.  In the scene showing the Highland Games, there is a very brief cut to some girls doing highland dancing on a stage, with their hair up in buns.  I am very disappointed that Pixar made this mistake.  You don't have to research about Highland dancing that much to learn that Highland dancing was always performed by males, and not performed on a stage.  The origin of Highland dancing are sword dances, performed by men in ritualized war dances.

So, as I stated earlier, Brave is a lovely movie when looked at as a whole, despite its shortcomings.  It's personal, emotional, and real.  The animation, atmosphere, and soundtrack are all brilliant.  The comedic scenes make me laugh, and the ending brings me close to tears every time I watch it.  However, I feel that story-wise, Brave is severely lacking.  There just could have been a lot...well, more.  The movie was bursting with potential, but not a lot of it was realized.  Nonetheless, I did enjoy this movie.  Although it's not Pixar's best, and not quite an outstanding film, it is still a very good film, and I will watch it many times in my life.

Sunflower Blogger Award

I've been nominated for the Sunflower Blogger Award by Lizzie at His Redeemed Child.  Thanks so much for nominating me!

The rules:

- Share eleven facts
- Answer the nominator's questions
- Set your own questions
- Nominate eleven more bloggers

Eleven facts about me:

1)  I am very close (finally) to getting my Irish passport and citizenship that I talked about in a post a while ago.  I'm so happy about this!

Korra gets how I feel

2)  I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I do not like Emma 2009.  I am in the minority on this, but I actually prefer the 1996 version.  I don't think the 1996 version is perfect either, but I like it more than 2009.

Emma 2009 (left) and Emma 1996 (right)

3)  I think I've mentioned this before, but I am politically liberal, although I don't agree with everything, for example I am against abortion.

4)  I am also a feminist.

5)  I love the BBC shows Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Merlin, and Doctor Who.

6)  I love the show Once Upon a Time and am a hardcore Captain Swan shipper.

7)  I used to not like Anime, but now I love it and am beginning to watch more of it.

8)  I am introverted, often shy, and socially awkward (more so when I was a kid, but I still am very shy around people sometimes).  I'm also kind of an airhead.  I have a big imagination and sometimes I block out the world around me and get lost in my thoughts, which is why I relate to Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.

9)  Speaking of Anne of Green Gables, it is my favorite book.  I am a huge L. M. Montgomery fan.  She is definitely my favorite writer, and one of the most inspirational people for me, besides my great grandmother.

10)  I have twelve cousins in all, but only two of them are my first cousins.

11)  I plan on moving to Ireland at some point in my life.  My Irish heritage is a huge part of my identity, even though my Irish cousins make fun of the fact that I was born in America and am probably very Americanized.

Eleven questions:

1)  What name would you choose if you could or had to change your name?

I wouldn't change my name, but there are a lot of other names I like.  I would probably choose an Irish name, like Aoife or Deirdre.  I also like Dallas (although that is not an Irish name).  But then my name's already Irish, and like I said before, I'd never want to change it.  When I was little, though, I wanted to change my name to Kelly, but I have long since changed my mind, and I am now very satisfied and happy with my name.

2)  What place in the world (time travel included) would you most like to visit? e. g. Paris in the 1920's, Egypt, 1500 B. C., etc.

That's a really hard question.  There are so many time periods and places I'd want to go to.  I think I'd most like to visit the Regency Era in England, the Edwardian era on Prince Edward Island, or the 1930's or 1940's so I could see how my great grandparents were doing during the Great Depression and during the war.  Now that I think of it, I'd also like to go to the 1960's and 1970's for the great music and the Hippie vibe.  Or maybe I could go to the 1530's and try to meet Anne Boleyn.  I can't decide, there are too many cool options!  Although time traveling would be very dangerous...I might be thinking about this question too much. XD

3)  How would you choose to spend a lovely, sunny spring day?

It would depend on how sunny.  If it were mildly sunny, I might walk my dogs and go to a park.  If it were really sunny I'd probably stay indoors and read, write, listen to music, or sketch.  I'm not really a fan of warm weather.  I'd want to go outside more if it rained, as I prefer cold or rainy weather.

4)  What are three of your favorite books?  Three favorite movies?  Books that were made into movies?

My favorite books are Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, any one of the Emily series by L. M. Montgomery, and North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.  Books I love that were made, or are still being made into movies are the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, and The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.  Three of my favorite movies (I have way too many favorite movies...too many to count, to be honest) are Pride and Prejudice 1995, North and South 2004, and Frozen by Disney. :D

5)  Do you play an instrument?  If so, which one? If not, is there an instrument you would like to learn?

