(no subject)
Let's start with the small things:
1. Whale sharks??? I mean, I have nothing against whale sharks and actually have many fond memories of seeing one at the Osaka Aquarium, but for some reason Luffy getting bailed out by a school of whale sharks registers as one of the most bizarre and random twists in the story. Is anyone else completely disoriented?
2. Bon-chaaaaaaaan!! *cries*
3. I'm not sure I know how to live in a world without Michael Jackson.
4. It has been damp and cloudy in Boston for the last week, set to continue into next week, and this shit has got to stop because my hair is not happy.
5. Kimi ni Todoke ("Reaching You") is adorable and quite funny, as as far as "awkward, unpopular girl gets a makeover" stories go, it's a much healthier alternative to Wallflower. Admittedly, I've only read one volume of the latter (vol. 7), but I was turned completely off by the author's short strips at the end, wherein she reveals that no seriously, she hates ugly people. But anyway, Viz has picked up Kimi ni Todoke and is releasing the first volume in August, which makes me both happy that an outstanding - in every sense of the word - shojo title is being licensed, and excited to pick up a copy.
6. Lest it be said I never give credit where it is due: Disney's Up is utterly charming. I went to see it by myself last week and cried for pretty much the whole way through; last night I saw it again with my family and for once everyone had a good time. Miracles do happen!
7. Not quite sure what to make of Chocolate, a most unusual 2008 martial arts film from Thailand. It chronicles the adventures of Zen, a young autistic girl who does battle with members of the Bangkok underworld in order to help her mother, an ex-gangster suffering from cancer. The action sequences are flat-out amazing and may be the first documented instance of a female martial artist not fighting in 3-inch heels.
Still, I'm curious about director Prachya Pinkaew's decision to combine the martial arts genre with a hot-button socio-medical issue. Autism, and how it affects the characters and plot, is central to the film, and in fact Pinkaew dedicates the movie to the "special children" of the world. Yet as someone who has no experience and only rudimentary knowledge of the condition, I found myself feeling as removed from Zen at the end of the movie as before. Even though Zen is the protagonist of the story, the perspective is that of the outside world looking in on her rather than her own POV. I sympathized with Zen, but that sympathy was tinged with pity since I identified, uncomfortably yet much more familiarly, with the characters who readily called Zen strange, weird, abnormal, and who treated her with fear, disgust, or a kind of long-suffering patience - even if many of them get their comeuppance for holding these distasteful prejudices. Throughout the film, Zen is a girl capable of extraordinary physical feats yet is emotionally and developmentally stunted. Is this a fair assessment of autistic individuals? No, but it's the impression that the film gives - or gave me, anyway. Apart from a short, lovely animated sequence and a few flashbacks, we don't get to see Zen's worldview and what she makes of her quest.
Obviously, as an able-bodied person I am not owed a demonstration of "what it's like" to be autistic, but even as it portrays autism in a positive light, the film doesn't seem to explore or challenge stereotypes about the condition. And how to read the scene where Zen faces off against another, possibly autistic child, a teenaged boy who moves in a series of whole-body tics? The boy has no speaking lines in the film, and it is strongly suggested that he has been raised or trained by the main antagonist purely as a weapon against Zen. This scene is dedicated to the special children of the world how?
Nevertheless there are many pleasurable things about the film. Yanin Vismistananda, who plays Zen, turns in a mind-boggling physical performance (she is an expert in tae kwan do and went through four years of additional training specifically for this role.) Zen's parents, played by Ammara Siripong and Hiroshi Abe, are extremely good-looking people, even if Hiroshi's Japanese yakuza character is the most useless dad in recent memory. Liam Neeson goes on a rampage of senseless violence. Abe, on the other hand, upon receiving word that his lover and daughter are in mortal danger, goes to visit a Buddhist temple and sits for an afternoon in contemplative silence with the monks. Why? I'm still not sure. No matter, he makes up for it later by bringing a gun to the party as Thai gangsters rush at him with samurai swords, just 'cause he is Japanese or something. That's right, Hiroshi Abe: fight stereotypes where you can!
8. I'm a little in love with the new nail polish I bought the other day: Revlon 908, "Red Hot Tamale." It's a bright, deep, red-orange color. Pinks clash with my skin and I really am convinced that you have to be white to pull off red (for either nail polish or lipstick) without looking foolish, but I'm really liking this color. It's bright but gives my nails a pretty, feminine shape.
9. I got to play Little Big Planet and Flow on my brother's PS3, and now know what all the fuss was about. Deserved fuss, yes, but I fear my lack of ability to play well with others renders me unsuited to this generation of gaming. I was raised on RPGs, so multiplayer games remain largely a mystery, unless they're the kind where Mario and Luigi take turns seeing who can rescue Princess Peach (I thought it was Toadstool?) first. The idea that you can and are expected to play with other people at the same time, if you want the ultimate gaming experience, and share in their experiences and vice versa, is daunting and somewhat unpleasant. What happened to the virtues of playing by oneself in a corner?
10. Apparently rhubarb is the "it" vegetable of the moment. I tried yogurt with granola and rhubarb puree last week (gross - the sweet/tart flavor of the rhubarb was too strong and really needed fruit to balance it out) and strawberry-rhubarb ice cream the other day at J.P. Licks (delicious). I take immense satisfaction in being on time to the trend party for once.
