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.

Tears Tuesday: A Review of The Book Thief

"I have hated the words and I have loved them, 

and I hope I have made them right." 

- Markus Zusak, The Book Thief 

The Book Thief is about the power of words in the face of death. Zusak shows the reader this throughout the novel not only by the characters using powerful words, but by using words in a powerful way himself. He also took a subject that almost seems overdone or predictable and does something completely new with it. 

 

The use of Death seemed like a cliché to me when I first heard the novel described, but it is woven into the story in a way that is both natural and fitting. 

There are points to be given on the feminist side of things as well. Liesel is surrounded mostly by men, but she is not defined by them. She loves and cares for them but the story is her own. She is the one with the power. Though they help shape that power and her personality, they do not make her who she is. She does. 

The amount of moments in this book that make you cry will shock you. If you know about Germany, WWII, and the Holocaust you will (like me) think it won’t faze you. You might think you’ve read, seen, or heard about every possible Nazi Germany story before. But Zusak does something with this book I’ve never read before. It is those words and all the impact they hold. Zusak uses them to slice you open and pour in emotion you’ve never felt. 

Overall report: read this book. I went in thinking I would give it a 3 but after closing the book with tear streaked cheeks, I’d give it a 5.

Writing Wednesday: Poetry as Therapy

My grandmother passed away recently. She was the only one of my grandparents I ever knew. So though her death was expected because she was 87 and had dementia, it still hit me pretty hard. Harder than I expected.

I woke up in the morning with a voicemail from my mom saying, "Call me..." in a clearly upset voice. And I knew. I called and spoke with my dad, who only had time to confirm my suspicions and hang up. I sat in bed in shock, and then realizing how upset I was pulled out my journal and wrote a poem.

For some reason, I just couldn't get the idea out of my head that she died while my boyfriend and I were making waffles in the middle of the night. We danced to Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" and were just laughing. All why she passed away. So that's what the poem was about. But the poem ended up turning into a eulogy the more I edited it. And due to distraction, I didn't save each version. So then, when my boyfriend critiqued me on the poem/eulogy, I freaked out. I was so upset that it was bad.

At her funeral, I didn't read it like I originally planned. I couldn't it, the thing had turned to shit. But later, I realized why it fell away into pieces when I edited it.

I'm a fiction and non fiction writer who enjoys writing poetry occasionally. But my poetry is always about personal, meaningful things to me. My poetry writing is therapeutic, its not the same was my fiction or even my non fiction. I almost can't edit it because I write it in a moment of deep emotion and thought. So maybe one day, I'll want to publish a book of my poetry but right now I'm saving my poetry for me. Because I'm only writing it for me. 

Wide Awake Wednesday: A Review of The Phantom Tollbooth

"'In this box are all the words I know,' he said. 

'Most of them you will never need, some you will use constantly, 

but with them you may ask all the questions which have never been answered 

and answer all the questions which have never been asked.'"

- Azaz the Unabridged, from Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth

Not realizing I was in many ways jumping to the Island of Conclusions, I judged this book by its cover for many years. I never gave much thought to reading it. But now that I have I'm quite glad I did. 

You know a book is good when every page is something you want to quote but the quotes are too long. The whole book needs to be read. You can't find the best parts in a few lines and be satisfied, because the best part is the whole book itself. 

Critics on the opening pages described this book as being similar to Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of OZ. The art and writing style also reminded me of Roald Dahl whom I loved growing up. I have memories of laying in bed with my sister Kerry and my Dad, trying to read one of his books out loud while learning to read. They were shocked when I properly said the word "Tabasco". 

The sort of style Dahl and Norton Juster use is one I want to explore as a writer. The style is adorable and thought provoking even for a young kid. But I love that it still speaks to you even if you aren't a young kid anymore.

My 11 year old brother is getting a copy of the book for his 12th birthday this summer. He better love it even though he isn't exactly a little kid or an adult that needs life lessons refreshed. To me that's one of the best things about this book: It has lessons for any age. It reminded me of the lessons I needed to hear in my current place of life. So even if you've read The Phantom Tollbooth before, I suggest you reread it. You may need those lessons refreshed. But this isn't to say the book was like a self-help book. That's not the case at all! 

My overall review would be a 4.5. Only losing points for a lack of women.

Throwback Thursday: Two Weeks in Ireland

"If you're not drunk and half naked by this point, 

you aren't paying attention." 

- Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

 Over the summer, my family went to Ireland. My father is 100% and my mom is mostly Irish with a little bit of Italian. I like to pretend I'm 100% like my dad.

 

The photo above is a view of Dublin from the Guinness factory tasting room.

 Ireland was beautiful. The weather was what I expected. There was mostly rain but also a lot of sunshine. We drove for hours at a time so when I got sick of seeing sheep and rolling green hills, (and over a period of two weeks, the sheep were boring) I read a lot. I read Let it Snow which is three connected short stories by different authors, and I read Chuck Palahniuk's novel Diary.

So much drinking. Guinness was amazing at the factory.

Story #1: The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson, a review as quoted from my journal: 

"It was cute but no John Green story (who is next). My feminist side of my brain hated it. It was a girl with a crappy perfect boyfriend who feels confident when his around just because they are dating. She meets a boy, who helps her realize how awful his perfect ass is so she dumps him and makes out with the boy. I would have liked it better if she left his house, moved on from the shitty BF but did't fall for the new boy but that's just me."

    

Story #2: John Green's A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, a review as quoted from my journal: 

"Before I say anything else, I want to say how I loved that these three stories connect in little ways. It is cute. So far the two were different stories but they intertwined in a slight way. Over a location- a waffle house with cheerleaders. 

John Green was better about feminism than the other story though mostly due to it being a male narrator. We didn't get the girl fawning over a boy inner monologue. I think when I write my young adult novels/stories I'm going to not be in 1st person to avoid this issue.

But I predicted the underlying conflict of the romance too quickly and easily. It was disappointing in that respect."    

 

 Story #3: The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle, as reviewed in my journal:

" It was the same as the others. Cute but not feminist at all.. A girl upset over a boy. It would have been less predictable if it wasn't connected to the other stories but I basically knew the ending from the first two short stories. Oh, well." 

So I think in July 2012, I would have given Let it Snow a 2. 

 

 

Harry Potter was filmed here!

Review of Diary by Chuck Palahniuk as quoted from my journal: 

"Just finished Diary and it was weird. Creepy even, and confusing. Those are its 3 words: weird, creepy, and confusing. I think I enjoyed it. It didn't blow my mind like Rant, Haunted, or Fight Club did. But it has a similar feeling. A feeling that creeps over and makes everything you used to find normal seem wrong. I guess that is what makes a good book. It changes how you look at life even when the book's story wasn't about that." 

I think I would have given Diary a 3. 

I loved Ireland, and I wish I could go back. But maybe with less family.