Inside the Fishbowl

Bright Star

 I watched a really good movie this week that I want to tell you about, called Bright Star. It's about the love affair between John Keats and Fanny Brawne, and it's incredibly romantic.  How could it be anything but, when it has the poetry of Keats serving as it's backdrop?  Be forewarned, this movie is sad.  Keats dies very young, before he could gain any sort of renown.  He and Fanny were never married, though they loved each other intensely.  It was a time when people did not marry until they could afford it.  People were prudent and careful.  The practicalities of life often won out over passion and love.

As I watched this movie I started to wonder, why are the tragic love stories so appealing?  Why do we enjoy crying (I would have wept had Alex not been watching me, wondering why I was sitting there crying on the couch) at the end when tragedy strikes?  I have a feeling that there are as many different answers as there are people (or at least women).  For me, I like tragic love stories because they are so far removed from the reality of my life.  There are no dishes to be done, no children with needs that need to be met. Right.  Now.  In tragic love stories, the hero and heroine defy the expectations of everyone around them.  They give in to their love for each other and go down a road that is full of drama and excitement and all of the strong emotions involved in new love.  They have butterflies in their stomachs, and therefore I get to have butterflies in my stomach.  And then they meet their end.  Inevitably the lovers part or one of them dies.  Sadness follows, and perversely, there is something wonderfully cathartic about having a good cry over something that has nothing to do with my life.  I get to give vent to all of the emotions that I have been holding in for too long.  It's a private moment for me, the end of a sad love story. I cry unabashedly.  That's why I generally prefer to watch these tragedies alone at night after my kids have gone to bed, preferably when Jeremy isn't home.  I want to have my cry out alone and for as long as I want.  

Don't worry, if you're not a crier.  I think you'll enjoy this movie for its other merits.  Though it's tragic, you don't feel emotionally manipulated.  I hate feeling manipulated into crying.  Second, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the costumes are to die for.  Third, it was really fun to see Paul Schneider outside of Parks and Recreation.  His Charles Brown is quite different from the Mark Brendanawicz of P&R, though I couldn't decide whether I liked his Scottish accent or not.  The final reason to watch and love this movie; in a word:  Poetry.  And I'm not a poetry person.  I could hardly finish my Victorian poetry class in college.  But somehow Keats poetry infuses this film with even more beauty than a good period piece usually has (except for maybe The Painted Veil, another of my favorite tragic love stories.  The cinematography really makes that movie.). 

OK, so go down to your local Red Box.  Watch this movie and let me know what you think.  Come on, you know you're looking for something do do this weekend!

6 Things

1. My New Best Friend

I am in love with weightwatchers.com.  Has anyone been to that site?  It's really good!  The tools for tracking points are fabulous.  I have been going crazy typing in recipes so that it can tell me how many points each serving contains.  Even better, there are substitution tools that can help you rewrite your favorite recipes to make them healthier.  I feel hopeful that this will work for me.  I've done Weight Watchers before with success (though not long term, obviously!).  Here's to starting off the year right!

2. The Cool Website My Sister Showed Me

For you recipe junkies out there who are also trying to eat better, my sister introduced me to a website called Eat Better America  that looks really promising.  The recipes are low fat, but tasty looking.  I'm particularly interested in the vegetarian chili recipe, and there are some really yummy dessert recipes to try.  Even though I'm working on losing weight, I'm not going to give up dessert entirely!

3. New Scarf

I bought myself some Debbi Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn at La Droguerie in La Bon Marche in Paris with this ruffle scarf in mind.  I made it for myself last night while I watched August Rush.  I added an extra row because the yarn that I used is not as chunky as the yarn called for in the pattern.  But I love the result.  I might be spoiled for acrylic yarn forever.  Now I finally understand what people are talking about when they say how wonderful it is to work with natural fiber yarns.  I'll probably still use acrylic yarns (the Vanna's Choice yarns are very nice if you're not opposed to acrylic yarns) for things I make my kids.  But for myself, it's nice yarn all the way!

4. August Rush is Such a Sweet Movie!!

'Nuff said about that!

5.  Media Junkie

Lately I've been such a media junkie, madly watching and buying movies, buying music from iTunes and adding books to my "Save for Later" list for my Kindle.  Although this does reduce the size of my checking account, it does not add (much) to the volume of stuff that I have in my house.  I download books and music, I return movies to Netflix or delete them off of my DVR.  And I love that aspect of this digital age that we live in.  I can have things, without having things.  What can I sell without having to produce anything, stock anything, or ship anything?  Genius, I tell you.  Genius!