1. Whale sharks??? I mean, I have nothing against whale sharks and actually have many fond memories of seeing one at the Osaka Aquarium, but for some reason Luffy getting bailed out by a school of whale sharks registers as one of the most bizarre and random twists in the story. Is anyone else completely disoriented?
2. Bon-chaaaaaaaan!! *cries*
3. I'm not sure I know how to live in a world without Michael Jackson.
4. It has been damp and cloudy in Boston for the last week, set to continue into next week, and this shit has got to stop because my hair is not happy.
5. Kimi ni Todoke ("Reaching You") is adorable and quite funny, as as far as "awkward, unpopular girl gets a makeover" stories go, it's a much healthier alternative to Wallflower. Admittedly, I've only read one volume of the latter (vol. 7), but I was turned completely off by the author's short strips at the end, wherein she reveals that no seriously, she hates ugly people. But anyway, Viz has picked up Kimi ni Todoke and is releasing the first volume in August, which makes me both happy that an outstanding - in every sense of the word - shojo title is being licensed, and excited to pick up a copy.
6. Lest it be said I never give credit where it is due: Disney's Up is utterly charming. I went to see it by myself last week and cried for pretty much the whole way through; last night I saw it again with my family and for once everyone had a good time. Miracles do happen!
7. Not quite sure what to make of Chocolate, a most unusual 2008 martial arts film from Thailand. It chronicles the adventures of Zen, a young autistic girl who does battle with members of the Bangkok underworld in order to help her mother, an ex-gangster suffering from cancer. The action sequences are flat-out amazing and may be the first documented instance of a female martial artist not fighting in 3-inch heels.
Still, I'm curious about director Prachya Pinkaew's decision to combine the martial arts genre with a hot-button socio-medical issue. Autism, and how it affects the characters and plot, is central to the film, and in fact Pinkaew dedicates the movie to the "special children" of the world. Yet as someone who has no experience and only rudimentary knowledge of the condition, I found myself feeling as removed from Zen at the end of the movie as before. Even though Zen is the protagonist of the story, the perspective is that of the outside world looking in on her rather than her own POV. I sympathized with Zen, but that sympathy was tinged with pity since I identified, uncomfortably yet much more familiarly, with the characters who readily called Zen strange, weird, abnormal, and who treated her with fear, disgust, or a kind of long-suffering patience - even if many of them get their comeuppance for holding these distasteful prejudices. Throughout the film, Zen is a girl capable of extraordinary physical feats yet is emotionally and developmentally stunted. Is this a fair assessment of autistic individuals? No, but it's the impression that the film gives - or gave me, anyway. Apart from a short, lovely animated sequence and a few flashbacks, we don't get to see Zen's worldview and what she makes of her quest.
Obviously, as an able-bodied person I am not owed a demonstration of "what it's like" to be autistic, but even as it portrays autism in a positive light, the film doesn't seem to explore or challenge stereotypes about the condition. And how to read the scene where Zen faces off against another, possibly autistic child, a teenaged boy who moves in a series of whole-body tics? The boy has no speaking lines in the film, and it is strongly suggested that he has been raised or trained by the main antagonist purely as a weapon against Zen. This scene is dedicated to the special children of the world how?
Nevertheless there are many pleasurable things about the film. Yanin Vismistananda, who plays Zen, turns in a mind-boggling physical performance (she is an expert in tae kwan do and went through four years of additional training specifically for this role.) Zen's parents, played by Ammara Siripong and Hiroshi Abe, are extremely good-looking people, even if Hiroshi's Japanese yakuza character is the most useless dad in recent memory. Liam Neeson goes on a rampage of senseless violence. Abe, on the other hand, upon receiving word that his lover and daughter are in mortal danger, goes to visit a Buddhist temple and sits for an afternoon in contemplative silence with the monks. Why? I'm still not sure. No matter, he makes up for it later by bringing a gun to the party as Thai gangsters rush at him with samurai swords, just 'cause he is Japanese or something. That's right, Hiroshi Abe: fight stereotypes where you can!
8. I'm a little in love with the new nail polish I bought the other day: Revlon 908, "Red Hot Tamale." It's a bright, deep, red-orange color. Pinks clash with my skin and I really am convinced that you have to be white to pull off red (for either nail polish or lipstick) without looking foolish, but I'm really liking this color. It's bright but gives my nails a pretty, feminine shape.
9. I got to play Little Big Planet and Flow on my brother's PS3, and now know what all the fuss was about. Deserved fuss, yes, but I fear my lack of ability to play well with others renders me unsuited to this generation of gaming. I was raised on RPGs, so multiplayer games remain largely a mystery, unless they're the kind where Mario and Luigi take turns seeing who can rescue Princess Peach (I thought it was Toadstool?) first. The idea that you can and are expected to play with other people at the same time, if you want the ultimate gaming experience, and share in their experiences and vice versa, is daunting and somewhat unpleasant. What happened to the virtues of playing by oneself in a corner?
10. Apparently rhubarb is the "it" vegetable of the moment. I tried yogurt with granola and rhubarb puree last week (gross - the sweet/tart flavor of the rhubarb was too strong and really needed fruit to balance it out) and strawberry-rhubarb ice cream the other day at J.P. Licks (delicious). I take immense satisfaction in being on time to the trend party for once.