Ten Lit Books

I would like to finish Society of the Crossed Keys. I also want to read more of the screenplays and then watch the movies to see how they're executed. I also would like to binge watch more of the TV shows. I am definitely planning to watch Stranger Things. I would also like to watch more Wes Anderson movies. I also would like to read the Agatha Christie mysteries. After that, I want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The Medium is the Massage

Look Out, The Saints are Coming Through

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that the man was an addict. The story always talked around the drugs. I sympathized with the wife. She had no control over her husband other than the fact that they loved each other. However, the husband's addiction was too strong. The woman displayed unconditional love when she never gave up on him. She found out about all his crimes. However, she kept that marriage oath. It was also interesting how connected he was to Bob Dylan. Sometimes, I got confused and thought the man in the story was Bob Dylan. I guess the story was referring to how everyone had their darker and flawed sides, even Bob Dylan.

I connected with the helpless attached feeling that the woman had. She couldn't leave the man even though he committed terrible crimes. Her common sense probably told her that he had huge problems. Even her brothers were telling him to leave. Yet, when she signed the marriage contract, she showed that she just gave him her whole soul. I understand that unbreakable loyalty for some reason. It's really hard to leave even though you might want to. She kept supporting him through the healing process. They acknowledge their problems and keep going.

I feel like this story could be a short film/music video. A lot of music videos have this theme and feeling to them. It could have Bob Dylan songs playing throughout. I would have the story as a long flashback. It would start with the present where the man is trying to do his job as a coach. The woman has a baby. Then, it would flashback to when they first met and how their life progressed. Maybe it would end with the altercation in the parking lot. The man would then punch the pavement.

The Lion King

Disney has made such an impact on the history of media that it’s impossible not to discuss him. His legacy was lost for a while, but the high quality films came back during the Disney Renaissance. In 1994, Disney released The Lion King. The interesting thing is that it was not predicted to be a success. More focus was put on Pocahontas, which was being produced at the same time. However, all they had to do was show this clip in theaters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GibiNy4d4gc Instantly, people were hooked.

There have been some controversies with the film. During one scene, Simba collapses onto a cliff and dust flies up to spell out the word, “SEX.” Animators later said that it’s actually supposed to say SFX. People also thought that The Lion King copied a Japanese anime. The director said that he was unaware a Japanese anime about lionx existed. Lastly, some scientists sued DIsney because they showed hyenas in a bad light.

Despite the controversies, The Lion King was extremely successful. It led to two sequels. It has a video game as well. Its musical has become the third longest running show on Broadway. The production company has traveled all over the world to perform its shows. The dancing and costumes are breathtaking. The music is so iconic now. The Lion King is so famous that the Library of Congress has documented the film as historically significant and saved it for posterity.

Gaming

When I was growing up, my mom limited the amount of gaming that my brother and I could do. But, we need a lot of online games. Club Penguin, Webkinz, Neopets. I also got into Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon. Later, the smartphone games. I loved Diner Dash, Restaurant Story and Candy Crush. I guess that my favorite game of all time was Sims. I actually bought the CDs and expansion packs. It was the only game that I spent money on.

The reason why I liked Sims so much was the feeling I got from playing God. I had these people whose lives that I controlled. I got to decide where they worked and who they married. I also got to kill them off if i wanted to. In the Sims 2 version, Sims who died prematurely came back as ghosts. There were seven different types of ghosts for the seven different ways of dying: drowning, electrocution, fire, etc. I tried to create all of them in one household, but making Sims die is harder than you think. They have a sense of self-preservation.

Each Sim also had their own personality and life. The premade Sims in the game even had backstories. When you played, you became a storyteller. I felt like I had all these stories in progress that weaved together. I also got to decide the endings. I also decided a goal and aspiration for each Sim. The game provided spontaneous and unpredictable events that could hurt or help your Sim. Therefore, you felt accomplished if your Sim achieved your goal.

There are also books that let you decide the ending. Each chapter ends with a choice. Each choice tells you to go to a different chapter. Ultimately, you create your own story within this already written book. Sims also has online forums that let you share your stories. There is an online version of Sims where you can interact with other people as Sims. This gives people the chance to create a better version of themselves. People play Sims because it gives them a world where they have more control.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

I watched the TV series, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”. I enjoyed it immensely. At first, I was worried for her when her money got stolen. I thought she was going to die. Thankfully, the incredibly convenient universe provided for her. This show actually started off with a dark concept. The news are showered with stories of young girls getting kidnapped and being found after decades. I know because my mom always emails me the links of the news stories. It was a good setup for Kimmy because it shows how incredibly positive she is in comparison.

