Winter's Bone?
I just wrote a really long post but it got too much and I'm too tired to finish it (this happens a LOT - which is why I haven't posted in so long!) so I'm just going to say this:
(ETA: this is clearly still a long post and it's kind of a joke that I would even start with brevity in mind and mean it but let's continue regardless)
Have you seen Winter's Bone?
I just watched it then read loads of reviews and interviews with Jennifer Lawrence/a couple with the director but I still don't really understand what the POINT was in it all, what they were trying to say with it.
It's really bothering me, as for the first half of the film I didn't really get what was going on (my view was clouded by several different things that might not be to do with the film being unclear, it might just be ME, so I'd really appreciate hearing what other people think and discussing it) and although I got to understand it towards the end and I really liked the end, I realised I didn't really understand WHY the film was made, and what I was SUPPOSED to be getting from it. There was still a lot I didn't understand, and the things I thought I DID understand weren't really talked about in reviews or interviews so I was even more confused!
I'm not explaining myself very well but I'm just really tired and would really appreciate some comments making sense of this a bit more! I've really missed discussing things on LJ and reading people's posts. Tumblr is great, but it's not got the same discussion-friendly..-ness of LJ. It's obviously easier and less pressure to just post stuff though, so I don't know if anyone even still comes on here anymore! I really hope so and that there's lots of reading material waiting for me when I come back after a few hours' sleep - on people's journals as well as in the comments? Hopefully?
Side note: I've really wanted to do a massive essay post on The Hunger Games ever since I finished reading a couple of weeks ago as I watched the film then read the trilogy AND IT IS THE MOST PERFECT THING. It makes me weep with its perfection. So many aspects, themes, etc. are things I've wanted to write about and all the characters are so real and serve an important purpose to the (exciting and brilliant) story. It's amazing. I've seen criticism from pretty much all the YouTube vloggers I watch and admire so I was a bit confused, but then there's intelligent defences like this that calm my mind, but I still want to do a big post and see if others agree with me on everything! Because my opinions are the importantest.
I truly think The Hunger Games - all three books - are great works of literature, even if they are for "young adults". People shouldn't be snobby about stuff like that. Steven Moffat said "Anything can be addressed to a child audience - you just have to write it better. ... You can discuss anything. We've had a suicide in [Doctor Who]. You just have to do it clearly and honestly and with enough integrity that children will watch it and understand it, and parents will be happy that they do so. ... Writing for adults often means just increasing the swearing - but find an alternative to swearing and you've probably got a better line." The Hunger Games doesn't talk down to "kids" and I love that. I think it's important for young people to read stuff like this and discuss these themes just as much - if not more than - older people.
Because I want to get messages across in my own (hypothetical) fiction, I do tend to get really excited when people are successful at getting clear messages and themes across in their work, as so often it's too subtle. But because I have this mindset of seeking out messages and finding meaning, I'm not sure if The Hunger Games is TOO obvious or preachy? I don't know. So I do need to write a big post on it all.
I really do need to sleep now so genuinely SORRY, as always, for rambling and being incoherent and stuff, but I hope you share my interests/confusion and/or can shed some light on.. anything!
P.S. Jennifer Lawrence, eh? I quickly just made a shoddy icon so she could be representative of my spirit or something. I'm sorry Carey but you're married and stuff now. That ship has SAILED. (just kidding, but Jen has actually overtaken Carey in a lot of ways re my heart so. idk. not that this is come big honour, having my favour or something, just a comment.)
(ETA: this is clearly still a long post and it's kind of a joke that I would even start with brevity in mind and mean it but let's continue regardless)
Have you seen Winter's Bone?
I just watched it then read loads of reviews and interviews with Jennifer Lawrence/a couple with the director but I still don't really understand what the POINT was in it all, what they were trying to say with it.
It's really bothering me, as for the first half of the film I didn't really get what was going on (my view was clouded by several different things that might not be to do with the film being unclear, it might just be ME, so I'd really appreciate hearing what other people think and discussing it) and although I got to understand it towards the end and I really liked the end, I realised I didn't really understand WHY the film was made, and what I was SUPPOSED to be getting from it. There was still a lot I didn't understand, and the things I thought I DID understand weren't really talked about in reviews or interviews so I was even more confused!
I'm not explaining myself very well but I'm just really tired and would really appreciate some comments making sense of this a bit more! I've really missed discussing things on LJ and reading people's posts. Tumblr is great, but it's not got the same discussion-friendly..-ness of LJ. It's obviously easier and less pressure to just post stuff though, so I don't know if anyone even still comes on here anymore! I really hope so and that there's lots of reading material waiting for me when I come back after a few hours' sleep - on people's journals as well as in the comments? Hopefully?
Side note: I've really wanted to do a massive essay post on The Hunger Games ever since I finished reading a couple of weeks ago as I watched the film then read the trilogy AND IT IS THE MOST PERFECT THING. It makes me weep with its perfection. So many aspects, themes, etc. are things I've wanted to write about and all the characters are so real and serve an important purpose to the (exciting and brilliant) story. It's amazing. I've seen criticism from pretty much all the YouTube vloggers I watch and admire so I was a bit confused, but then there's intelligent defences like this that calm my mind, but I still want to do a big post and see if others agree with me on everything! Because my opinions are the importantest.
I truly think The Hunger Games - all three books - are great works of literature, even if they are for "young adults". People shouldn't be snobby about stuff like that. Steven Moffat said "Anything can be addressed to a child audience - you just have to write it better. ... You can discuss anything. We've had a suicide in [Doctor Who]. You just have to do it clearly and honestly and with enough integrity that children will watch it and understand it, and parents will be happy that they do so. ... Writing for adults often means just increasing the swearing - but find an alternative to swearing and you've probably got a better line." The Hunger Games doesn't talk down to "kids" and I love that. I think it's important for young people to read stuff like this and discuss these themes just as much - if not more than - older people.
Because I want to get messages across in my own (hypothetical) fiction, I do tend to get really excited when people are successful at getting clear messages and themes across in their work, as so often it's too subtle. But because I have this mindset of seeking out messages and finding meaning, I'm not sure if The Hunger Games is TOO obvious or preachy? I don't know. So I do need to write a big post on it all.
I really do need to sleep now so genuinely SORRY, as always, for rambling and being incoherent and stuff, but I hope you share my interests/confusion and/or can shed some light on.. anything!
P.S. Jennifer Lawrence, eh? I quickly just made a shoddy icon so she could be representative of my spirit or something. I'm sorry Carey but you're married and stuff now. That ship has SAILED. (just kidding, but Jen has actually overtaken Carey in a lot of ways re my heart so. idk. not that this is come big honour, having my favour or something, just a comment.)