Well, I played the recorder in fourth grade, if that counts.  I played piano for a while, and was able to play a few Christmas carols on it, but gradually I stopped playing and forgot how.  I played the violin for five years.  Now, I just play the guitar (steel-stringed), but I'm still a beginner.  I used to want to play the cello, and sometimes I wish I had played it instead of the violin.  I'm interested in learning how to play the harp, but I don't think it's likely I will, at least not in the near future.  I'd also like to play the electric guitar.

6)  What kind of pets/animals do you have, if any?  If none, would you like to have?

I used to have goldfish when I was little, but I was always scared they were hungry so I would over feed them.  My brother still blames me for killing them, but I honestly didn't mean to.  When I was older, I had a golden retriever, but my family had to give her away when we moved.  I've always felt very sad about that.  A few years ago, my family got two rough collies, because as a kid I always wanted a dog like Lassie.

Lassie (1943)

The questions I came up with:

- If you could go into any fictional world and meet your favorite character, what world would that be and who is the character?
- What is your ethnic heritage and/or cultural identity?
- Top favorite movies you had when you were little?  Do you still love them as much as you did then?
- What are some of your favorite singers and/or bands?
- Do you have a favorite fairy tale, myth, or legend?
- Name a genre of music you absolutely love, and one you can't stand.

You know what?  I'm just going to nominate everyone (sorry if that's breaking the rules).  So anyone who wants to participate in the tag, go ahead! :D

My Favorite Fictional Couples

I am really sorry for not posting in such a long time.  The last time I posted anything was in December, and now it's February.  It bothers me that this blog has been left abandoned for so long.  From now on, I will try to post more frequently.

Anyway, since it was Valentine's Day yesterday, I made a list of my favorite fictional couples (they are not listed in any particular order).  Since there are so many, I tried to narrow it down.  Even so, it's still really long.  I have left out any couples from Period Dramas, to help shorten the list.  I am going to make a separate list on my Period Drama blog for all of my favorite Period couples.

Feel free to agree or disagree with any of my choices and express why in the comments.  I am very interested in other people's opinions, so you're more than welcome to share your thoughts.  I listed every couple by their ship name, or the pairing if there isn't a ship name for them (or I was just not aware of one).

- Everlark (Katniss and Peeta)

I read The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins a few years ago.  I remember from the very first instance Katniss and Peeta interacted, I shipped them.  I thought the romance between them was done pretty well in the books, but not quite as well in the movies (however I think it improved in Catching Fire).  I still like the movies a lot too, though.  I thought the first movie was pretty good, but Catching Fire was a major improvement in many areas.

I really love the relationship that develops between these two.  They balance each other out - Katniss is strong in some ways, and Peeta is strong in others.  They build a strong emotional bond and trust each other.  They help each other heal from the damage they experience.  I think Katniss needs Peeta.  One of my favorite quotes from Mockingjay expresses this perfectly:  "That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred.  I have plenty of fire myself.  What I need is the dandelion in the spring.  The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction.  The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses.  That it can be good again.  And only Peeta can give me that."

- Captain Swan (Hook and Emma)

I didn't ship Captain Swan right away, in fact I don't remember when I started shipping them.  It was a gradual process.  I don't recall exactly which episode, but early on in season three, I realized I had shipped them all along and it was too late to turn back.  Whether I liked it or not I had become a hardcore CS shipper.  I never thought Captain Swan would actually happen, but so far, in season three, things are definitely looking up.  The fact this ship is developing so well makes me so happy.  It's like a dream come true, especially considering I never thought this ship would have a chance.

I could write a whole essay on why this pairing is so great, but I'll leave all that for another day.  Instead, have this video showing all the awesome parallels between Captain Swan and Snowing (Snow and Charming):

Knowing two of my OTPs parallel each other this well makes me very very very happy. :D

- Eleven and River Song

I don't know why, but there's just something about River Song and the eleventh Doctor's relationship that I absolutely love.  River seems to love the Doctor so much, it breaks my heart to think about it sometimes.  I don't even know what to say about Eleven and River, I just really love them together.

- Rogue and Gambit

Gambit (left) and Rogue (right) from X-Men (1992 - 1997).

Rogue (left) and Gambit (right) from X-Men:  Evolution.

Rogue and Gambit are my favorite couple from The X-Men.  My favorite version of these characters are from the T.V. series X-Men (1992 - 1997).  Although I also love Gambit and Rogue in X-Men:  Evolution, one of my favorite animated T.V. shows, they never got a chance to develop their relationship very much, since the show never continued after season four.  X-Men:  Evolution had so much potential for a fifth season.  I am very disappointed they didn't continue.

- Sherlolly  (Sherlock and Molly)

Molly and Sherlock talking in The Empty Hearse.

