Summer

There have already been almost three weeks of post-graduate life and almost three weeks of summer. It feels like a long time and no time at all, of course. Time warps weirdly in transitional moments because you don't really know what to tack it onto yet.

So far, my summer has consisted mostly of nature and books, which is a great start. I'm busy as ever, it feels, but I'm dotting the next few months with weekends and weeks here and there that will feature nothing but grass and trees and my two feet. And between those dots, I'm trying to squeeze in lots of long stretches of story time, which, since I don't have my entire brain to devote to it, draws mostly on other people's stories. I've read three books since graduating and am half-way through two more, which feels great. All of them simply for pleasure, except that it turns out one will be on my course reading list next year.

And by the way, I don't think I've mentioned it before - but now it's a bit ridiculous, because I've known for months, but anyway - I'm moving to the UK next year for to get a master's degree. I'm afraid that you all missed the initial excitement, but you can still catch the new upswing in excitement that began soon after graduating. Suddenly it feels real and I have a pile of things that I will take to England and I have a plane ticket and I have many many wonderful plans.

But there's still a few more weeks of summer in California left to enjoy - and to put to productive use. Being me, I have a lot of projects that I want to get done. Including writing some more on this blog. Expect some book reviews coming your way soon. In the meantime, the sun is shining and the errands are waiting to be attended to, so off I go for now.

Review: Damsels in Distress

This is a really late review that I planned to write two weeks ago, but then graduation happened and moving back home happened and here I am now finally sitting down to reflect on this very odd, but ultimately pleasing movie.

The only real parallel I can think of to this film's style of satire is Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall. And in fact both Waugh and Whit Stillman seem particularly galvanized to poke fun at the education system in their respective countries and times - and the faults they reveal about them do not differ that significantly. That is to say that the undergraduates at Seven Oaks College are just as silly and absurd and totally uninterested in actually learning anything in school as Waugh's marvelous bunch of teachers and schoolboys.

This movie, though, is particularly focused on the many and diverse dilemmas of young women at college. It deals with issues like mental illness, sex, friendship, and identity, but all with a very unsettling kind of humor that makes you unsure whether to laugh or offer a serious, sympathetic shake of your head.

Ironically, for a movie that uses title cards to announce new scenes, it absolutely refuses to give you any of the usual signposts - the ones we learn to recognize and follow without even noticing them, the ones that define our interpretations of a character and cue our emotional reactions. Even the timing of scene endings is odd. Through the whole movie, I was constantly surprised by the moments on which Stillman chose to end his scenes, and the new scenes that followed.

For a while, this was somewhat disturbing. But after watching the movie all the way through and thinking about it for a couple of weeks, I've come to really admire Stillman for choosing to disregard convention in every thread of this movie.

The characters seemed at first to be caricatures, and at a certain point I gave up on finding any sane person in the whole movie. It turns out I was right, but the prevalence of insanity eventually turned even the oddest, most absurd characters into sympathetic people. I hesitate a little to say it, but these characters felt more real than the most psychologically dissected protagonist of any modern drama.

Because instead of explaining Violet's OCD or Fred/Charlie's identity crisis or Frank's crippling stupidity, the movie simply presents you with these damaged, multi-layered, sometimes tragic and sometimes hilarious characters, as life presents you with equally complex and incomprehensible people. In real life, you don't get revelatory back stories or cues about who's going to end up with whom or who's going to crack under the pressure of being human or who's going to find a happy ending, if anyone ever does.

 There's something both unsettling and deeply comforting about this movie, both for regular people and for storytellers. It shows that you can break all the rules and still come out with something good, maybe even better. It's not a flashy, presumptuous movie. It probably won't have much popularity because it's not easy to watch, but I wholeheartedly recommend it. Even if you don't fall in love with the characters or sympathize with the unique challenges of East Coast college life, it's fun to take a break from formulaic summer blockbusters and get your assumptions shaken up a little bit.

It'll also give you a whole new appreciation of rainbows.

Recommendation: "Would you date a Disney Prince?"

A quick recommendation of things about the internet:

Just watched a video by Carrie Hope Fletcher, in which she expresses more succinctly than any fairy tale theorist I've read why fairy tale gender politics are bad. Link here:

"Would you date a Disney Prince?"



And while you're at it, go ahead and check out her other videos. She's cool.

Semester Book Recap

Just thought I'd recap some of the books I read this semester for class, since it's often tempting to just look at a book in the context of a specific course without really considering it on it's own.