She’s also completely unpredictable because she has the mentality of a child, but also the maturity of an adult. Yet, we still relate to her because we all know what it’s like to come to a new place. She’s just trying to fit in. She also completely wins us over by how she overcomes challenges and disagreements just by being optimistic and hardworking. We admire how she’s not wallowing in self-pity for losing fifthteen years of her life. Kimmy Schmidt’s inspiring.

I feel long form television has created a kind of replacement for cable TV. People don’t need to flip through channels to find something that they like. That gives shows a kind of freedom because they’re not held to the station requirements. Then, you get shows like Kimmy Schmidt that are a little different. They don’t have a laugh track. They can branch out and have characters that aren’t the cookie cutter expected attractive. They don’t have to worry about target audiences. The show will find its own niche.

This means that cable TV has tougher competition. They can no longer rely on the person fermenting on their couch to watch their shows. Netflix offers such a huge variety of shows instantly for a cheap price. I hope that movies up their game too because of Netflix. Studios with investors can’t rely on product films while independent filmmakers with original ideas find funding with Netflix. Even Youtube is launching Youtube Red to create its own original shows. The popular forms of media are changing.

Ghost World

I was surprised to find out this graphic novel was written by a guy because I think it captured teenage girl angst pretty well. The biggest obstacle that teenage girls face is losing friendships. When people grow up and change, the relationships become fragile. I was also impressed because these girls were fully fleshed out characters who arced. They were not ideal cookie cutter teen girls. They weren't stereotypical either. Daniel Clowes made sure that they had realistic flaws. The interesting thing is that the girls tend to overpower the men throughout the novel.

Ghost World reminded me of the graphic novel, This One Summer, by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki. It also navigated the twisted path of adolescence for young women. Interestingly, these two girls did not dominate men as much. It was more about discovering the special side of the world that females deal with. For Ghost World, the novel focused a lot on characters who don't fit in with normal society. They don't find satisfaction interacting with normal people. Instead, they find the outcasts similar to themselves. I guess that everyone tends to feel like an outcast at some point. Maybe that's why they were able to make a movie out of Ghost World.

Jim Jarmusch

I missed Mystery Train.

But the similarities between Dead Man and Down by Law are that both movies are about fugitives. There is an outcast who stands out by being pretty strange and unconventional. The women fall in love pretty instantaneously with the men. The boyfriends always leave the girlfriends. Loyalty is pretty volatile. The men betray each other at the drop of a hat. The partnership happens because of circumstance. They decide to stick together because they have no other options. There is a foreign character who knows more than he appears to. He’s the most helpful one. The setting is on the edge of wilderness. I don’t know if all the conflicts are resolved. The attitude seems to be that life is hard. The story structure is unclear.

Sofia Coppola

For this week, I watched three movies of Sofia Coppola. They were Marie Antoinette, Bling Ring, and Virgin Suicides. I noticed that she didn’t go out of her way to make her characters particularly likeable. In Marie Antoinette, the main character was immature and passive. She didn’t do anything redeeming. However, this movie did teach me something about the French Revolution. In history class, we learned that Marie Antoinette’s excessive spending was a big cause of the revolt. The textbook said that she actively ignored the peasants and had no empathy for their suffering. These textbooks happens to be written by men. I never saw the revolution from her perspective. Now I know that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were just too young to rule. They didn’t know what to do so the way society was run caused the French Revolution.

In Bling Ring, the characters were also hard to empathize with. They were privileged teens who got off on stealing. They never really cared about anything. Sofia Coppola also has anticlimactic endings. There was no satisfying resolution. Our questions were unanswered. We never found out why the kids wanted to steal from celebrities. We never find out what happens to them in prison or what happens to them afterwards. When Emma Watson does that interview at the end, it doesn’t reveal anything more about her character. It kind of feels like she ratted out her friends to the police. It’s a weird ending.

In Virgin Suicides, it started out with a suicide. It was very quiet at times. It seemed like she used ma, a method that Japanese filmmakers call the silence between claps. It feels like a pause in the action. The pacing feels slower. During Virgin Suicides, there was a lot of waiting. The girls were trapped and it really empathized the boredom and lack of freedom. However, in all of her movies, we were never bored. The characters weren’t likeable, but the story was intriguing. I found this movie the most interesting. I kept wondering about how this family came to be like this. What happened to make the mother so controlling. We never found out why the youngest daughter committed suicide.