Although I also ship Adlock (Sherlock and Irene Adler), I ship Sherlolly the most.  It is my favorite pairing in Sherlock.  I can't really explain why, they just feel right together.  Molly humanizes Sherlock and keeps him in check.  I don't think she will ever get over him, no matter how hard she tries.  Both characters have grown so much in series three.  After watching His Last Vow, I ship them even more than before.

- Iris and Gilbert

Iris and Gilbert are from my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Lady Vanishes.  They had great chemistry and their bantering back and forth was hilarious.  I watched The Lady Vanishes (it was one of my first Alfred Hitchcock movies, along with The 39 Steps) when I was little, and I'm pretty sure I shipped them without even knowing it.

- Belle and the Beast

I love a lot of Disney characters, but I've realized that when I was little, the only Disney characters I loved together, that made me care whether they ended up together or not, were Belle and Adam/the Beast.  For example, I love Aladdin, but I never really cared if he and Jasmine got together (although A Whole New World was a great song).  Belle and Adam are definitely my favorite Disney couple, and were the only ones I truly shipped, at least before Tangled and Frozen came along...

- Amy Pond and Rory Williams

The boy and girl who waited...they waited a lot.

Amy and Rory are my favorite companions in Doctor Who.  I loved their relationship, and shipped them from the very start.  There seemed to be some sort of attraction on Amy's part towards the Doctor , but I never bought it.  Rory was always the one for her.  Honestly I hated the idea of Amy and Eleven being romantically involved, and found it rather strange and unnecessary.  Thankfully that whole thing didn't last for too long.  Rory loved Amy no matter what.  I mean, he waited two thousand years for her.  They loved each other no matter how long they had to wait.

- Snowing (Snow and Charming)

Snowing was my OTP when I first started watching Once Upon a Time, and it still is.  No matter what happens, they will always find each other.  I don't have much else to say.  This couple is simply perfection.

- Goliath and Elisa

Gargoyles (1994 - 1996) is one of my favorite animated shows.  One thing about it that makes it so great is the relationship between Goliath and Elisa.  Both characters have a deep respect for the other and seem to have an understanding of one another.  Their relationship grows beautifully throughout the show.

- Rumbelle (Rumplestiltskin and Belle)

Rumbelle, like Snowing, is another one of my OTPs from Once Upon a Time.  I loved their relationship from the start, and loved watching them grow together and learn from each other.  Belle brings out the best in Rumpel, and loves him despite his dark side, something Rumpel has not found in anyone before.

- Chihiro and Haku

Spirited Away was my second Studio Ghibli film (Kiki's Delivery Service was my first).  The first time I watched it I was pretty young.  My grandma had bought it for me, unaware of the frightening scenes in it and not knowing it would scare me.  I made it up to the scene that the parents turned into pigs.  When I saw that, I turned the T.V. off.  For that whole day I was too afraid to eat anything, because I thought it would turn me into a pig.  When I was older, I tried watching it again, this time making it to the end.  I loved it.  Spirited Away has been one of my favorite movies ever since.  I have always loved Chihiro and Haku, and the bond they have.  They definitely deserve a spot on this list.

- Rapunzel and Eugene

Words cannot express the extent to which I love Tangled.  This film is perfect in every way, and so is the romance between Rapunzel and Eugene.  In my opinion, it is the most romantic romance Disney has ever done.  Well, along with a certain other Disney couple from a movie that starts with F...

- Kristanna (Kristoff and Anna)

AAAAAHHHHH.  I.  Love.  Frozen.  So.  So.  So.  Soooo much.  Everything about it is refreshing, including the romance.  I love that they crushed the idea of falling in love at first sight with the perfect prince, and took a more realistic and refreshing route.

- Sean Thornton and Mary Kate

This couple is from one of my favorite Irish movies, The Quiet Man.  John Wayne had great chemistry with Maureen O'Hara, and they made an unforgettable pair as Thornton and Mary Kate.  What I love most about their relationship is how they are completely equal with one another (which is why they remind me of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice).  Equality between romantic partners is a quality I especially appreciate, since this movie was made in the 1950's, a time that was not very equal in all sorts of socio-economic areas. 

- Kataang (Katara and Aang)

Kataang is my favorite ship from Avatar:  The Last Airbender.  Both Katara and Aang understand each other deeply and share an unbreakable connection.  From the very beginning, it was meant to be.  Katara brought Aang back to life when she found him in the iceberg, and from then on, Aang grew to love her more and more.  I think it took Katara longer to become fully aware of her love for Aang in return, but it was always there.

- Irohsami (Iroh II and Asami Sato)

Yeah, I know Irohsami isn't canon.  I shall cry internally for all time because of this.  The potential the Legend of Korra writers are missing by not making this ship canon just hurts me to think about.  However, I still hold onto hope that some day, perhaps in book three or four, Irohsami's ship will sail.  And it will sail beautifully.