Brick Lane by Monica Ali
This takes the form of an old-fashioned novel, very long, spanning many decades, with a large cast of characters. Specifically, it's a variation on the adulterous wife plot of, for example, Anna Karenina or Middlemarch. But all of this in the context of Bangladeshi immigrants in London.
Not necessarily a book I'd pull off the shelf on a whim, although the cover is really beautiful, but I was pretty happy with it. It's a first novel and maybe drags on a bit too long, and it certainly lacked any of the insight on human nature that some of the classic long character novels achieve so beautifully. I also didn't really get attached to the heroine, Nazneen, which is a bit of a problem in this kind of book, I think. All in all, though, a good read and I'd recommend it for someone who likes a novel you can sink your teeth into but won't necessarily stay with you too long after you finish. A more substantial version of a summer book, I suppose.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
This was a second read, and I already really liked the book the first time around. This time, I got a better appreciation of some aspects of it, in particular the use of the travel metaphor and the weaving together of different times and places in the narrative. It's a really remarkable study in psychology and history and national culture, and I'm looking forward to reading more of Ishiguro's work. I have Never Let Me Go at home and plan to read it this summer, I think. I've been waiting to see the movie until after I read the book. Incidentally, the film of The Remains of the Day is very good, too, and as I was reading Miss Kenton's scenes, I was especially struck at how brilliant a casting Emma Thompson was for the role.

Dubliners by James Joyce
Didn't get to reading all of the stories, just the ones required for class, although I intended to take the opportunity to read the whole book. The stories I read, I liked. They're very short and need lots of unpacking, which makes them so fun to read for a class. In writing about them, I felt I could really indulge in reading between the lines. It's like Joyce was writing with an audience of literary scholars in mind. I suspect the overall impact of the book, with the arc of all the stories, is even more impressive, so someday I'll have to get back to it. I'm not really in the mood or state of mind for Joyce right now, though, so it'll have to wait.

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
I always forget how amazing Woolf is, and then I read something of hers again and it always blows me away. She has in droves the insight that a book like Brick Lane lacks. This book was so exciting in the way that it expressed perfectly so many great ideas, and also very sobering in the way that it seemed to resonate very well with contemporary reality. Particulars aside, the issues she brings up didn't feel dated or obsolete at all. Things I read in this book earlier this semester have kept popping back up in my mind in relation to other texts and experiences. It's really a must for anyone interested in writing or feminist issues, and besides that it's just a beautiful book.

Being done

1 year and 160 pages later, my thesis is done, and my undergraduate studies are nearing a close. Alarmingly quickly. I'm not quite sure what to write about this, as I'm still in the fog of accumulated exhaustion, and I still have two papers and two presentations to get through before I'm really truly done. But the thing that seemed to order my entire life has suddenly slipped away, leaving...what behind?

Not quite freedom. A feeling of pride, yes, and of accomplishment. The certainty that I've learned a lot. The hope that other people appreciate the product as much as I appreciated the process.

I tried weighing my bound copy, and the scale wouldn't even register it. Such a little thing.

It's easier to write about other people's creations than your own.

Review: Mirror, Mirror

I went into this movie with the following thoughts:

- Tarsem Singh's The Fall is one of my favorite movies of all time.
- The movie hasn't gotten rave reviews, as far as I've seen.
- I've been studying fairy tales and their cinematic adaptation all year (topic of my thesis) and have seen some amazing and some not so amazing ways that fairy tales can be presented on the big screen.
- I love going to the movies, especially ones that are easy on the eyes and the mind.

So I took all that into consideration and then set it gently aside and settled down to enjoy the movie - and I did. I do have reservations, but let it be said first and foremost that I had fun during this movie. And I believe that is exactly what it set out to offer - a fun time and a lavish spectacle.

One thing entirely in the film's favor is that it was just full of beautiful people in beautiful costumes. If there's one thing Singh does well, it's visual splendor, and that was in abundance.


In no way, however, did he reach the heights he reached in visual splendor in The Fall. One problem is that there was nothing to contrast with the huge, amazing, perfect court dress. Yes, there were a few scenes of poor villagers, and of course many scenes with a marked lack of any dress at all, but even then the people were perfectly poor or perfectly naked. Watching this movie was a little like eating a meal entirely made up of deserts.

The stunning images also lacked the nuance and layers of narrative meaning that Singh wove into every image of The Fall. There was some fun symbolism, of course, in the ball scene, with the animal-themed costumes, but it was at a very basic level.

Finally, Singh really could have wallowed in the visuals more, I think. I wanted sweeping shots that allowed me to soak up the majesty of the castle and lingering close-ups that showed off the detail of the costumes, which was drool-worthy in the glimpses we did get.

But let's get back to the nakedness.