Days of Heaven

Hello, I am the director of Days of Heaven. The most important aspect about this film is the relationship between Abby and Bill. The audience needed to realize that the two only went through with this scheme to create a better life for the other person. I wanted to give the audience a hint of that insanely powerful, all-consuming love.

However, there should be inner conflict. Bill may perhaps have intentions in the right place, but that does not excuse the fact that this couple is manipulating Chuck. They’re basically vultures. So I want the audience to understand Abby and Bill. However, they’re not going to root for them. It’s more like they’ve become invested in the two’s lives and wonder what the consequences are going to be.

Also, the audience must realize that feelings are incredibly fragile. When you have this irresistible attraction to one person, it’s hard to stay away. Even if your common sense is telling you shouldn’t. Experiencing it is definitely something. The greatest love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet, was based on this. However, what’s also interesting is how feelings can change with time. Chuck did find a way into Abby’s heart. This created the biggest obstacle for the couple.

But in the end, there was retribution. There is no way that deceit and betrayal can conclude well. Each party must suffer. Only the innocent, Ursula, escapes free. For this film, I need actors who have experienced this kind of love. This power that takes over your being. It will be young love. Usually the first true love. I need actors with this kind of chemistry. I need someone who portray the ignorance and blind devotion of Chuck convincingly.

During the part of the film when Abby and Bill are separated, I need montage shots that evoke emotion. That feeling of longing must be prevalent. When Abby, Bill and Chuck are all together, the inner conflict must be felt. Afterwards, the audience must wonder why the characters had to endure such misery. They must question if Abby and Bill could ever experience happiness.

The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Society of the Crossed Keys

I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel and then read the last part of the Society of the Crossed Keys, “Twenty Four Hours in the Life of a Woman.” The story structures were very similar. They both took place in an old hotel. The narrator would notice an unusual character that stayed regularly at the hotel. They would befriend the narrator and then tell them their story. Their story would be about an adventure with another person who lived in a delusion. Ultimately, the other person would disappear from their lives and the storyteller would be left behind. And the narrator would walk away, having gained an experience from hearing that story.

I enjoyed the storytelling method. Rather than give you the purpose of the book or movie right away, the director and writer instead chose to give you pieces of information gradually. Since the narrator was curious and was also trying to figure things out, it made you feel like a detective. Also, the ways that they revealed the information in The Grand Budapest Hotel were comical. When M Gustave and Zero go over the incidents that just happened, they end it with, “Zero, confused.” This also sums up the viewer’s feelings.

The Grand Budapest Hotel borrowed a lot of ideas from Stefan Zweig. But I don’t think that was necessarily a bad thing. No art in the world is original. Everything has an idea taken from something else. Also, The Grand Budapest Hotel did something helpful for Stefan Zweig. It made him more popular. By declaring itself as a kind of tribute, The Grand Budapest Hotel made more viewers aware of the Society of the Crossed Keys. They even reference it in the movie. What happened was beneficial for both artists.

Dewbreaker

For this week, I read the first three stories of Dewbreaker. I noticed that the women don't seem to be as subservient in the Haitian culture. Or at least, in this family, they don't seem to be as subservient. The wife in the second story cheated on her husband as much as he did. So there was a kind of equal power there. They didn't feel guilty enough to tell each other.

In the third story, the daughter is brought up not to value Christmas. She and her father enjoy criticizing the houses that spend a lot money on Christmas decorations. There was some female and male roles in the first story. When the father reveals that he tortured people in jail, the daughter asked the mother how she could love him. The mother revealed that they needed to love him to save him. There is a feeling of the female role being the warmth and comfort. The female is supposed to console the male and bring stability back to his life. Meanwhile, the male's role is wild and uncontrolled. The male's role is to face danger. They need to be brought back home by the female.

I found it interesting how it was acceptable for the family to keep secrets from each other. Each family member had a hidden past. They never had to share them, but they still had trust in one another. The secrecy worked.

Lust

For this week, I read "Lust", "Even the Queen", "A Good Man is Hard to Find," and "Where are You Going; Where Have You Been." The one I enjoyed most was "Lust," because I related with the narrator. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that she didn't care that she had sex with a large number of guys. In fact, she owned it. She went through each guy and told us what she did with them. It was great.