I know I sound really over-dramatic right now but it honestly hurts that this ship is not canon.  They would be the most classy couple to ever walk the earth.  Trust me.

- Tonraq and Senna

I have always liked the relationship between Korra's parents in The Legend of Korra.  They seem to love each other a lot.  It makes me so happy that they were featured more in book two. 


- Fiolee  (Fionna and Marshall Lee)

I was very wary of watching Adventure Time, since it seemed like such a weird and crazy show.  But over time, it has definitely grown on me.  My favorite pairing from this show is Fionna and Marshall Lee.  They feel very natural together and I can't help but love them to bits. 

- Jelsa (Jack Frost and Elsa)

I rarely ship crossover couples, but Jelsa is definitely one of my OTPs.  The reason I ship Elsa (from Frozen by Disney) and Jack Frost (from Rise of the Guardians by Dreamworks) is not because they share similar powers, although that is a bonus.  I can easily see them getting along and their personalities just really seem to compliment each other.  I can easily imagine them interacting in my head.  My headcanon is that Jack would encourage Elsa's powers.  Even if she wasn't romantically interested in him, she would definitely find a friend in him.

- Linzin (Tenzin and Lin Beifong)

I've always shipped Tenzin with Lin, from The Legend of Korra.  Despite their claims of having moved on, I think they still have feelings for one another.  They seem to fit each other perfectly.

- Armin and Annie

"Do I look like such a good person to you?" 

The only thing I don't like about Attack on Titan, something which frustrates me a lot, is how some pairings are hinted at or start being established, then are completely ignored afterwards, for example Mikasa and Jean.  In my opinion, the only relationship that gets some thorough development is the one between Eren and Mikasa, and their friend, Armin.  Eren and Mikasa have a really well developed brother and sister relationship, although some fans ship them romantically.  Out of the romantic pairings I like (Mikasa and Jean, Levi and Hanji, and Armin and Annie), Armin and Annie seem to have the most development.  Annie seems concerned with how Armin thinks of her, and in one scene asks what being a good person meant to him.  Their relationship interests me a lot, and I hope it continues to develop in the future, although the ending of season one left a lot of questions and I am unsure of what will happen next. 

- Amorra (Amon and Korra)

Amorra is one of my top OTPs.  Although it never had a chance of becoming canon, I will ship it till the end of time (and then keep on shipping it after that).  Other than being enemies, Korra and Amon have a very intriguing relationship, that leads to a lot of potential.  Both have different political views, but underneath their differences, they are actually similar in many ways.  Although Korra at first fears Amon, she later grows stronger and finds her bravery.  Both have their strengths and meet each other on an equal playing field.  They test each other to see what the other will do.  In addition to all of this, Amon and Korra seem to have a subtle attraction towards each other and a chemistry that can't be denied, whether you interpret it romantically or not.  There were more Amorra shippers during book 1 of The Legend of Korra, but some have hung on and continued to ship it, including me. 

The Time of the Doctor

So I recently watched the Doctor Who Christmas special, "The Time of the Doctor".  And I've got to say, it left me pretty confused.

Oh, as a side note:  I love gifs, and I finally found out how to make them, so beware, my posts will probably have a lot of gifs from now on.  Many of them will most likely be of the Nostalgia Critic's many priceless reactions, like the one above.  Why, you may ask?  Because I've been a fan of him for about four years, he's my favorite comedian and my favorite film critic besides Roger Ebert, plus he makes the most hilarious facial expressions ever.

Anyway, back to Doctor Who.

I'm not a Steven Moffat hater.  In fact, I love nearly every episode he's written in the past.  Every time someone bashes every single thing he's ever contributed to Doctor Who, I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes.  I'm tired of fans hating on whatever he does.  And I think a lot of those same haters probably love the episode "Blink", the tenth episode of series three (from David Tennant's era), which was written by Steven Moffat.

But The Time of the Doctor is very confusing.  I've been caught up for a while now - I've watched all of season five, six, and seven, but I could hardly understand what I was watching.  Warning:  there are spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen the Christmas special yet, I suggest you don't read anything of what I've written below.

I don't mind the story in this episode.  I find the idea of the Doctor growing old in a town called Christmas to be interesting and heart wrenching.  For me, heart wrenching is good.  Intense stuff is the stuff I like best.  I want a story to make me feel, and to leave an impact on me.  Comedy is great and always helps to lighten the mood, but I need substance.  And for me, drama has substance, it's what makes a story stick with me.

I mean, it bothered me a little bit that the Doctor spent three hundred years of his life in one location (it seemed a little wasteful in my opinion, and frankly, very hard to believe), but overall, I was okay with it.  However, the whole episode (or special, whatever you want to call it) seemed messy and confusing.  I think Moffat is a good writer.  He has a lot of talent.  But sometimes his episodes seem a little messy, and they leave me with more questions than before.