6.  New Musical Crush

Glen Hansard is my newest musical crush. I just saw the movie Once on Saturday night, and it and he just blew me away.  Though I don't recommend in to everyone--it has quite a few F-words, the movie is wonderful.  It is heartbreaking and real.  It's about a guy and a girl (the characters don't have names, they're simply Guy and Girl) who fall in love while making music together. It's an Irish movie--which should be enough right there.  Is it possible for a bad movie to come out of Ireland?  

For the romantics out there Hansard and his costar Marketa Irglova fell in love while making the movie. Isn't that a romantic movie poster? After buying the soundtrack to the movie, which is gorgeous, I checked out Hansard's band The Frames on iTunes and they're great too.  What I love about Glen Hansard's music is that it full of emotion. Don't you just love when a song elicits an emotional response? So much these days is bland, boring, uninteresting.  This is different.  In case you're interested, Hansard and Irglova won an Academy Award for the song "Falling Slowly" in 2007.  They tour under the name Swell Season.  Check them out!

Here's a couple youtube clips to watch:

Academy Awards speeches

Falling Slowly, performed on Letterman

Do you have your tickets yet?

Only 15 days until it opens! Don't wait. Tickets are going fast!  Kaitlin is beside herself to go.  I'm not sure if it's the movie or the fact that Alex has to stay home with a babysitter and she doesn't.  Probably the babysitter part.

Oh, and my wrist is feeling much better.  More substantial posts to follow--like all of the cute stuff I've been making lately.  ;)

It Never Fails

Cars.  The movie.  It always makes me cry.  You know, the last ten minutes or so, when Lightning McQueen makes it to the race, and Doc comes to be his crew chief, and then at the end, just as he's about to make history by being the first rookie to win the Piston Cup, he stops to help The King across the finish line.  I weep.  Every time.  As my dad has been known to say, I guess I'm just a sucker for a redemption movie.  OK, I think it's time to turn off the TV now.

And speaking of Matthew McConaughey

Here's a clip of Matt Damon doing and impersonation of Matthew McConaughey. So funny!

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Tonight ET was on the ABC Family channel. We caught the last 30 minutes. Kaitlin was a little afraid of ET until she saw him standing up. Then, she said, "Oh, he's a turtle!" Fear abated. Now we're DVR-ing the next showing. We'll watch the whole thing tomorrow. I can hear it now. . ."Mom, can we watch that turtle movie again?"

Go see this soon. But bring a hankie!

I went to a movie alone tonight. My first time ever. I liked it. It's something I would definitely do again. I decided to see No Reservations, a movie I'm positive Jeremy would tolerate for my sake, but not truly enjoy. I highly recommend it. It's a sweet little movie, though not the romantic comedy that you might think from the previews. It's about a woman, who's a chef, whose sister dies, leaving behind a young daughter. It's about making the best of a bad situation, about letting happiness into your life, even when you least expect it, about a woman's struggle against herself, and ultimately finding peace.

Also, I'm putting this out there officially, to, hopefully, divest myself of some of the guilt I've been feeling about my lurker/nonposter status in the blog world. I'm taking a break for a while. I have some things going on in my life that are very difficult right now. I'll be back, hopefully stronger, happier and better than ever. And I'll be lurking, of course. I have to stay abreast of everyone's lives. I don't normally do this, but please, if you're a praying person, please remember me in your prayers. I can use all the help I can get! Oh, and don't worry, it's nothing catastrophic--just nothing I want to put into the public domain. Thanks for your friendship everyone. I hope to reconnect soon!

Anne with an "e'

I have three movies that I traditionally watch whenever Jeremy goes out of town for more than a day or two. They are Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (aka Anne of Avonlea), and Pride and Prejudice--the 6 hour mini series version with Colin Firth. These are my comfort movies. They all remind me of the days when I was unmarried, had no responsibilities, and could afford to spend an entire Saturday watching six hours of movies if I wanted to.

Last night I finished Anne of Green Gables. Does anyone else love this movie like I do? I adore it. I really did used to spend entire Saturdays watching this movie (I'll admit it) when I was in high school. I never said I was cool, now did I? I can honestly say, I've probably seen this movie at least 50 times. I can quote the majority of the dialogue, I still cry when Matthew dies, and I still feel a thrill when Gilbert gives up the Avonlea school for Anne and they walk away together with Gilbert's arm around Anne's shoulder. But, you want to know my favorite part about this movie? The part where it fades to black and I can get up to put in Anne of green Gables: The Sequel. That's tonight's treat, and probably tomorrow's. Oh, how I love the very end of that movie, too. Oh, and the middle when Gilbert runs into Anne in the park and tells her that he's getting married. Oh, it's tragic, really. But the end makes up for it in a big way. Is it bad that my favorite part of both of these three hour movies happens in the last five minutes? It's not some subliminal loathing for the movies is it--I look forward to the end because I really can't wait for them to end? Nah, I'm just being silly. I know--I love these movies!

