Trash Talk Tuesday: Review of Susan Straight’s Between Heaven and Here

“It’s a thin line between heaven and here.”

-Bubbles, The Wire

It may be because I took a class with Susan Straight, or maybe she writes differently than I typically read, but I expected more out of this book. She is the second professor I’ve had a class with that I actually read the book for. One professor required it, and that was okay because his book was gorgeous and I cried reading it. Though I think the man is cocky for making his classes read it. But Susan, I expected more out of you. 

I believe my main source of complaint comes from there being too many characters. I couldn’t keep track of who was who, and who was related to who, and who saw what and when. This made all the point of view shifts difficult for me, and I generally love changes in narration. Almost all of my writing has at least two narrators. 

My main source of awe was the words. Straight is a hilarious woman, gifted in the craft of fiction (that was the title of the course!). There were moments that were clear and beautiful. I enjoyed the read. But would I recommend? Not to most people. 

I love characters and plot. This book had both, but I wasn’t connected to any of it. The plot mattered but I felt that we, the readers, knew more than we should too soon. 

The best part of the book, and the time that I felt most connected with the plot and characters was the last two sections/chapters. They were what I expected when she mentioned the book in her class. A boy who finds out his druggy mother is dead before his last chance to take the SATs; his last chance to get out of his shitty life and the shitty town. The opening and the middle weren’t about this, but some were, of course. But the book was mostly about a town and how this woman’s death shows the connection between all the people. Which sounds great, right?

But then my stupid ass brain couldn’t remember character names and even if some characters were a male or female. And in a book that has prostitutes, rape, and family, the genders matter a little. 

I plan to read other reviews of the book. The “about” section of the book states that some of the sections/chapters were originally short stories. Honestly, I’m sure they were better stand alone. 2 out of 5. 

If you read this Professor Straight, don’t hate me! I loved your class!

Throwback Thursday: Elizabethtown Rewatch and the Problem of MPDGs

“I think I’ve been asleep most of my life.”

-Claire Colburn, Elizabethtown

Spoiler Alert if it was 2005 and not 2013.

Elizabethtown starring Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom premiered in 2005. I remember absolutely loving it; I cried when Susan Sarandon tap danced, and laughed over “peaking” on the phone. But this movie is often cited as being the movie began the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”. This Wikipedia page (which I’m attaching to allow those of you who don’t know the term already to get caught up), even states as such.

I’ve been coming to hate the term a little. Female characters I love have suddenly been called that, even though I don’t find them to fit the description. So although I originally agreed with Claire Colburn (Dunst) being deemed this term, I decided to rewatch Elizabethtown and decide how much I agree. 

Well… I agree. I hate that I agree but I agree. But I’m not sure how much it bothers me that she is this way. If there was a sequel to Elizabethtown, I hope it would be about Claire and whatever makes her this way. And Drew would help her through it. But this Elizabethtown is about Drew Baylor’s (Bloom) father dying. As much as it is romance, I would have hated if we learned Claire’s life story and listened to her cry over mommy-issues, or how her boss is mean, or anything at all. She meets a cute guy, finds out his dad is dead, and wants to help. And she does. She gets him to grieve, which he needed to do.

Let me ask you this. When you first meet someone, do you lay everything out on the table? Or do you date them and get to know them first? Most people slowly allow for someone to discover their secrets, their flaws. OF COURSE, Claire is cute and dreamlike. She wants to impress him. AND HIS DAD DIED. I cannot stress my feelings about that enough. If I met someone I liked, at my parent’s funeral, barely knew them, and they cried to me about their life story, I would be say, “Seriously? My dad died. I can’t handle any else’s shit right now.” And they should get that or I would no longer like them.

In conclusion, Claire is a MPDG but I find her to be that way for a reason. In other words, if this movie was only a love story (and not about a man’s career falling apart and his dad dying at the same time), I would have hated it. And in other, other words, I bet if Elizabethtown was gender swapped, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Murder Monday: Dear A, Just Kill the Pretty Little Liars Already

Don’t get me wrong, I indulge in all the Pretty Little Liars ridiculousness. I will probably continue to until they either kill off my favorite characters, or finally end the show but I’m getting tired of A. 

This is because I do not understand A’s motivation. When A was Mona, I understood that Mona felt hurt by the Liars and wanted revenge/bitch is crazy. But honestly, the effort she went to was insane to me. So much so that in real life, that girl would never get out of Radley. This new A is even crazier. Red Coat A is off the charts in trying to hurt and torture these girls. So I do not get it. What the hell makes this okay? And why haven’t you just murdered them? They’ve been tortured enough; it’s time to end it. 