Unfortunately, accidentally going on Tumblr kind of ruined the special for me.  It's silly, I know, but it's true.  One day I went on Tumblr and saw a picture or gif (I can't remember which) from the special before I had seen it.  It didn't ruin anything for me, but it reminded me that I would have to avoid Tumblr, and probably the internet all together, if I didn't want the special to be spoiled for me before I got the chance to watch it.  And, naturally, the next day I completely forgot that I should be avoiding Tumblr and carelessly logged in.  And there, the first thing to appear on my dash, was an entire set of gifs of a scene from the special, in which Amy tells the Doctor, "Raggedy Man, good night".

I've stated a few times on my blogs that I am not a crier, that I don't cry easily.  And yes, that's usually true.  I get it from my dad.  We're as cold as ice sometimes.  But it's not that I don't feel or am not emotionally affected by things, I'm just good at keeping it in.  I could cry if I felt like it, but for some reason I hold it in.  There's not really a reason, I'm just naturally like that.  I deal with my emotions by keeping them in.  I guess it probably has to do with my introverted and reserved personality.

It also depends on the day.  Sometimes I'm emotionally invested and cry easily when I watch a sad scene in a movie or T.V. show, then other times I find it hard to get emotionally invested.  Sometimes things just don't affect me very easily.  Only things that are incredibly powerful to me, like the ending of the Pixar film Wall - e (which makes me cry every time by the way, I don't know why) can penetrate the wall I sometimes put up and make me cry on the spot, whether I was invested before or not.  But I have to see the story from beginning to end for the sad scene to make an impact.  Maybe it's like that for everyone, I don't know.  If I watched a random sad scene from a movie, I wouldn't cry at all, because I did not watch it from the beginning.  I have to be invested; I have to see the story build up to that moment in order for it to make me cry.  So, seeing the scene with Amelia and Amy Pond before I saw the special from the beginning, lessened the emotional impact it could have had on me considerably.

I think the best scene was when Amy Pond said goodnight to the Doctor.  It was like the ending of a bedtime story, which reminds me of this quote:  "I'll be a story in your head.  But that's okay, we're all stories in the end."  That may be my favorite Eleventh Doctor quote of all.  Then, there was this moment, when Eleven dropped his bow tie.  It was quite a powerful scene, one that seemed to carry a lot of emotional weight.

The reason I am bringing all of this up is because I did not cry during "The Time of the Doctor" like I thought I would, and I'm trying to figure out why.  I have come to the conclusion that I am in denial.  I often go into denial when I try to deal with emotional stuff, or rather, not deal with it.  It's my natural coping mechanism.  I don't want to believe Matt Smith's left, and I don't feel like dealing with it.  It hasn't really sunk in.  Originally I predicted that it would not sink in until Eleven actually regenerated, but he has regenerated, and it still isn't sinking in.

Eleven's regeneration scene, or the scene right before he regenerated, was very touching, but his actual regeneration was far too fast.  He regenerated into Peter Capaldi so quickly that there was no time for it to leave an impact on me.  I'm looking forward to seeing Capaldi as the Doctor in series eight, but to me Matt Smith will always be the Doctor, and he will always be my favorite.  To say I am sad that he is gone is an understatement.

Halloween

It seems that the holiday of Halloween has been downplayed over time.  Some people try to make it less frightening and feel the need to suppress it.  For example, some parents make their children trick or treat during the day time.  That takes all the mystery and excitement out of Halloween.  Why do we, as a society, feel the need to contain everything so that it is tame?  That says to me that there is something freeing about Halloween that makes some people nervous, and they feel like they need to push it down.  Frankly, it's too cool of a holiday for people to stop celebrating.  There's a reason so many celebrate it to this day.

It has become the norm for only young kids to go trick or treating.  When I was a kid, there would be crowds of people trick or treating on Halloween night, and a lot of people participated in it.  But as the years went by, fewer people trick or treated, and I was beginning to be pressured not to trick or treat any more because I was "too old".  I was still a kid, but people began to think that only small children should participate in trick or treating.  I wasn't too happy about this, and it bothered me when an adult commented on it while giving me candy.  They would usually say something like, "aren't you too old for trick or treating"?

But the fact is, lots of teenagers like to participate anyway.  I don't believe it's fair to leave them out, especially when there doesn't seem to be many places for them to go and socialize.  I remember that there were sometimes a group of teenagers at the park I would go to as a kid, because they didn't really have anywhere for people of their age to go and have fun.