I was very pleased to find a movie showing off more male skin than female, especially that of the lovely Mr. Armie Hammer. I guess I could get into the politics of punishing female lust, represented in the relationship between the Queen and the Prince, but I don't feel like it. I do feel like giving Singh some credit for letting Snow White take over the kissing-to-break-a-curse responsibilities, having her save herself in the final battle (with a little help from her friends), and fitting in that glorious meta moment between her and the Prince about focus groups.

I wasn't a huge fan of Lily Collins as Snow White - she lacked a certain texture, I guess - but she was certainly all right. Much more interesting and more enjoyable was...are you ready for this?...Julia Roberts. This coming from one of the biggest haters of Julia Roberts. Not that I hate her personally, I just can't stand watching her on screen. I can't love her the way you're supposed to love a heroine. But the thing is, here I wasn't asked to love her, or even like her that much. Maybe this is just my particular weakness for evil characters, but I actually liked her in this movie a lot.

So much sass and character - way more than Snow White. And she just seemed to be having such fun. I almost wish the movie had gone through with its initial promise and made this the evil queen's story.

What else? Oh, the dwarves - I was leery at first, because there's just such a danger of falling into cheap jokes and such, but I think they pulled through pretty well. And the story itself, well, they went pretty traditional, changed it up with some good sword-fighting (although Snow really should have gotten a chance to spank the Prince back), and added in that lovely bit with the beast and Sean Bean (he lives! after Boromir and Ned Stark, he rises again! and just in time for Easter). Of course they could have stretched this way farther, but I don't believe that's what they set out to do.

Finally, here's just a few more pictures of some things I found excellent.

A flawless imitation of a puppy (and homage to The 10th Kingdom, I hope).


The golden guards: "Pinky swear?"

And finally, THAT COAT. Did you see him swish it around while he was sword-fighting? And the extra long row of buckles? And the standing collar? Just stunning.

Review: The Hunger Games Movie

I don't have time to write a long review, but I saw The Hunger Games Friday night and wanted to share a few thoughts and a few fangirl squees.

Overall impression: I was not disappointed. Granted, I saw the trailer before I started reading the books, so of course the characters all conformed to my expectations perfectly - but they also surpassed them. I was especially impressed by Jennifer Lawrence, although I expected no less after seeing Winter's Bone. Aside from all the Katniss's conflicting affections and incredible strength and snarky personality, it's damn hard to act out all the physical pain and grit without rolling your eyes around in your head (ahem...Elijah Wood....ahem), but she nailed it. I really believed her exhaustion and desperation with the burn on her leg and it had the impact it should in a movie that's all about people fighting for their lives and trying to preserve their physical bodies as well as their self-worth and individuality.

Design: Again, good stuff. I did think the opening sequence in District 12 was a little over-the-top on the depression-era old people faces, but I liked the overall atmosphere, especially the images of all the kids dressed up in their best, hair slicked back, looking so innocent in a way. And I loved how crazy they went with the Capitol fashions. And how much screen time they gave to the crowds.

Action movie v. social commentary: Again, glad they spent so much time on the crowds, the media hype, the game makers, and the political machinations behind the scenes. I thought that was all a great way to put us in Katniss's mindset - that she's always being watched, being judged, being controlled. And it made the movie complementary to the book because it didn't just cut things, it added things, too - which is always good. The downside was that the more time they spent on that, the less time they spent on other important things.
Like the ending. I was really disappointed with the entire ending sequence, starting with the mutts all the way to the final shot. The end of the book was so great, the way it pushed you to the limit with the finale of the games, and then placed you in a kind of horrible tension limbo when Katniss is recovering, and then plunged you into another, even bigger danger, and also complicated the Katniss-Peeta relationship beautifully at the last moment. The movie did none of that. In fact, overall, I thought the first half was way better than the second half. It just felt like they ran out of steam and out of time.

Favorite moments: The countdown and the moments just before Katniss enters the arena; the relationship between Rue and Katniss; when Peeta made Katniss smile with his joke about the bow; when he admitted to having beat himself up over not going out to her in the rain; when he touched her braid at the end; when Katniss made snarky comments to Cato and the gang from her tree; when Seneca found the berries; when Haymitch was rude to Effie; when Katniss wouldn't answer Peeta's questions ('why are you doing this for me?') because she doesn't know the answers; when she saw herself on fire on the screens at the tribute parade....so many more.

It just felt great to sink into something wholeheartedly and passionately in a way that sometimes only nerdy fandom can let you do. I really wanted to enjoy the hell out of this movie and I did, and I laughed and cried (and may have cut off circulation in my friend's hand during the tracker jacker scene), and it felt good. And I'm thankful that people aren't afraid to write books and make movies based on crazy ideas and make them into really great stories.