Why I like The Little Mermaid

I hope this doesn't offend Jenn but since she commented about not liking the movie The Little Mermaid I think the topic is now fair game. And Jenn's on vacation so she's not going to be available to defend herself--though I hope this does not become necessary. It's not my intention to attack Jenn or anyone else who disagrees with me, merely discuss. So feel free to dissent. tell me I'm out in left field or that I'm reading way more into a cartoon than is healthy for a 30 year old woman (which I already suspect!). Lets just enjoy a lively debate about parenting, the nature of legal contracts, or the worst act of rebellion you ever committed. Whatever.

I've been thinking about this since our book club meeting last week and I have to respectfully disagree with Jenn's conclusions about The Little Mermaid. Hannah asked in a recent blog post why Jenn doesn't like this movie. I'll admit I was talking to Jana when Jenn voiced the bulk of her opinion, but this is what I understand--she thinks that the movie sends a bad message to children. She doesn't like that Ariel disobeys her father, causes all kinds of trouble and then still gets to live happily ever after. I hope I haven't oversimplified it. Jill, do I have it basically right?

It was ironic that Jenn would talk about this subject on that day, because we were on our 7th or 8th viewing and I was particularly struck by the scene where Triton tries to literally break Ariel's contract with Ursula. All of you Little Mermaid fans know what I'm talking about, right? It's where King Triton points his trident at the contract to destroy it. He, of course, is unable to. Urusla says something about the contract being binding and legal. As much as Triton wants to spare his daughter the pain of facing the consequences of her actions, he can't. Ursula then uses the contract to get what she really wants, which is King Triton's power.

On the surface it may seem that Ariel gets off easy. But does she really? Yes, her father takes the fall for her disobedience. But, instead of having to bear the consequences alone, she is now faced with watching her father pay for her actions, and they are terrible consequences. Because of her he is made powerless, transformed from his former glorious self to a small, helpless little creature. Ariel has lost her father, and further, she doesn't get what she wanted in the first place, which was to be human so she could be with the man that she loves. And it still isn't over for Ariel. After the terms of the contract are satisfied Ursula still turns on Ariel, tries to kill her, Eric, and all of the sailors who come to do battle with her.

In the end, as in all Disney movies, good does prevail, the evil villain is destroyed and life ends up better than it was before. The princess does get her man. She does get to live happily ever after. But I think it is important to note that her happily ever after is a gift from her father. At the end we see that he forgives her. He loves her. He will do anything in his power to make sure that she's happy. Ariel's happily ever after is a gift from her father. And who doesn't feel this way about their children? Is there anything your child could do that would make you not love them. Would you ever stop wanting to help your children, if you could, to be as happy as they can be? Triton does not need to exact revenge on his daughter, depriving her of the one thing that she really desires. The experiences she has endured as a result of her choices have taught her more than she could learn from any punitive punishments he could inflict. Instead he chooses to show her that he loves her despite her faults.

So, this, plus the great songs and many happy memories, is why I love the Little Mermaid. When Kailtin gets old enough to understand, I can point out to her that Ariel is making bad choices, that she is disobeying her father and that she is going to cause more harm than she could ever imagine. But, I will also be able to teach her that part of life is about making mistakes, and that even though those mistakes can have terrible results, she will always have parents who love her and who will help her no matter what--even if she has disappointed us beyond anything I can imagine sitting here tonight.

********Edited to Add********
There is, of course, a major weakness in the movie which is that they chose not to show Ariel showing remorse. I fully realize that. Fortunately, and I strongly hope, none of us are not raising sociopaths, so our children will naturally feel bad when they realize they've done somthing wrong. The Little Mermaid is a childrens movie, they had limited time and they needed to keep the story moving.

Also, who isn't to say that King Triton isn't to blame for some of what happened? After all Ariel is 16 years old--old enough to begin making bigger decisions on her own. What if King Triton had not forbidden Ariel to simply go to the surface every once in a while? Would she have felt the need to rebel? At what point do we allow our children the latitude to make choices and mistakes?