I know my great grandparent's generation had fun social events in their community during the late twenties, and again during the war years - they would go to dances.  I've noticed that people don't really go to dances any more, at least not usually.  In fact, most people don't know how to dance.  Teenagers are also worked too hard in school, and because of this, they undergo too much stress, and don't have as much time to socialize with their peers, something which surely is a human need for their age group especially.  I find it unnerving that people in their youth have most of their teenage years swallowed up by worrying about school.  So it makes me happy that a lot of teenagers my age have been deciding to go against the norm and trick or treat anyway.  I completely understand why they still want to - it's fun, freeing, and nostalgic, because they probably went trick or treating when they were little.  Why should we let go of childhood completely, just because of our age?  Does not being a child any more mean we can't have any fun?  Well, maybe it does, but not for me.  I think we should always keep in touch with our childlike side, because when we were children, we knew how to be free.

A jack-o'-lantern I made a couple years ago for Halloween.

Halloween was a part of my childhood.  Every year I looked forward to October, because it meant that one of my favorite holidays was approaching.  I loved picking out a pumpkin, carving it, then watching it glow in the dark after my dad lit the candle inside it.  I also loved dressing up in a costume and going trick or treating with friends.  The best part was going from door to door, and seeing the decorations all lit up in front of each house.

The picture above is of me on Halloween night when I was 12 years old.  I was trying to look like the Faery Queen from the Scottish ballad "Tam Lin", but most people thought I was an angel.  This frustrated me, so I kept having to repeat that I was not an angel, but in fact a Celtic Faery Queen.  They were a tad bit confused.  Some guessed I was a fairy, and only one or two people caught on that I was something Celtic.  Below is an illustration of the Queen of the Fay from the picture book I had when I was little.  The Queen of the Fay is the woman on the right, almost completely dressed in green.

I have always felt that Halloween is a very unique and interesting holiday.  The atmosphere it creates draws people to it.  It is the one holiday that is dark and encourages people to face their fears, instead of suppressing any dark emotions we may have.  Our society tends to numb its feelings and dwell in a pretend world too much, shying away from anything real and acute, even though such experience is a natural part of our humanity.

Halloween comes from Celtic origins, when the Irish and Scottish were still Pagan, and before Christianity entered their lands.  In ancient times, the Celts would celebrate Samhain, a festival that celebrated the darker half of the year, which took place from sunset on October 31st to sunset on the first of November.  This festival appears in much of Irish mythology.  The fact that Halloween comes from Pre-Christian Ireland only makes me love it more, as I am interested in ancient Ireland.  It is wonderful to have a bit of ancient custom survive the past.  I know some people who do not celebrate it for certain reasons, but I do not believe that it is wrong to celebrate Halloween.  I will always look fondly on it as one of my favorite holidays as a kid.

Celebrate Musicals Week - Why I'm Team Erik, or Why I Don't Like Raoul

I have never been a fan of Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera.  He has always seemed to be the goody-goody pretty-boy that Christine goes after.  He is a shallow character, and there is not much to him.  To be honest, he’s very boring, too simplistic, and one-dimensional.  He has youth and good looks, but not nearly as vast or broad a soul as the Phantom has.

Christine’s love for the Phantom is more profound, more complex, and deeper than the love she harbors for Raoul.  The Phantom represents her inner passion for art, and for reaching great heights, which reflect the Romantic yearning for knowledge and achievement.  The Phantom wants Christine to dedicate herself to her art, but that isn’t the only aspect of their relationship; it’s more complicated than that.  He does truly love her, which is proven to us when he makes the ultimate sacrifice in the end, and lets go of the only one who could have loved him in return.  The love between Christine and Raoul is young and immature, while the love between Christine and the Phantom is more mature and developed.  In the book, which I have not yet read, but intend to get, I have heard that the Phantom is portrayed as passionate, both romantically and artistically.  Christine feels safe with Raoul, because what she shares with him is more platonic than romantic.  The Phantom’s passion is too wild and frightening for Christine.  She is afraid to go “beyond the point of no return”, both in terms of her personal relationship with the Phantom, and in terms of her art.

The fact that Raoul and Christine were friends as children is very symbolic, because their love is youthful and underdeveloped, and in that respect, childish.  The Phantom seems to regard Raoul as a mere boy.  During “The Mirror”, the Phantom sings, “Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, basking in your glory.  Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor.  Sharing in my triumph!”  To Christine, the Phantom is mystery, darkness, sensuality, and danger, while Raoul is innocence and safety.  The Phantom wants her to get in touch with her darker side, and to learn to love him in spite of his outward disfigurement.  This is why he hides his disfigurement with a mask – he believes that Christine could not love his real form.  The Phantom is a magician, which adds to his deceptive and elusive nature.  He believes that by creating an illusion, he can veil reality, because he knows that others cannot accept reality as it is.