The only theory of who A is that makes sense to me is that A is Ali’s evil and/or crazy twin sister. I think this girl broke out of Radley to kill her sister. I think that the twin is probably justified because her sister seems like a genuine bitch, “My name is Ali and I don’t breathe until Mommy gives me what I want.” Then maybe evil twin decides to torture the Liars because she is jealous that her sister had friends when she couldn’t?

This isn’t enough motivation for me. None of the theories I have heard are. I’ve heard theories that say Melissa is A. But wouldn’t she ONLY torture Spencer? What did the other girls do to her? Nothing except be friends with Spencer. 

I understand that overall the motivation is that A is crazy. I got that from Mona’s storyline. She’s crazy so she wants to torture these girls. But “crazy” isn’t a motivation. It’s their motivation that makes them crazy, not the other way around. For example, every villain in Batman is mentally ill because they have something in their mind telling them that what they are doing is correct and justified. So far, it seems that A’s only motivation is that he/she is in fact insane and full of hate. There hasn’t been enough to prove why. 

I want the show to end. Or change gears. Can we know who A is, even if the Liars don’t? Or can we know who killed Ali but not know who A is? I guess I want answers rather than more questions, and all I’ve been given in this show is answers that lead to more questions and more complications. 

So A, please stop torturing these girls and just murder them already. You’ve been dragging it out for way too long. 

Previous entries on PLL:

Theory Talk Tuesday: Pretty Little Liars Season 4 Tonight

Trash Talk Tuesday: Season one of Pretty Little Liars

Shakespeare Saturday: Much Ado Nothing Review

They had to know they were being inceptioned. They had to.

If you didn’t already know, I love Joss Whedon. This man can do no wrong in my book, and then he makes my favorite Shakespeare play into an amazing movie with almost everyone of my favorite actors associated with him. 

There are many things to say about this film, so I’m going to start with why Whedon choosing Much Ado means more to me than it does to other people. 

I went to a theatre high school, meaning the choir kids were the jocks because we didn’t have sports. So, yes, I am a theatre kid. I was constantly perplexed in college when other people didn’t have a favorite musical or have lines of plays memorized. My senior year of high school, in my Play Production class, we did a shortened version of Much Ado About Nothing and I played Hero. 

Beatrice and Hero. She's judging me.

I went to see Whedon’s Much Ado with my two best friends from high school (one was in the play with me), my boyfriend, and a friend from college. After the movie ended, my best friend who was in the play with me, reminded me of how long I was laying on the ground. She remarked on how Hero wakes up and is a part of the scene. I had the same thought during the movie! I thought for the longest time during the soiled woman wedding scene that Hero wasn’t going to faint. I swear that when I was in the play, I said two lines and then I was on the floor until the curtains came down. So, good job on that one Whedon. I had the hardest time not laughing every time we did that scene. Clearly, I was an amazing actress. 

Other things to mention:

FRAN KRANZ HAS SUCH A SEXY BOD. I didn’t know. I already loved him, but now I want him to have a three some with me and my boyfriend. I think my boyfriend will be down. I’m also glad he is not Claudio, because truthfully I would never get together with that d-bag.

Nathan Fillion and Tom Lenk need their own buddy cop movie. They were adorable and I loved them. Those parts aren’t memorable from my high school version; these men gave them their own life and made the movie in a lot of ways. 

I could not unhear Ashley Johnson as Ellie (see my review of The Last of Us if you have no idea what I’m talking about). 

It was heart wrenching to see Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof be together romantically in a film. FINALLY. They have great chemistry as a couple on screen and they needed a happy ending. (Watch Angel if you have no idea what I’m talking about). 

Lastly, Joss and the actors did something with Shakespeare that has never been done for me before. Without having to read line by line in English classes (boo Hamlet and extra boo to Romeo and Juliet), I understood completely what was occurring in the plot. Even acting as Hero, I did not fully grasp the meaning of every line my fellow actors were saying. But in this movie, I laughed at all the right moments during the right moment. I didn’t have to think about it and then laugh later. Everything made sense. 

Due to its impeccable directing and acting Much Ado About Nothing deserves a 5 out of 5. Also, I want Whedon’s house. I want to be his best friend and live in his home. I would be his maid just to be in his home and listen to him and his friends read Shakespeare plays. Stop me, I’m fangirling.