The part that resonated with me was when she said that a boy's better when he's had more girls. Meanwhile, for the girl, it's like a petal gets plucked every time. I agree with this. A pastor named Mark Gungor said that men tend to imprint upon the early sexual experiences they have. Yet, women imprint on what happens after the sex. Usually, nothing happens which is why they feel empty every time. This is the link for his lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzOp1VkqPbI

This is the link for his lecture on the difference between men's and women's brains. It's also very good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XjUFYxSxDk

The media teaches us that guys are supposed to sleep around as much as possible with as little attachment as possible. All the male action heroes do it. Meanwhile, the girls are supposed to wait for that one prince charming. Every Disney princess movie in existence teaches you that. It kind of makes you wonder who the guys are supposed to be sleeping with then.

This double standard confuses girls today. They have the same sexual desires but they feel dirty if they pursue them. Society considers them as sluts. Mark Gungor says the solution is for everyone to get married really early so they can have sex all the time. I don't know about that but I think that the media needs to stop treating female sexuality as something evil. I'm glad that the narrator in "Lust" perceives hers as something normal. 

Female Superhero

My woman superhero would focus on fighting for the underdog. Her superpower would be flight and incredible intelligence. She would be able to calculate exactly what angle she needed to set her wings to gain the most efficient glide. Because she’s so smart, she’s a leading scientist for the research of renewable energy.

Her origin story is that she got tricked into taking a serum containing mutant hawk DNA, causing her body to mutate and grow fifteen foot long wings. They fold neatly into her body so she can hide her wings under her lab coat.

Her fatal flaw will the be the fact that she tries to take on too much by herself. She’s bad at accepting help from others. However, she does work with Batman on occasion. He’s almost as intelligent as her.

The most important part about her is that she’s a mother. She has two kids in elementary school. Her husband is a freelance illustrator that works at home so he takes care of the kids. This shows that women don’t have to give up their career in order to raise a family. They can do both and everything else.

She’s also not a superhero that lives a single sexy life. She doesn’t hook up with the other male superheroes. She has a stable life to come home to because even superheroes need a sanctuary to come home to. Her name would be Starling.

The Secret History of Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman actually had a rich history of feminism. Marston was an interesting guy who really wanted to know more about women. I was fascinated by the relationship that he had with Olive Byrne. And the fact that Holloway stayed. He was also obsessed with his lie detector and that helped create the lasso of truth.

Wonder Woman was really created during a time that women’s rights were firing up. Suffrage activists were fighting intensely and the history of their suffering isn’t really known except in the movie, “Iron Jawed Angels.”

Recently, Wonder Woman was appointed as the ambassador for women and equality at the UN. However, this petition was soon put up: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/741/288/432/reconsider-the-choice-of-honorary-ambassador-for-the-empowerment-of-women-and-girls/, telling Ban Ki-Moon to reconsider. It recognized that Wonder Woman was created to be the symbol for women’s rights, but her outfit was now too skimpy to be considered a true role model. There are actual women in the UN protesting this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/12/14/wonder-woman-is-ousted-as-honorary-u-n-ambassador-for-gender-equality/

This is the most blatant slut-shaming seen in politics. The fact that people think that someone is not right to be the model for something because of their outfit, not their actions or what they stand for, is appalling. The very role of Wonder Woman is to protect justice and truth and equal rights.

This fuels the belief that feminists aren’t allowed to be sexy. It’s basically telling girls if you’re beautiful, you’re not smart. You don’t have a right to be intelligent and have power because you’re focused on your looks. Right now, across the country, schools are sending girls home for wearing clothes that are “too provocative.” Rape victims are being told that they were “asking for it” because of the clothes they were wearing.

This decision is telling us that your appearance defines who you are. And this is the very thing that we as a country have been struggling to change about our beliefs. I understand that the UN doesn’t want a sexualized symbol. But it’s time to look past the appearance and look at what the character really stands for. The feminist movement includes all kinds of women and men who want equality. Excluding anyone is unacceptable. For those women who are protesting Wonder Woman because of her outfit or even as a passive-aggressive attempt to protest the fact that another man is going to be appointed secretary-general, I hope they realize that they’re just feeding sexist views and hurting the very thing they’re trying to fight for.

True Grit

I enjoyed True Grit because Mattie was so badass. I especially admired her when she jumped into the river with Blackie when they wouldn’t let her cross on the boat. She wouldn’t let anything stop her. At the end, when she lost a hand, I couldn’t believe that she stayed strong. She was incredible at the age of only fourteen. But I also realized that she was different from me. I wouldn’t have been satisfied with that life.