While Christine is torn between Raoul and the Phantom, she is forced to make a choice.  When the Phantom decides to let her go, their farewell is heartbreaking and reduces me to tears every time.  When the Phantom sings the line, “Christine, I love you”, it is clear that he really does love her, but he can never have her.  I believe the ending of The Phantom of the Opera is beautiful the way it is, and I do not like the idea of a sequel (I’m looking at you, Love Never Dies...), but I can never like Raoul.  He is not a character I am capable of liking.  He never has been, and never will be.

Raoul and the Phantom can be seen as two sides of Christine’s nature, which she must choose between.  These two sides of her are mutually exclusive, and cannot coexist.  In the end, she cops out, and chooses the safe and rational life, rather than the life that the Phantom represents, which is fraught with danger, risk, intensity, and sacrifice.  The Phantom inhabits the subterranean regions of the Opera House, symbolizing Christine’s subconscious being.

There are many ways of looking at this story.  You could think of the Phantom as a murderer who wants to possess Christine because he is desperate for love, but I think that is a limited perspective, and that there is far more to this story than that.  The Phantom is perceived in a threatening light, because in terms of Christine’s psyche, it is threatening for her to continue probing her subconscious, and threatening for her to listen to the demands of her inner self, and to contemplate fulfilling such wild and ambitious desires.  Ultimately, her childish self decides to stay in the safe, tame, surface world with Raoul.

Celebrate Musicals Week - Comparing the Past to the Present

There are many differences between The Phantom of the Opera (2004), and the original Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.  One of the differences between the two that is especially noticeable, is how the main characters are portrayed.  I am going to compare the Phantom and Christine of the 2004 adaptation to the Phantom and Christine of the original musical from 1986.

Gerard Butler vs. Michael Crawford

Gerard Butler.

I like Gerard Butler, I really do.  He seems like a very nice person, and he is definitely a talented actor.  However, even his awesome Scottish-ness can't make him a good Phantom.  In fact, it hurts him rather than helps him - at some moments in the 2004 movie I can hear a hint of his Scottish accent, which is weird, since The Phantom of the Opera takes place in Paris, France.  But then, the original musical from 1986 was British (Andrew Lloyd Webber is English, and most or all of the original cast were British as well), so none of it makes sense anyway.  In the movie, Madame Giry has an over-the-top French accent, while a lot of the other people in the cast have a British accent, which only makes it all more confusing.

Some prefer Gerard Butler's singing to Michael Crawford's, because his voice has a darker and deeper quality.  Gerard Butler can sing well, but his singing style is not meant for the role of the Phantom.  Being in a band does not provide the kind of experience needed to play a major role in Musical Theatre.    The Phantom is supposed to be the angel of music, and Christine Daae's teacher.  The decision to cast Gerard Butler was made by marketers and producers to draw in the masses, rather than being driven by the artistic vision.  The role of the Phantom requires a breadth of soul and depth of human experience, that is lost on such young and pampered actors as Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum.  Michael Crawford betters Gerard in this respect, because he brings a certain maturity to the role.

The Phantom is supposed to be capable of sounding like an angel, and sounding like a demon.  I think of him more as an angel living in hell, or someone whose soul has become corrupt and disfigured because of the mistreatment they have suffered.  He is an angel corrupted by his Faustian zeal.  Like in the British film, The Red Shoes (1948), by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the Phantom's artistic ambitions have a demonic quality.  In Romanticism, people strive to reach for the sublime.  In The Red Shoes, the ballet dancer strives for perfection in her art form.  She becomes possessed by the spirit of her art, and must sacrifice to achieve artistic perfection.

The Phantom should have a hypnotic and angelic voice, like in the song "The Music of the Night", in order for Christine to be deceived by him, and to fall under his spell.  In "The Music of the Night", the Phantom wants Christine to be blind to his disfigurement, because he wants her to fall in love with his soul, not his body.  He wants her to "learn to see, to find the man behind the monster".

"Close your eyes for your eyes will only tell the truth 

And the truth isn't what you want to see 

In the dark it is easy to pretend 

That the truth is what it ought to be..."

Michael Crawford.

The important theme of appearance versus reality in The Phantom of the Opera, and the concept it contains of a many layered reality of subterranean depths and soaring artistic heights, is completely lost on these two young and inexperienced actors.  Butler's and Rossum's characters are too superficial, more Romeo and Juliet than the Phantom and Christine, but its more than that.  The society that finds this empty headed, clean cut, pretty-boy quality appealing has remade this story in its own image.  

Gerard Butler's Phantom is less versatile than Michael Crawford's.  He just doesn't seem as convincing to me as Michael Crawford's Phantom.  If Gerard Butler's Phantom showed up in my mirror, I would be less compelled to follow him to his lair.  His singing voice is uni-dimensional, while Michael Crawford's is far more developed, and in my opinion, much more Phantom-like.

Physically, Gerard and Michael's Phantoms differ from each other, as well.  When the facial disfigurement of Michael's Phantom is revealed, it is more distinct and dramatic, and actually has an effect on the audience.  Gerard's Phantom, on the other hand, has a sunburn on one side of his face instead.  That takes so, so, so much away from the story.  One wonders why Christine chooses Raoul over him in the end anyway, if his disfigurement is so minor, and after all he is the more handsome of the two.  Well, we all know that Christine is not so shallow as all that, but wouldn't the story have been far different if the Phantom had not been disfigured?  There wouldn't be a story if he wasn't.  He would never have become a murderous Phantom; he would just be Erik.  Everything meaningful about The Phantom of the Opera has been dissolved and stripped away from this production.  It has been eviscerated.

This all brings me to something I have observed in our society - we are pretty-ifying everything.  The vampires of folklore were dark and frightening:

Dracula.

...but now they look like models...

Edward Cullen.

Look at what's happened to the Phantom.  Once he was visibly frightening, like Lon Chaney's Phantom from the 1925 horror film, based on Leroux's novel.  His Phantom was so frightening, that during the unmasking scene, many of the women in the audience fainted.

Lon Chaney as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

Now, the Phantom looks like this...

Gerard Butler as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera (2004).

...and Gerard Butler is a very handsome guy.  That's the problem.  The Phantom is not supposed to be a very handsome guy, even with the mask on.  Michael Crawford is a very handsome guy too, but when he is unmasked, he actually looks deformed, while Gerard's Phantom doesn't really have a deformity at all.  I find that this strongly and obviously contradicts one of the messages that can be taken away from the story - that we are beautiful if our soul remains untarnished, even if we are tarnished physically on the outside.

Emmy Rossum vs. Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman.

I think that people over-react when they go on about how scary Sarah Brightman's eyes are, or that she doesn't blink enough, or that she can't act or emote feelings, blah blah blah.

Okay, I'll try to put it more lightly...let's just say, I strongly disagree with the idea that Sarah Brightman does not make a good Christine Daae.

Although, however much I love Sarah Brightman, I will admit that I prefer Sierra Boggess's performance of "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again".  Sierra didn't just perform that song, she felt it.  Just look at the tears in her eyes after she has performed the song.  She put so much feeling into it, that I was impacted emotionally.  I could feel her pain, and the emotion that mounted up during the song.  I always feel a sense of emotional fulfillment after listening to it, like I could let go and allow myself to feel sad, and grieve with Christine, despite not experiencing what she has experienced.  She forced me to feel empathy.

As I stated in my previous post, Sarah Brightman's Christine embodies the dark Romanticism of the Gothic genre.  The Phantom of the Opera is very much a Romantic story.  Not in the romantic way, with a little r, although The Phantom of the Opera has romance too.  I mean Romantic, with a big R, as in the Romantic Era, or the Romantic Philosophy of Byron and the other Romantic poets (John Keats, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Blake), the Brontës, and Mary Shelley, and the Romantic music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Robert Schumann, etc., etc..  People of the present day seem to shy away from anything real, dramatic, or Romanticized.  We've replaced the vampires of old folklore with a model, and Lon Chaney's Phantom with Gerard Butler's.  We are down-playing everything, and as a result, characters and stories have become more stale, and are limited to the constraints of what we're comfortable with.

Emmy Rossum.

I like many of the portrayals of Christine Daae that other women have to offer - Sarah Brightman's portrayal is not the only one I like.  But the other Christine Daae's are all very different from hers.

Take Emmy Rossum's Christine.  Emmy Rossum can act well enough, but her Christine is very bland and forgettable.  There's no soul in her performance - she only presents to the audience what she feels she is expected to present, and nothing more.  She can show emotion, but I never feel like she's really feeling it.  She never really becomes Christine.  I'm always aware that she is acting.

The 2004 adaptation sterilized the story of The Phantom of the Opera to the point that its meaning was removed.  It was too timid to keep to the intrinsic artistic vision of the original story, and instead conformed to the usual generic formula in film making today.  We should allow art to reveal, not manipulate it to hide and suppress.  When compared to the original musical, the movie is superficial and reduces the story to something cheap and shallow.  This process of evisceration is common in today's culture.  In The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), for example, one of the most significant happenings in history is reduced to a cheap titillating tale, a tale which ignores all the mysterious and wondrous aspects of the true story of Anne Boleyn, and her pivotal and captivating role in the struggle for religious and social reformation in England, that had been going on since Wycliffe and the Peasants' Revolt.  Why does our society strive to cover up the meaningful with the meaningless, the significant with the insignificant?