However, I still liked reading about her life. The thrilling parts about a western is the lawlessness that’s in it. It’s on the edge of civilization. Everyone fights for their survival. There are no rules. That excites people. That’s why we like Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Trek too. It’s the quest for mighty treasures. And you get to kill off dangerous people along the way with no consequences.

Yet, this is only great in books and films. This doesn’t work in real life. So the fact that we’re living in a culture that believes in the Western ideals is extremely concerning. But I can see how it is reflected in our politics. Our new president is looking for a gunfight with anyone who threatens him. It’s also becoming more of a man’s world. The men are handling the politics and economy and everything else. And it’s not the men with the correct priorities. Our president signed a bill that limited women’s reproductive health. He was surrounded by a group of advisors at the time. All of the advisors were men. It’s like we’re moving backwards.

Pride and Prejudice

For this week, I read Pride and Prejudice: The Wild and Wanton Edition, which, I have to say, was way more entertaining than Jane Austen's original writing. It reminded me that people were still very much normal humans in the 1800s and they had sex just like us. I also very much liked hearing Mr. Darcy's inner turmoil about Elizabeth Bennet. Hearing his thoughts made his fiery passionate love seem more realistic and believable.

After reading the story again, I realized at the end why the book was called Pride and Prejudice. It was around the part where Lizzie was lamenting on how her pride kept her from accepting Mr. Darcy's proposal when it hit me. Now, Austen's Sense and Sensibility makes sense as well.

Jane Austen enjoyed this world of the British gentry where women's only goal in life was to get married. Their lifestyles didn't make any sense to me. As far as I could tell, the characters only earned money from inheritance or land. They just spent all their time visiting other members of their class. And they would stay at the host's home for two months.

I found it interesting how there is a high school version of Pride and Prejudice. However, I later saw that Pride and Prejudice could easily be translated into a high school drama. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy were the popular jocks and Jane and Lizzie Bennett were the outsiders. That's all the wealthy people of Britain did: create drama with their eloquently written letters. And Miss Bingley was an expert at throwing shade.

I read a little about Jane Austen and found out that she never got married herself. All of her novels are about women who finally achieve marriage and love. Jane Austen never found her destined husband. I guess her writing was a way to live out her fantasies.

The last thing that I enjoyed about the book was how entertaining Lydia Bennett was as a character. She made so much sense when she hooked up with soldiers in alleyways instead of innocently being near them. It completely explained her choice of running off with Mr. Wickham with a total disregard for her family. She was an amusing character.

Prologue

I was born in Manhattan, New York. I had a blue birthmark on my butt. Korean babies have a blue mark on one butt cheek because our ancestors came from Mongolia. Apparently, it's a Mongolian thing. Eventually, this mark faded but, I have a birthmark on my chin that will not fade.

I grew up for a bit in New York. My mom told me that my days consisted of being pushed in a double stroller with my brother to all the playgrounds in Central Park. Even on rainy and cold days. She'd just throw this plastic tarp on us and walk all the way down the avenues. I still enjoy playgrounds.

I grew up a bit more in Fort Lee. There, I attended preschool and learned that I could buy friends by folding origami friends. We learn capitalism at an early age. Afterwards, I moved into the suburban town in central New Jersey. This would become my home for the next fifteen years. This town housed the school district that would come in first for many national math and science competitions. My friends raced to finish all the required courses so they could get started on college ones. Our high school football team frequently lost homecoming games. At the football games, my history teacher would shout, "Pirates pirates, fight fight fight! Three-fourths Asian and one-fourth White!"

This is where I grew up. A safe little bubble where the most extreme event was a troubled kid running away from home. I felt ignorant and naive as soon as I left my hometown. Maybe it was because I never personally knew the kids who smoked weed in the woods across the street. Everyone probably wasn't as ignorant as me.

Now that we're in college, what I considered outside problems introduced themselves to me. Those same friends from high school fought with depression, abusive relationships and suicide attempts. My world became a lot bigger.

I think now is a time to find my own person. Luckily, I've had wonderful adult figures to guide me. My immigrant parents cultivated an ambition to aim for an even better and more powerful life even though I worry sometimes that I don't the ability or willpower to achieve it. How can I compare to two people who left behind everything they knew and flew to an unknown country with just two bags of clothes? For a while, they used a cardboard ramen box for a kitchen table. And they somehow made it to here. How do I live up to that?